Approve the Corporate Climate Action Plan, with implementation of the Corporate Climate Action Plan subject to the pace of capital investment.

2:01:49We have a presentation to kick us off on our corporate

2:01:54climate action plan from both Ian Scott and

2:01:57Brian Hoyan and I'm going to ask

2:02:00Both of them to get prepared to come up and and give us that presentation

2:02:04And then after that we have a couple delegations as well

2:02:09So welcome to them, but Ian. I'll kick it on over to you right away. Go ahead

2:02:20I'm Ian Scott

2:02:23Thanks. Sorry. Good evening mayor and council. I'm Ian Scott general manager of facilities and energy management

2:02:30And today we are here presenting to you the corporate climate action plan

2:02:34This plan builds on momentum and work that the corporation is currently undertaking and has direct control over

2:02:40This includes electrophlying our transit and fleet along with investments into our buildings for energy reduction such as led lighting upgrades

2:02:48Building envelope upgrades and solar panel installations

2:02:52These investments have saved the corporation 11 million dollars since 2018

2:02:58And continue to save three million dollars annually on our utility bills

2:03:02The annual savings will continue to grow as utility rates increase into the future

2:03:08Moving forward this plan provides a roadmap for reducing energy and greenhouse gases across the city

2:03:14Cross city operations to meet the corporation's climate and energy reduction goals for race to zero and 100 renewable energy by 2050

2:03:24While there is still much work to do the information presented today and investments in the associated actions

2:03:30provides measurable impacts reductions and returns to the corporation

2:03:34And with that I will turn it over to brian huyan our manager of energy and climate change to present the corporate climate action plan

2:03:55Okay

2:03:59okay

2:04:00Back in may 2025 we presented the community call to climate action which detailed the focus areas and actions for all residents

2:04:08businesses and institutions in the city of guelph

2:04:11Referring back to the sphere of influence model

2:04:15municipalities operate across three levels

2:04:18The community call to climate action spoke to where the municipality has indirect control and limited or no control

2:04:26And plays more of a supporting role to foster and encourage climate action in the community like the guelph greener homes program

2:04:33free guelph transit bus rides

2:04:35and healthy landscape visits

2:04:39During that council meeting we also said we would come back to you and discuss the direct control part

2:04:48So this is the part this is the part where we're more focused on the ways we can support

2:04:53In how we run our business

2:04:55This would be optimizing the municipal operations and what the corporation can do with the assets we manage to save energy

2:05:02And reduce greenhouse gas emissions

2:05:08Defining further on energy and emissions for municipal operations

2:05:12This is a diagram that illustrates the corporate energy and emissions boundary

2:05:17Within the dash lines is our operations where we include

2:05:21the energy usage and emissions from all buildings

2:05:24Like city hall parks washrooms west end community center

2:05:28And also the more industrial and process driven facilities like water pumping stations and wastewater treatment at the water resource recovery center

2:05:36We also include things like street lights and traffic signals

2:05:40Also included is all of the fleet vehicles that drive around and provide services throughout the city

2:05:46Are also and these include vehicles like wealth transit buses ambulances plows fire trucks

2:05:53And we also look at the energy we generate like the biomethane or digester gas

2:05:56We recover from waste or the electricity from the solar panels on a bunch of our buildings

2:06:03Finally, we also need to consider things outside of our operations

2:06:06Specifically where we get our energy from

2:06:09What different types of energy and how clean or dirty they are

2:06:13Like where our electricity comes from say nuclear solar natural gas plants, etc

2:06:23So why a corporate climate action plan?

2:06:27The corporate climate action plan

2:06:29sets the direction and roadmap

2:06:31On strategic actions that are needed to continue building on our progress and get towards our targets

2:06:37And as we continue that progress through smart investments

2:06:41We keep reducing operating costs by lowering our utility bills and reduce exposure to increasing rates

2:06:50These cost savings really come from being good environmental stewards that eliminate resource waste and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change

2:07:00Overall running a strategic fiscally responsible and environmentally conscious municipality is what wealth residents expect of the corporation

2:07:16As we've been at this for some time, it's good to check in on how we're doing

2:07:21Here's our progress for each year up to 2024

2:07:24Since we set the baseline back in 2018

2:07:28On the left in the blue bars is the total energy use

2:07:33This is the amount of energy from all different types of fuel we use

2:07:37Like electricity natural gas diesel gasoline

2:07:42Last year we used 27.5 million less kilowatt hour equivalent of energy than we did back in 2018

2:07:51This is more than a 17 drop compared to the 2018 baseline

2:07:57On the right in the gray bars is the greenhouse gas emissions per capita

2:08:03This accounts for how much of all of the different fuels and energy sources we use

2:08:08And how clean or dirty they are and puts that against wealth's population as an indicator of how the municipality is growing

2:08:16Here we are also seeing long-term reductions with more than an 11 drop from 2018 levels

2:08:28This progress is not only good for the planet. It's also good for the pocketbook

2:08:33Energy costs are a large part of the operating budget

2:08:36The annual spend on energy and fuel is around 14 million dollars

2:08:404 million of that on fleet fuels 10 million on facility energy

2:08:46On top of that energy rates fluctuate a lot excluding rates

2:08:50Dipping during covid overall the increase over time

2:08:55If we use the same amount of energy each year as we did in 2018

2:08:59And were charged at the actual rates

2:09:02Over the years we would have paid over three million dollars more than we have in real life

2:09:07This is what the top row is showing

2:09:09Our savings from escalating energy rates

2:09:12But we did better than that

2:09:16We did better than just maintaining our levels of energy usage

2:09:19In reality we became more energy efficient since 2018

2:09:23And lowered how much energy we consumed

2:09:26Every unit of energy we don't use that's a unit of energy we don't pay for

2:09:32By using less we saved more than 8.2 million dollars

2:09:35Putting this together since 2018 the accumulated savings from energy efficiency efforts has been over 11.2 million dollars

2:09:43Worthy of note

2:09:45The cost savings is even more when you add the millions of dollars of grants and rebates we've received for energy management projects

2:09:52Essentially investment in energy projects unlock grants and rebates that discount the capital costs

2:09:58So as we see good progress and cost savings

2:10:04There's a strong case to maintain the momentum and keep moving forward towards our climate change target

2:10:11Let's refresh from the climate change targets

2:10:14The municipality is a part of the community and supports wealths raised to zero

2:10:20By doing its part to help the community reduce per capita emissions by 63 by 2030 against the 2018 baseline

2:10:27And become a net zero carbon community by 2050

2:10:31Putting this in the context for the corporation

2:10:34And applying population growth projections

2:10:36To achieve 63 reduction by 2030 this works out to about 10 000 tons

2:10:42For the corporation to remove the 10 000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. They there are key areas of focus across the corporation

2:10:58Policies and standards such as training setting policies and operating procedures and tracking energy and energy

2:11:04Having high performing buildings

2:11:06Through reviewing building systems implementing energy retrofits and zero carbon new construction

2:11:12Optimizing process equipment to be more energy efficient through process upgrades and recovering waste heat

2:11:21Transitioning to low emissions fleet vehicles by right sizing the fleet

2:11:25Building charging infrastructure and going electric

2:11:29And generating renewable energy where we get fuel from the energy source

2:11:33And generating renewable energy where we get further utilization out of our assets by installing solar on facility roofs and convert waste to energy

2:11:43Diving into these areas of focus key strategic actions have been identified that will move the needle and achieve the 10 000 tons reduction

2:11:56For policies and standards

2:11:58Maintaining ISO 5001 is important as it is the systematic backbone of how we manage corporate energy and emissions

2:12:05By ensuring we track data identify opportunities develop action plans

2:12:10Implement those actions and monitor and verify performance

2:12:14It's one thing to install a new piece of energy efficient equipment. It's another to make sure you run it right to get the benefits

2:12:21HVAC systems for heating and cooling corporate facilities are the largest energy users when looking around the whole facility portfolio

2:12:29By implementing clear building temperature standards for the different zones

2:12:32We can better operate maintain and optimize the HVAC system with no capital cost

2:12:42for municipal facilities

2:12:44We need to consider both new and existing buildings and how to get them to be high performing

2:12:50For new buildings nothing comes for free

2:12:53When we build a new building and add it to our portfolio, we use more energy to build it and run it

2:12:59We have to ensure that we don't go out of control and aren't just adding in in a wasteful way

2:13:04New facilities like south the south end community center and baker library

2:13:08Are prime examples by meeting zero carbon building standards where they have been designed to be well insulated

2:13:14Use energy efficient heat pump technology throughout

2:13:16And recover heat when it would normally be wasted

2:13:20It greatly reduces that impact

2:13:23This also applies to our existing building stock too

2:13:27Through energy audits and building recommissioning we must continue to implement capital retrofit projects

2:13:33and operating changes

2:13:35Like upgrading HVAC systems to heat pumps optimizing building controls or led lighting retrofits

2:13:46Some facilities we have include industrial process equipment

2:13:49Although more complex than at bigger scale, there are key strategic actions that can yield significant emissions reduction and cost savings

2:13:58The organic waste processing facility

2:14:00Where residential green bin waste gets processed and converted to compost

2:14:04Is approaching the need for refurbishment in the coming years

2:14:08This is an opportunity to further optimize this process by introducing anaerobic digestion to recover methane and convert it

2:14:15To a renewable biofuel that can be sold and injected into the natural gas grid

2:14:20And used as a renewable alternative by others

2:14:25Anaerobic digestion isn't new to gulf

2:14:27The water resource recovery center has incorporated this into its wastewater treatment process for years

2:14:33This facility recovers the gases from the digester and burns it in engines that generate electricity and process heat

2:14:42As the cogen equipment and infrastructure are getting on in years

2:14:46They will need replacement in the future

2:14:49This is another enhancement opportunity

2:14:52Where process heat can be recovered from the wastewater stream and leaving it all

2:14:57Leaving all of the digester gas to be converted to a renewable biofuel that we can sell to the grid

2:15:03As mentioned there are more complex and bigger scale projects

2:15:08Further work is required to take the findings from preliminary investigations to a detailed level

2:15:13To determine more of the technical constraints as well as the capital requirements to determine how best to deliver these projects

2:15:25Significant emissions come from fossil fuels used to power our fleet vehicles

2:15:29By transitioning to low emissions fleet vehicles, we are reducing GHG emissions in a big way

2:15:36A lot of good work is already underway with the electrifying

2:15:39With electrifying the conventional 40-foot buses, the largest fleet grouping responsible for the most emissions

2:15:45With 19 electric buses now in service and charging infrastructure being incorporated into the new gulf transit and fleet services facility

2:15:53More electric buses can be used

2:15:55So we can continue to provide affordable public transit

2:15:59In an energy efficient way

2:16:02For mobility buses electric options are available and are being explored and evaluated for when life cycle replacement comes up

2:16:09Good progress is being made with light duty vehicles

2:16:12As more options become available on the market

2:16:16That said there are more complicated vehicles to electrify

2:16:19The solid waste packers another vehicle that does lots of travel also has a lot of heavy equipment on it that makes it tough to electrify

2:16:28Other municipalities and businesses have piloted electrified waste packers and we will monitor their progress and see what can be adopted

2:16:39Finally generating renewables is a way to offset our energy consumption and emissions

2:16:44And a way to get more utilization out of our sites to reduce energy costs or generate revenue

2:16:51The corporation has expanded its facilities over uh solar pv portfolio from 78 kilowatts to over 500 kilowatts over the past few years

2:17:01On a larger scale the east view landfill is a big opportunity to install ground mount solar on the lands that can be used that can't be used for much else

2:17:10The design of the system must consider continued gas management storm water and other environmental impacts

2:17:21Looking at these corporate strategic climate actions. There is a range of no cost or low cost measures through to large capital investments

2:17:29With the overall investment estimated at 247 million over 10 years

2:17:34alternative project delivery models will also be considered

2:17:39These actions lay out a practical path of how to invest resources

2:17:43And capital so we can build and improve at the times we need to replace infrastructure and equipment

2:17:49And do so in a more energy efficient manner

2:17:58And through these investments significant energy savings can be had

2:18:02Which as demonstrated reduces energy costs and mitigate risks

2:18:07forever increasing energy rates in a big way

2:18:11Not only is it smart money. It reduces corporate emissions by 12452

2:18:17tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

2:18:20Which gets us to our 63 reduction target levels and really moves the needle towards net zero by 2050

2:18:29And on that I will hand it back to Ian Scott

2:18:36Thank you, brian

2:18:38So the plan today or the plan before you today for council's approval as per the recommendation on the screen

2:18:45Presents core investments to move the corporation towards our goals of race to zero and 100 renewable energy by 2050

2:18:53The recommended investments have defined and measurable returns for the corporation in both energy and greenhouse gas reductions

2:19:01along with the associated cost savings

2:19:03This can be seen through the savings the city is currently experiencing from previous energy retrofits

2:19:09And replacements along with solar panel installations

2:19:13The greenhouse gas reductions and and savings will increase as the city progresses with transit and fleet electrification

2:19:20Many of the actions recommended within this plan are in alignment or have a direct impact on other key initiatives within the city

2:19:28Examples of this include long-term affordability by reducing our energy usage and associated costs

2:19:34Or indirectly supporting the community called a climate action by providing cleaner and more sustainable forms of public transportation

2:19:41This plan is the next step towards meeting the city's long-term goals with the associated actions

2:19:47Realizing a reduction of approximately 10 000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

2:19:51Meeting our interim target of 63 reduction for greenhouse gas emissions

2:19:57More work is still required to meet our long-term climate goals by 2050

2:20:012050 after the actions contained within this plan are completed

2:20:07Staff will continue to work to advance this plan and the associated actions

2:20:11Updates will be brought to council as appropriate through the multi-year budget or the corporate energy reporting as

2:20:18as items become more defined and as time progresses

2:20:22And thank you and with that we will turn it back over to you. Mr. Mayor and we'll be happy to answer any questions

2:20:29Great, thank you very much

2:20:31um, I think if you don't mind everybody we just have two delegations and we might as well hear

2:20:36From them and and then we can wrap it up with questions back and after they're done. Okay

2:20:41the first uh

2:20:43that we have on our list is martin collier

2:20:47and joining us, I believe by telephone

2:20:50And martin, I see your name on the screen. I believe you have to hit star six to unmute

2:20:57Hello, mayor

2:21:07Yes, we can hear you and it's no more than five minutes and uh, so I'll interrupt if you're getting close to that point

2:21:14But I'll turn it over to you martin. Your time will start when you start. Okay. Go ahead

2:21:20Okay. Hi, I'm martin collier as you know and a sustainable transportation planner and spokesperson for the residents for a safe speed vell avenue

2:21:27RSA we support sustainable transportation infrastructure where it meets the mobility needs of the most people at the lowest cost

2:21:35While reducing emissions projects like the emma url bridge and speed vell reconstruction ask

2:21:40Exaltor Bay issues related to our environment public safety and city finances, especially in this COVID altered and tariff

2:21:47tariff altered world we live in in terms of the corporate climate action plan the rsa recommends its staff update it to include

2:21:55transparent calculations evaluations and communications of environmental impacts from road and bridge construction projects

2:22:02This includes inviting ghg emissions from onsite and offslate construction of infrastructure

2:22:08We'd like to see this clause added to the city's procurement policy bylaw number

2:22:132018 20259 the contractors provide the same data when submitting tenders and while construction is taking place

2:22:20On the demand side of the equation

2:22:22We'd like to see free parking passes the free parking passes for 2400 city and police staff

2:22:28Be phased out the revenues should be earmarked to sustainable modes that reduce ghg

2:22:33Guelph brands itself is a progressive community making a difference

2:22:36But on the transportation front it appears we're failing where emissions are concerned

2:22:41According to local journalist adam donaldson 30 percent of the city's emissions come from 100,000 registered vehicles in guelph

2:22:48And guelph transit isn't providing a viable alternative

2:22:51Of course inbound vehicles from across the gtha contribute as well

2:22:55In relation to emissions that the city has control over the elephant in the room is how the selection and construction of road

2:23:01And bridge infrastructure increases co2 emissions

2:23:04Case in point is the mro bridge, which doesn't help the majority of vulnerable road users traveling along and across speed veil

2:23:11It was extremely depressing to watch the destruction of speed river habitat due to the construction of this bridge to nowhere

2:23:17Even though it's proposed to reduce emissions due to increased biking and walking which hasn't happened to date

2:23:23The bridge must be analyzed for embodied ghg spewed during construction operations

2:23:28This includes emissions from three sources first from materials and equipment that were imported from all over the world

2:23:35And subsequently trucked in from ontario and kebek

2:23:38And massive emissions spewing excavators bulldozers trucks drove in and out of the destruction site each day

2:23:44Diesel generators ran all week and often through weekends when nobody was working

2:23:49The manufacturing and installation of concrete and steel are two major contributors to climate change

2:23:54The bridge is constructed with 35 slabs of concrete each weighing five tons

2:23:59That's 175 tons shipped from rodney, we believe

2:24:03And four masses steel beams totaling 164 meters. I have no idea how much they weigh, but they are shipped

2:24:09900 clouds from kebek city

2:24:11Second is transport emissions from contractors

2:24:14There were maybe up to 50 companies working on site since habitat and climate destruction started in late 2023

2:24:21Male engineers contracted some laborers all who lived outside wealth drove their f 150s from locations 50 to 100 kilometers away

2:24:28For at least one month one movie construction

2:24:32drove

2:24:34Sorry, um, about 320 000 kilometers for the eight month project

2:24:38So it'll take at least 390 000 bicycle

2:24:42headbridge trips over to recover emissions from this one construction worker

2:24:47Third is the emissions by loss of natural co2 absorption due to destruction loss of habitat

2:24:53According to u of t professor shoshana sacks the calculation of the embodied ghc in a construction project requires first actor

2:25:00An assessment of the quantity and types of materials and energy needed to construct the facility and second the ghc

2:25:07intensity of the materials of energy used in construction

2:25:10I can go into more detail on that if you'd like

2:25:13Calculating and communicating ghc in a transparent way must happen at the planning stage, but also at the procurement stage if it gets that far

2:25:21Goodson services by law number

2:25:24201 a 20259 has a great definition of environmental sustainability

2:25:29The protection and enhancement of the climate ecology and natural resources for future generations through approaches that reduce carbon dependency

2:25:36Enhanced energy resilience conserve energy and resources

2:25:40Another thing that the city has control over but it's not mentioned in the staff report

2:25:44It's the free parking passes provided the 2400 city and police staff

2:25:48These should be phased out with revenues earmarked to sustainable modes that reduce ghc

2:25:54Eventually council should phase out free parking on all street city streets

2:25:58Which isn't free

2:26:00Hopefully that decision will be made through the city wide parking strategy

2:26:05So I don't have time to reiterate those first those three recommendations

2:26:09But we'll be glad to do that and we're grateful if you will support them

2:26:13I'm just sorry. I couldn't be there with you in person, but wanted to save time and admissions instead. Thank you

2:26:21Great and thank you for your delegation. We appreciate that. Is there any questions for martin at this time?

2:26:28No, okay. Thank you very much martin

2:26:31It's all clear. Thank you, sir

2:26:33Okay, take care

2:26:35Uh evan evan frary come on down

2:26:39Evan's here in person. Thank you for coming

2:26:43And you know the drill levin no more than five minutes. I'll turn it over to you whenever you're ready great. Thank you

2:26:56Thank you, mr. Mayor and

2:26:58members of council um professor

2:27:01Darya taran from the university of guelph was planning to co-present with me this evening

2:27:04But unfortunately he's come down with the flu and and unable to make it

2:27:09Um professor taran and I are in the early stages of a joint research project. I say and I us at emerge

2:27:16Um, and I'm here somewhat prematurely

2:27:19Um, however the corporate climate action plan encouraged us to share our intentions of this research project publicly this evening

2:27:26First I want to say how encouraged we are at the by the project staff has brought forward in the plan at the same time

2:27:32It's disappointing to see that five of the most significant projects fall outside of the city's 10 year plan 10 year capital plan

2:27:40That's where we believe that we can help

2:27:43Emerge sustainability in conjunction with professor taran from the university of guelph would like to advance

2:27:48One of those projects is a community call it project a climate project that we've called

2:27:54making climate lemonade

2:27:57When the world hands us a lemon let's make some lemonade

2:28:01In the plan that's before you tonight this project is referred to as the east fuel landfill site thus thus the the

2:28:09uh the lemon

2:28:11So the east fuel landfill site solar pv projects using available land at the landfill to generate solar power

2:28:19We want to explore explore the feasibility of delivering this as a community invested solar project in this model solar electricity is generated

2:28:29um

2:28:30Is generated and sold to the grid or to a large user?

2:28:34potentially the city of guelph

2:28:36The city would not be responsible for capital or operating costs. It would simply pay for the power it receives

2:28:43local residences

2:28:46Local residences and businesses could invest directly in the project with minimum investments of as small as a thousand dollars

2:28:54This isn't about large investors. It's about making climate solutions and investment opportunities

2:28:59Accessible to as much of the community as possible

2:29:03Instead of installing panels on their own rooftops community members would receive bond style payments over the length of the contract

2:29:10This also allows participation by renters homeowners the business the business community and without any of those without suitable rooftops

2:29:19Community solar is not a new idea

2:29:22There are a dozen examples across the Ontario including at least four projects that have been operating in the city of guelph

2:29:30For more than 10 years. There are also

2:29:33Ontario based companies at least two Ontario based companies that are capable of facilitating

2:29:39These type this type of a project and have done so in in the past at this scale

2:29:43We estimated a capacity at the site solar capacity at the site of approximately 11 megawatts

2:29:49Which aligns closely with the staff suggesting of somewhere between 10 and 15

2:29:54megawatts who are a little conservative. I think on that end

2:29:57there are also um, we asked um, pardon me

2:30:01for context

2:30:02The city staff are suggesting 10 to 15 megawatts for context

2:30:07The entire city the entire community of guelph the city city's average peak electricity demand is 250 megawatts

2:30:15So as you can see 10 to 15 megawatts is a sizable amount of power that we could bring into the city

2:30:21what makes um, um, what makes making climate limit lemonade different is the challenge of building solar infrastructure on a former landfill site

2:30:30Fortunately, there are examples we can learn from from in Calgary the shepherd landfill solar project was completed in 2018

2:30:37and 2019 and now generates enough electricity for approximately 750 homes

2:30:43To put that into context the size of the project that we would be talking about at the land of the east view landfill site

2:30:50Would be significantly over the the amount the same amount of electricity significantly over a thousand homes

2:30:56Hamilton has studied solar development

2:30:59um solar development on its closed

2:31:02A glanford landfill site and saskatoon operates solar alongside its landfill gas

2:31:07Collection system like these projects east view will come with technical and regulatory challenges

2:31:14We are currently in the early stages of developing the research scope and criteria and we recognize this is a long-term effort that will take years to develop

2:31:22There is considerable amount of background information. We need already

2:31:26That's already available throughout the city's website or ask of council this evening is a simple one that we request assistance from staff

2:31:33In accessing possible additional information as the research progresses

2:31:38the information

2:31:40Would allow us to better define the scope of our research and assess whether a community invested solar project at east view is feasible

2:31:47We look forward to sharing our findings with council and the broader community and helping to build a movement that gives wealth residents

2:31:53The opportunity to invest in a local renewable energy project

2:31:57Take meaning and make climate lemonade

2:32:04All right. Thank you. Uh evan we appreciate your your delegation

2:32:08Um, especially if you're not feeling the best. So thank you for making the effort

2:32:14Um, I know I have a question, but it looks like I saw some hands. So I'm just going to go uh, feel

2:32:20Sorry, councillor Allt and karan and uh galler

2:32:24Uh, and then if they don't ask my question, then I will go uh, but you go uh first council

2:32:30Thank you very much, uh mayor bob. Oh, sorry got three

2:32:35Uh, uh through you to uh to mr. Ferrari the delegate mr. Ferrari

2:32:41um

2:32:42I appreciate your metaphor of making climate lemonade

2:32:45um, but um

2:32:47What I heard from you. I think is an elevator pitch. I was wondering if you could outline uh in in perhaps broader terms

2:32:56Uh, how this community investment project

2:32:59might work and

2:33:02You'd you'd mentioned other jurisdictions, but what I'm really curious about is guelph

2:33:06And so I'm wondering how guelph compares to other communities in Ontario

2:33:10I guess if you have to go overseas to talk about it fair enough, but but I am quite curious about this

2:33:16Um through you mr. Mayor Guthrie, um

2:33:19There there are sort of two aspects to this one is the actual landfill and there are multiple examples of landfills being turned into solar

2:33:26But um through you mr. Mayor, I believe the councillor is specifically asking about the the business model the actual model of what how

2:33:34Catch me if you could yeah, so so so there are a couple of different entities that there are there are two

2:33:39relatively large entities one one, uh, that's a solar not-for-profit co-op with over 80 million dollars worth of assets

2:33:46In ontario solar assets within ontario and it's built on this model that essentially

2:33:52While there may be some

2:33:54Some debt on the on the capital costs of the initial project that the bulk that that might be through traditional lenders

2:34:03The bulk of the the bulk of the the financing of the program

2:34:07Of these programs are by people investing small amounts like thousand dollars

2:34:13It's essentially exactly the same thing that many of you on council will know is the bond the bonds that uh, 10c issues

2:34:20As as an operation

2:34:23That they're financing an awful lot of their debt by going by going down this path

2:34:27there are

2:34:30As it turns out not that

2:34:33Full disclosure i'm the chair of a solar co-op hearing walf and we have approximately 300 kilowatts worth of projects

2:34:42All of our board members are volunteers

2:34:45We don't have the capacity to take on this type of a project in no way shape or form

2:34:50That's wearing that my hat as the chair of that of that solar project. Um, but um, uh, there's also another company called

2:34:58said co that that has at least three if not four

2:35:03Um, uh solar co-ops as well where people have invested as little as a thousand dollars or as much as 50 thousand dollars into each one of those things

2:35:11And and how they uh, how that essentially that's the financing model of being able to come up with the capital essentially to

2:35:17To to start the business in the first place and it's paid out over over the length of the contract in Ontario. It's through the through the

2:35:26Uh, the contract is guaranteed through the Ontario power authority as some of you will know as as

2:35:31that have solar on your house you're guaranteed that that, um, um, uh, that amount of

2:35:37Of revenue over a period of of 20 years

2:35:41I hope that's a little clearer your worship

2:35:45Um, uh, thank you

2:35:47Maybe the harder question because I understand what you said that they're uh, just yes or no

2:35:52That it would appear that there's community interest, but the harder question. I'll ask this to uh staff as well

2:35:58How does this fit into the corporate energy strategy?

2:36:01uh, well the simple thing would be that that, um

2:36:04What we're looking at is can

2:36:07Can the model be used in such a way where at the end of the day the city would put out a tender

2:36:14For companies to come forward with a business model that appeared like this

2:36:18But essential but what that what the city would be looking for

2:36:22Is a power purchase agreement with that company or with that co-op and what that power purchase agreement would be is is

2:36:30Currently the the city is is buying electricity an awful lot of electricity

2:36:34And this would provide the city to the opportunity to buy 100% renewable renewable energy from that specific

2:36:41facility, so that's ultimately where we would like to go

2:36:45We know there are going to be many trap doors along the way and and, um, um

2:36:51We're not shy. We're going to give it we want to give it our best shot and see how far we can take this

2:36:56Thank you very much

2:36:58Councillor Caron and then goller, please

2:37:00Thank you. Along a similar line, you know capital investment seems to be the

2:37:05You know the key roadblock to these large scale projects and you know our staff have brought for

2:37:11Our their best recommendation with the resource we as council have given them

2:37:15Um, but we know there's payback and you've outlined in your presentation. There's payback

2:37:19Um, we also know there's more than one lemon and i'm just wondering why you or perhaps it's because it's in the presentation

2:37:27Why east view is the the focus?

2:37:30Um, because we do have you know pollinator habitat there and we have other projects happening there disc golf, etc

2:37:37We maybe it's my algorithm, but I get all kinds of pop-ups in my social media about

2:37:43parking lots

2:37:44We have the west end parking lot and we have the vik road parking lot and and that parking lot solar arrays can be one to two acres

2:37:52And can also you know have co-benefits of not having to plow those parking lots because there's warming infrastructure underneath

2:37:59As well as storage on site and closer to actual residences and homes and buildings

2:38:06um

2:38:07I wonder if you could just talk about

2:38:10What lemons are the best lemons to choose in this lemonade making lemonade stand

2:38:17um

2:38:19Three three, mr. Mayor

2:38:21Um, uh, we landed on that what we also are considering imico and we and the only reason we're talking about this one is because it's what was in

2:38:30What was in the report? Um, we were we were also putting some effort into the into the imico site

2:38:36I understand that there are a whole other set of trapdoors associated with that and students including some legal issues that

2:38:42that have been

2:38:45It that have been ongoing

2:38:47You make excellent examples of all the others, but the short answer to your question is the economy of scale

2:38:53The size of the east view landfill site

2:38:56Is such that enables us to put somewhere between 10 and 15 megawatts on there

2:39:01Imico in comparison would be approximately 1.8 megawatts. So it's not you know, it's you start understanding the size and the scale of it

2:39:10Um, and and I think your instincts on parking garages is a good thing

2:39:15um

2:39:17Uh, of course the economics of it tend to be different and I'm and I'm

2:39:23Doing this off the side of my desk here on this part of it is that um, uh

2:39:30Going with solar carports the mounting systems wind up being significantly more expensive than ground mounting, you know

2:39:38Ground mounting systems. So the cost per or what what's called the the lcoe the the levelized cost of

2:39:44energy over the price over the price the sorry the

2:39:49Uh, the time frame of the of the contract would be significantly greater. That's not to say that it won't work

2:39:55But I think it's good to be looking at all of those

2:39:58It was a size issue and the larger the system the lower the the lcoe becomes with a larger project

2:40:06Granted there are other challenges

2:40:10caller, please

2:40:13Um, your worship, uh, thank you for your presentation. Mr. Ferrari

2:40:16Um, very exciting prospect. I just have you already reached out to city staff and presented them this project

2:40:23Or is this the first time that they're hearing about it? Uh, I I I did have a conversation

2:40:28With uh with mr. Hoi-Yan on friday. Just to say I don't want to I don't want to blindside you on monday

2:40:34We we we wanted to to have a little more work involved with the the the scope

2:40:40Um of of the research project that we're working on so we're still working on that piece

2:40:44But I I felt it this was an appropriate place to bring it forward because I I think it's an idea that

2:40:50that provides

2:40:53A wonderful opportunity for collaboration and and I think for creative thinking on all of this

2:40:59Yeah, yeah, I I would agree. Thank you so much for bringing this to us

2:41:03And I look forward to asking some more questions of staff. Thank you

2:41:07Great thanks. I didn't see anybody else all this quickly say pretty much did odor what my colleagues said they did kind of capture some of my questions already

2:41:15Thank goodness because now I only have one question left

2:41:18Um, so it's a little bit along the lines of what councillor Caron said is and I'll ask staff this as well

2:41:24But from an economies of scale or options perspective, I'm almost wondering if it would be better for us to have like a catalog

2:41:32of all of our assets

2:41:35across the entire city

2:41:37All the rooftops all the all the parking garages all the park what what like the landfill included

2:41:44and and almost have that as a

2:41:46as an open bidding sort of

2:41:49Bidding maybe the wrong word but an open process of a stock gate of all of our assets that could

2:41:56accommodate this and then open it up for

2:41:59Uh, you know groups to be able to come forward and say look I I can't afford to do

2:42:05You know, we can't we can't do this for this reason, but we can do it here. So it's almost like a

2:42:11uh, a plotting of a map across our bird's eye view of all of our

2:42:16Available assets where this kind of idea could happen

2:42:20And then groups could come in and go like there could be one group that goes

2:42:23I I can handle the big one but there could be seven other groups that go

2:42:27I can do a medium sized one or a small sized one

2:42:30But at least then we have a kind of a a lay of the land of all of the assets that might be doable for this type of idea

2:42:37Is that something that that might be warranted here?

2:42:41over and above just what the landfill site is and

2:42:45The second part of that question is have you seen that sort of because i'm just thinking about it on the fly

2:42:50But have you seen that sort of idea happen in other cities at all where they've they've mapped out the available assets

2:42:57To do this type of infrastructure from a community-based

2:43:01fundraising initiative

2:43:03And maybe co-op ownership

2:43:05Other than what the idea that i'm just coming up with on the fly

2:43:09um

2:43:11Mr. Mayor, I think that you've got a number of questions there

2:43:14The first one is I don't know of other municipalities that have taken that approach

2:43:18But I believe staff has a good inventory of where potential projects are at least they I know that they've done that kind of analysis in the past

2:43:27um, and and I know that historically just to put things into into in the context that

2:43:31I believe mr. Ho-yan mentioned that the city has about 500 kilowatts of um, um, of um

2:43:38Of solar capacity right now 400 of which is across the street

2:43:43So there's another hundred but those are primarily in very small projects

2:43:4810 kilowatt microfit projects if i'm not mistaken at the time and

2:43:53And I get why that was done at the time even on on buildings that are that could

2:43:59In some cases accept larger capacity

2:44:02but there may be

2:44:05There are

2:44:06Permitting issues around putting a second project and it's not permitting issues from the city standpoint but from the the the

2:44:13Ontario power authority in the iso that um, not sorry the iso not the power authority

2:44:20That would that would change it. So it's a there is a bureaucratic side of that as well

2:44:25But the concept I think I I like where you're going and I think the concept of saying

2:44:32We don't want to build it. We want to buy the electricity come and impress us

2:44:37I think is is is ultimately

2:44:40To put the city in a driver's seat under those circumstances and if and if the research that that we're doing can help move along that path and then

2:44:50We'd like to help as much as possible. Okay. Well, look, I really appreciate

2:44:54I appreciate you answering that and your question and I see nothing further

2:44:58So I'll come back to us to just engage with staff now, but thanks. Hope you feel better too. Thank you

2:45:03Yeah

2:45:04Okay, I see a few hands going up

2:45:06But I I did know that councillor Goller wanted to I think move the motion that was here councillor Allt

2:45:11You want a second if that's okay?

2:45:13councillor uh, galler I think had a question of staff

2:45:17And then I'm going to go to alt and then I see Gibson on the screen as well. Okay

2:45:23Thank you and through your worship to staff. Um, first off, thank you so much for this

2:45:27Report, it's it's really really good to see where we are and where we're going and I really appreciate you shown as the reality of

2:45:35The funding limitations of how far you can go

2:45:39in the given time

2:45:41Along the lines of what mr. Ferraris said

2:45:45Are there opportunities when we look at some of these large projects that are partially funded to

2:45:51Borrow internally to to fill out those costs. I mean one of the big projects that I see here is the the partial

2:45:59That is partially funded as the internal fleet

2:46:03conversion is there an opportunity to do that

2:46:06in lieu of finding new dollars for that or for the

2:46:10High efficiency building upgrades if we know that there will be cost savings

2:46:15Is there an opportunity to borrow internally to fill out knowing that there will be

2:46:20cost savings in the future

2:46:27So through the mayor to you counselor goller, uh, some of these items are

2:46:32What we will be bringing back to council as part of the multi-year budget as well

2:46:36Or the alternative project delivery methods that we talked about before

2:46:40This is really the start of the plan and we have more work to do and so yes

2:46:44We will look at those items that as you have suggested and where they fiscally make sense and we'll work with our

2:46:49Finance team to put that together as part of budgets in the future

2:46:56Thank you for that

2:46:58when when

2:47:00Are we looking at receiving that you know next step information of of that alternative funding method then

2:47:09so

2:47:11This is a long-term plan. Uh, our goal is 25 years in the future. So this isn't a

2:47:19A lot of these projects are large capital projects large capital investments long-term projects

2:47:25that do take time to go through the process and so

2:47:29This isn't a we're going to come back to council later this year or next year on some of these items. This will take

2:47:37Multi-year budgets and budget cycles to get through and and develop these projects

2:47:43Into the city's work plan. Yeah. Yeah, I I appreciate that fully. These are big ones

2:47:49I'm looking at items like the building energy retrofits the 12 million dollar that is not

2:47:55in the 10-year funding window

2:47:58But we have here between 20 25 and 20 29 we could realize

2:48:03350

2:48:05What is it tons per year? So when I look at that on page 14 of the presentation

2:48:12That 350 is that something that we are not going to realize because the funding is not present

2:48:17for that

2:48:23So

2:48:26It's hard to give an exact answer to that unfortunately because there are instances where our asset renewal we can

2:48:35Provide those upgrades where the existing equipment matches and fits

2:48:39There are other instances where if we don't have the funding to do

2:48:43Ancillary upgrades like upgraded structural

2:48:46We can't upgrade the equipment to the full energy efficient potential. So that's

2:48:51That's where we sit with the funding that we have in our asset renewal accounts right now

2:48:57Okay, okay. And what I'm hearing is that the exploration of of borrowing internally is not something that that is in your work plan for this year

2:49:06That that we could do

2:49:08I'm uh through through the mayor. I'm gonna

2:49:12Just jump in here

2:49:15Um

2:49:16I would just say that through our budget and through all of our financing and capital planning

2:49:22We are internal borrowing already

2:49:25To a high degree if you recall as it relates to our growth and because of the the development charge

2:49:32Uh exemptions and as well as just the the downturn in in the pace of housing right now. So, um, I would just say we we

2:49:40Absolutely look at internal borrowing all the time. We are actively involved in it

2:49:45And um, and really this is about trying to look at as many alternative financing options that we can

2:49:52To to be able to move these types of projects forward. So we're looking for grants where like the the

2:49:59Having this plan

2:50:01Helps us now to focus as we look for financing

2:50:06options

2:50:07Okay, I really appreciate that. Thank you. And I hope that many

2:50:10Grant opportunities come our way in the next couple of years

2:50:13Then my second set of questions going along the lines of what mr. Ferrari said

2:50:18Does the city have the ability to do that?

2:50:22crowd funding sort of project or would we have to go to a

2:50:26non-profit third party to do that sort of work, you know, could we

2:50:31Choose out to to build the

2:50:33um

2:50:34The east view solar plant as a community funded

2:50:38Project by the city or is that you know beyond the scope of what we should be doing at a municipality?

2:50:45um, so through the mayor

2:50:47I in in the past I had looked into a bit of this

2:50:51The the bonds and and the community bonds. Um, and so I I can't recall in the moment here

2:50:58But it is something that I think we can look into

2:51:01um, I just it would be something we need to report back on in terms of

2:51:06the the city's authority and and the legislative framework for that, um, but uh

2:51:12But um, that is something we can probably look into in a bit more of a shorter term to understand

2:51:17I don't know if we would report back to council

2:51:19Uh, immediately, but it's in it's in scope for for understanding that

2:51:24Okay, okay. Thank you

2:51:26And along those lines if you will be exploring that, you know

2:51:30Is that something that could be done in the next year or two to to look at the visibility of either doing it ourselves or going to

2:51:37third parties that have the experience and having them work with us to build out these

2:51:43um energy generation projects

2:51:48Um, yeah, I would I'll just through the mayor

2:51:51Yes, we can be we will be looking at those types of things in the shorter term and and that will then inform longer term planning

2:51:58And these ideas and how we how we start moving the needle on financing

2:52:02So I think all of those will be in the shorter term kind of investigation stage

2:52:08Okay, and and then in terms of um the feedback to council and to the public

2:52:13Would we be looking at next year around this time the next report will give us more information or would there be any time

2:52:20before that

2:52:27I'll just uh, maybe I'm gonna uh, just ask uh, Ian to uh

2:52:32Jump in here on the the annual reporting that we do as it relates to

2:52:37Climate and and they'll probably be that would probably be the the time in which we're giving those updates

2:52:43But may I defer over to to the team?

2:52:46uh through the mayor to you counselor goller

2:52:54yes, I I

2:52:57think I agree with

2:52:59cao baker that

2:53:01The annual reporting would be

2:53:04probably the place where we could

2:53:06respond to that

2:53:08Or through projects in the multi-year budget cycle as well

2:53:13would be another place that we could if

2:53:15there was

2:53:16some investigation that

2:53:18made sense for the corporation

2:53:20Perfect. I I really appreciate that. Thank you. And on my last question through your worship

2:53:25uh, do you need direction to to have conversations with emerge and with mr.

2:53:31Ferrari about this or would you be doing that anyways as part of the research that you're going to do?

2:53:35Uh through the mayor to you counselor goller. No, we would be doing that anyways

2:53:41Okay, thank you and to alt please

2:53:44Thank you very much mayor Guthrie. Um, I only have one question for staff and it really is a follow-up

2:53:49but one of the things that uh, that I'd like to two things I'd like to state first of all

2:53:54I don't want to get um bogged down in just this particular initiative because I think that what we're here for is the

2:54:01The corporate energy strategy as much as anything else

2:54:03But what I do like about what has been proposed is that this

2:54:07Provides a bit of an amalgam of the community energy initiative and our corporate energy strategy by pulling the two together

2:54:15Eight years later, but really the question that I have is

2:54:20In in my mind the way mr. Ferrari presented this this does fit into the corporate energy strategy

2:54:27And I look to you if you wouldn't mind if you could please comment upon that

2:54:32I mean there's alignment. Sorry to you

2:54:41counselor all through through the mayor

2:54:43um

2:54:44There definitely is alignment in terms of you know renewable energy generation and how that will assist in in

2:54:51offsetting our energy usage and reducing our emissions

2:54:55um

2:54:56As we were discussing

2:54:58Just through the other questions too about that financing gap and whatnot too. So there are alternatives or

2:55:04considerations that we can have to to move those projects forward

2:55:09um

2:55:12I just want to to caution though like

2:55:16There are complexities and constraints when dealing with such a large-scale project

2:55:21also working with uh, you know a landform like the landfill in terms of the gas monitoring that we have to do there

2:55:27As well as you know, there was mentioned about

2:55:30The lands and other uses there in the environmental heritage

2:55:34The natural heritage aspects of it

2:55:36So that was all considered as proposing this to make sure that we're looking at just the unusable lands

2:55:43um

2:55:44So not impacting as well say pollinator parks or or I think it was disc golf that was mentioned

2:55:50um

2:55:52And then also just looking at from a solar optimization and what makes sense

2:55:56From a solar irradiance just where the sun is shining on that southern slope

2:56:01And thank you as I said, I don't want to just pick on or cite this particular aspect of what we're doing

2:56:07I think that we we need to be very mindful about

2:56:11about building

2:56:13Refurbishment new buildings so on and so forth

2:56:16I expect that much of this is also going to be affected by changing

2:56:20Construction standards as well moving into the future

2:56:23So we are really looking at a plan that will evolve over time as as national and provincial standards change as well

2:56:30Would that be correct?

2:56:36Through you mr. Mayor to the councillor Allt. Yes

2:56:39We're always monitoring the Ontario building code looking at how we can make improvements

2:56:44On top of that, you know as we see it with the south end community center and baker being

2:56:48Going over and beyond the the Ontario building code and and achieving the the zero carbon building

2:56:54design standard as per the Canadian Green Building Council

2:56:58And it it's smart

2:57:01In the way that we operate and looking at the overall life cycle cost

2:57:04Of running these buildings. We also have to consider technology as well as that's changing

2:57:08So we're constantly adapting and and seeing where we are applying these technologies in a suitable manner

2:57:15Thank you very much. Very happy to support the report

2:57:18Okay, and uh councillor Gibson is last go ahead councillor Gibson. Yep. Thank you through mr. Mayor

2:57:22Thank you to staff for a good a great presentation

2:57:26A couple of questions and maybe a couple of takeaways

2:57:30The the micro fit projects that we have installed at the city those are

2:57:37Previously installed through I gather the micro fit program, but are they are they contracted for 20 years back to the grid?

2:57:45They're not net metering for our own energy use at this point. We're selling that energy back to the grid for the time being

2:57:53Through you mr. Mayor to councillor Gibson. Uh, yes, that's correct. So um the smaller micro fit sites which were 10 kilowatts and less

2:58:02They do have the contract with at the time the Ontario power authority now with the ISO

2:58:08It is a 20 year contract

2:58:10They weren't based on the the install date of when they were so some of them were kind of in later years

2:58:17And yes, they are being sold to the ISO for them

2:58:21Right. Thank you. I assume this so so when that 20 year contract comes up

2:58:26um

2:58:26That's when I'm assuming and when you we talk about buying someone else's power or someone else's got the power

2:58:33Are ready to sell to us. We're assuming that um those contracts would likely turn into a net metering contract

2:58:41Not rather than a straight sale back to the grid. Am I am I safe in assuming that or is there a chance to

2:58:46renegotiating keep selling to the grid?

2:58:51through you mr. Mayor um

2:58:54I'm not so

2:58:56It's my understanding however, I would have to confirm this but yes that they would transfer over to say a net meter

2:59:03Or a behind the meter load displacement arrangement. I haven't heard any any um any cases where it would be direct fed

2:59:11At that size

2:59:14Direct sell to the to the grid that that's my understanding as well. Thank you for clarifying

2:59:18um, so just a little bit about again just to talk about the complexities and I'm not going to spend too much time on the

2:59:24On the east field east side, but the current l t2 electricity procurement program in ontario

2:59:31There's no longer financial incentives associated with certain technologies. So to my understanding

2:59:37I'm reading it here from the website that it's technology neutral as in solar now competes with wind competes with hydro competes with bioenergy for

2:59:45grid contracts not net metering contracts, but grid contracts. So my question is

2:59:51um

2:59:52Even if we wanted to I'm not pouring cold water on this but even if we wanted to say

2:59:57build a partnership that

2:59:59Created a project life like maybe we had an association of power producers in Ontario approach us and say we'd like to

3:00:05lease the east v landfill and propose something back to the

3:00:09IESO for for power select that would be

3:00:12That would be almost like a competitive bid process to see if there was interested out there to see if someone wanted to

3:00:18contract create a

3:00:20A proposal to the IESO

3:00:23It would be less in our control unless we wanted to net meter to ourselves

3:00:32Through you mr. Mayor to council Gibson

3:00:35um

3:00:36Yes, uh, we we would have to I mean if if we were to go through something like the the lt2 um

3:00:44Competitive sale to direct grid

3:00:47That could be a way to go about it and we would probably have we would likely have to be cured for those services and

3:00:53Determine the commercial terms that are going to be

3:00:56Through that project right in terms of ownership and and who is doing what and what proponents we'd want to look at

3:01:03So as we develop say if we go down that route the terms of reference

3:01:06um

3:01:07We would be still in the position to to set those terms as we see the project going

3:01:13However, it would be in the framework of say an lt2 program or like where we'd be competing with other projects

3:01:21For that for that energy space. Okay. I'm gonna flip switch this because I'm really interested in the bio collection

3:01:26Program that you're you've talked about. I think I was aware of that almost 10 years ago now

3:01:31you guys were looking at that as a heat source or something like that at the

3:01:36Solid at the waste resources. Um, the wastewater resource

3:01:40Facility, I think that's really exciting. Is that energy going to be used to power the facility?

3:01:46And not as a contract back to the grid am I correct in understanding that?

3:01:56Uh through you mr. Mayor to council Gibson. So currently there is digester gas that is being

3:02:02collected at at the wastewater treatment plant or the water resource recovery center

3:02:06Currently that is being run through the cogeneration

3:02:10Engines and it is powering the wastewater treatment process equipment

3:02:15As well as we're recovering heat off of that to feed or to keep the digesters warm. It's a process heat

3:02:23um

3:02:25What is being proposed here and yet still to be determined and detailed?

3:02:29But in some initial investigation is is looking at alternative ways of doing this

3:02:34So we can continue on with a cogen like facility

3:02:38And continue on doing that or there is opportunity to recover waste heat from the wastewater stream

3:02:46Have that be recovered as heat for the digesters

3:02:51And then allowing us to capture more of that digester gas and not having to burn them in the cogen

3:02:57engines

3:02:58and then

3:03:00Almost like a fit contract but for renewable or sorry for natural gas

3:03:05sell it to

3:03:07The likes of end bridge as renewable natural gas. That's great

3:03:11Um, thank you for that explanation. So two comments to end with my last tour of the wastewater treatment plant

3:03:17I remember there being a large flume of water and it was a very consistent flow of water

3:03:22I think it was two or three maybe even four cubic meters per second of flow

3:03:25through this concrete flume and I always wondered what it would look like to

3:03:31Bring in a consultant or bring in someone who who understands the business well and talk about a kinetic turbine or a hydrokinetic turbine

3:03:36To go into that flume because I gather it's a very consistent 24 hours a day flow that could be easily captured

3:03:43For for quick renewable energy generation. I'll leave that with you. That's a comment

3:03:49The last comment I'll make is that I think I talked about this about 10 years ago too

3:03:53Is about the common currency that's in this file

3:03:56If financial return on investment is your currency is what you're looking for

3:04:00You can find it if ghd remissions reductions is your currency and you want to see that in this file

3:04:06You can find it and I think it's a great. Um

3:04:09I think it's a great unifying topic and I appreciate staff's effort on this. Thank you

3:04:15Great. Thank you very much councillor kipson

3:04:18So it's already been moved and seconded and I'll just make a quick comment to say thank you very much to staff for this

3:04:24This is this is a maturing. I think in our in this area

3:04:28It's something that council really wanted this term to to see more of and more communication of

3:04:35I've I've started to hear

3:04:37feedback from community members and much how much they've appreciated the annual reports

3:04:41About the presentation that you brought to us in may of last year

3:04:45I've even talked to some about this here to that's in front of us today

3:04:48And it's just ongoing sort of positivity that I've seen

3:04:53Come from this type of an opportunity to present these types of things

3:04:56Because people are interested in them and I think as councillor kipson said

3:05:00Depending on where you're coming from you can see both the environmental benefits and the financial benefits as well

3:05:06It also as our cio said because I wrote it down here myself and then she said it

3:05:10But was this is a great opportunity for us from an advocacy point of view

3:05:14We we can now I can and whoever's talking to ministers or whoever can now actually point to this report and be like we need money for this

3:05:21Oh, this this fits this, you know grant opportunity

3:05:25So even just by bringing this up is a really great opportunity for us to know more about the asks

3:05:30That we might have with upper levels of government or other people

3:05:33And then my final just take away and you can just take it away. It's just

3:05:36And if it's not a good idea, I'm fine to hear back into the day for you to say no

3:05:41But the idea of sort of taking

3:05:43A look at all of the assets that we have that might be able to be leveraged into sort of energy or

3:05:49Options I I don't know. I think that's kind of a neat idea

3:05:53So just take it away. I just don't have to do it

3:05:55But if it's something that you would ever need council direction on or whatever just like if you think it's

3:06:01Something of value. I would love to explore that a little bit more

3:06:05And in the meantime, you know

3:06:08our delegate Evan

3:06:10Mentioned his partnership with someone from the university if there if there is that ability for staff to

3:06:16Continue to engage on that opportunity just to get some more research value

3:06:21Looking into maybe the site to see if there's opportunities there. I personally think it's a great idea

3:06:28So I would just leave that with you as a comment to take away to check that out

3:06:31So with that, I'll call the vote. Is there anyone against this?

3:06:37It's unanimous. So again, thank you very very much for for this. We really appreciate it

3:06:42We only have one more item in front of us today and it is going to be let me just get to my