Sun Valley City Council Meeting August 9, 2011

UPDATED 8-5-11

On Tuesday August 9, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. This is the fourth in a number of meetings we are holding to establish the City’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012). At this meeting the Council will hold its formal Public Hearing on the Tentative Budget for FY12 we adopted on July 12, 2011.

You will note that the Public Hearing on the FY12 Budget was to be held on August 2, 2011, a date the Council established back in April and which is indicated on your tax statement. Unfortunately, the City’s Administrative staff  did not follow proper notice procedures and the August 2^nd Public Hearing could not be held on that date. It had to be moved to August 9^th. I hope this does not cause an inconvenience to the taxpayers of Sun Valley. I am also waiting for the City to post a copy of the Tentative Budget on the City’s website. When that happens, I will put a link to it here. The Tentative Budget is now available online at the City website. Click here to view it.

During the July 12, 2011 Special Council Meeting, I was able to convince the Council to agree to my proposal to forego raising property taxes by 3% in the FY12 Tentative Budget. It makes no sense to increase property taxes when the draft budget showed revenues over expenditures greater than the increase in property taxes. We are still able to fund necessary operations and meet our obligations.

The City has not posted the Agenda or Council Packet for the 8-9-11 meeting yet. When they do, I will put a link to it here. The Agenda and Council Packet for the 8-9-11 meeting is now available online at this link. You will note that the Mayor has now added several additional items to the Agenda for this Special Meeting.

You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

Sun Valley City Council Meeting July 12, 2011

On Tuesday July 12, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. we have a Special Sun Valley City Council meeting. This is the third in a number of meetings we are holding to establish the City’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget (October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012). Click here to see the complete list of our budget meetings.

At this meeting the Council is expected to adopt a “Tentative Budget” for FY12. The purpose of the Tentative Budget is to set a ceiling on the level of expenditures and the city property tax levy. This information will then be put in the notice for the public hearing on the budget which will be held on August 2, 2011.

During the June 21, 2011 Special Council Meeting, we made significant expenditure reductions in the Mayor’s original proposed draft FY12 Budget ($6,055,000 down to $5,166,000). The Council modified version is available online at this link. We will be using this version as we consider our “Tentative Budget” at the July 12^th meeting. Input from the citizens of Sun Valley will be important at this meeting.

To see the full Agenda and Council Packet for the 7-12-11 meeting, click here.

You can also listen to any of our Council meetings live, or later on the internet at this link.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website

Nils’ Response to Candidate Questionnaire – Sawtooth Board of Realtors

During this campaign I have been asked to fill out 3 different questionnaires. One by the Sawtooth Board of Realtors, one by the Idaho Mountain Express and one by the Editorial Department of the Twin Falls Times-News.

Each organization asked some excellent, probing questions and I was more than happy to let them know where I stand. Since you may not get a chance to see my responses to them elsewhere, I want to share them with you here. 

I’ll start off today with the questionnaire from the Sawtooth Board of Realtors:

SAWTOOTH BOARD OF REALTORS 

ELECTION SCORECARD QUESTIONS 

Response of Nils Ribi 

Please respond by email to Bob Crosby, Government Affairs Director, Sawtooth Board of Realtors, by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, October 13, 2009.  

I.                  Platform Overview:

Please provide a concise overview of the goals that you would strive to accomplish during your term, if you are elected. 

As a Councilman for the citizens of Sun Valley, I will continue to focus on three priority issues if re-elected:  

• Keep the City of Sun Valley the best resort community in America in which to live, by providing and maintaining the appropriate infrastructure and level of essential city services to support what citizens and visitors expect;
• Keep the City of Sun Valley independent and fiscally sound through careful financial management and support of a strong resort economy; and
• Keep an absolute commitment to open and transparent government, where government is responsive and accountable to its citizens. 

II.       Replacement Airport / Transportation:

How would you ensure that your city plays an ongoing role with the Blaine County Commissioners, the Blaine County Airport Advisory Committee, and the Freidman Memorial Airport Authority in planning for the proposed replacement airport? 

I support the effort currently underway by the Blaine County Commissioners to create a separate “Blaine County Airport Advisory Authority” whose purpose is to focus exclusively on building and operating the new airport. This new Authority will have representation from the Sun Valley/Ketchum area. 

As an elected official, would you support city funding of minimum revenue guarantees or other subsidies to airlines, if required, to ensure continuing air service to Freidman Memorial Airport and / or to the proposed replacement airport? 

I voted to include MRG funding in the current FY10 City budget at the request of the Fly Sun Valley Alliance in cooperation with the Sun Valley Resort. I did this because it will also assist our residents and second homeowners who rely heavily on consistent air service to the area. The legal authority to use public funds for this purpose still must be determined before any expenditure can be made. 

Would you support state legislative changes that would allow local government funding of public transportation and the underwriting of air service, if required? 

I have worked on these issues, particularly in regard to alternative funding for public transit, for the past three years as our City representative on the Legislative Committee of the Association of Idaho Cities. I intend to continue to pursue this option on behalf of the area and City if re-elected. 

III. Diversified Economy:

How would you ensure a balance between pursuing economic diversity as promoted by GoBlaine! and others, and the need to recognize and promote our existing tourist based assets? 

I have seen the success of GoBlaine! first hand as a member of its Board of Directors. Its success so far has been based on a solid public/private partnership that must continue into the implementation phase. The key written into the strategy is a valley wide economic development effort which diversifies the economy. In turn, this diversity will provide stability and growth to the tourism economy of Sun Valley. 

Do you support establishing a regional economic development entity that would be financially supported by all Blaine County governments, or do you believe that each municipality should be in charge of its own economic development?  If the latter, should there also be a regional entity, and how should economic development responsibilities and funding be divided between County municipalities and a regional entity? 

The entity to implement GoBlaine! must be valley-wide and have the representation and participation of all governments and the business community to be successful. See my response above. 

Provided you think it is necessary, what would you do to attract and retain younger visitors and younger permanent residents to the area? 

A government itself cannot attract and retain younger visitors and permanent residents, but it can encourage and support a strong resort economy and jobs through the focus of its funding of economic development and tourism marketing in general. 

What are your capital improvement priorities for your city and over what time frame? 

My capital improvement priorities focus on our needed core infrastructure: roads and paths, emergency services, and intra-city public transit. They will be implemented and financed according to a well thought out Capital Improvement Plan and Program. 

IV.     Regional versus Local Government:

How important do you deem regional issues to be (ex. transportation including air access, environmental issues, affordable and workforce housing, regional marketing) relative to issues specific to your city? 

There are several regional issues that are important to our City. Those which have a direct impact on our City’s ability to properly function and provide services to our citizens are the most important. 

In your opinion, what are the most pressing regional issues affecting Blaine County? 

Water, Economy, Transit, Airport, Redundant Power, Wildfire Mitigation. 

What role do you envision your city playing in regional issues? 

• Water – I have made sure the City of Sun Valley has participated in the USGS Wood River Valley ground water resources study for the past three years. We should continue with this cooperative study until it is completed in the next two years.
• Economy – See my GoBlaine! response above about participating to help our tourism economy.
• Transit – Sun Valley has participated in the Joint Powers Agreement with the rest of the Wood River Valley to make sure Mountain Rides is a successful transit agency for our City bus service for residents and tourists, as well as for transporting the workforce.
• Airport – See my response above about participating in the new airport authority.
• Redundant Power – At present, Sun Valley is serviced by a single power transmission line. We need to work with Ketchum and the County to obtain a second, redundant line to assure that in the event of a lengthy outage, our citizens are not put in danger and our economy is not crippled.
• Wildfire Mitigation – Sun Valley is in the process of working with FEMA and the Bureau of Homeland Security to develop plans to lessen the impact of the urban/wildland fire interface. We will also work with the USFS, BLM and the other fire agencies in the valley through cooperative mutual aid agreements to seek a higher level of protection to our valuable residential and tourist properties.

Would you support a regional council of governments where representatives of all Blaine County municipalities meet on a regular basis to discuss regional issues and potential efficiencies in government? 

A formal Council of Governments to work together on issues would serve many purposes, including finding efficiencies in how we operate, joint advocacy, and the sharing of timely information. It would also help build cooperative working relationships between the various governmental units. At the present time the Mayors meet on an occasional basis. A formal arrangement would be preferable. 

V.        Affordable Housing:

Would you support state legislative changes that would allow local government funding of affordable community housing? 

This is another area where I have worked as a member of the Legislative Committee of the Association of Idaho Cities to seek various tools to allow cities to create workforce housing without creating a burden on taxpayers or developers. The most practical workforce housing for the City of Sun Valley will be that which is built in partnership with others to provide housing for critical emergency services workers who should be located in the City. 

In your opinion, must workforce housing be located in the same municipality as the project being asked to develop the housing? 

This is not an issue for the City of Sun Valley, as we do not have such ordinances and currently have no plans for such ordinances. In those cities which do, housing should be built where it is most feasible, cost effective and close to transportation. 

Given the economic and social community benefits of housing working families in the Wood River Valley, should developers be required to pay the entire cost of affordable community or employee housing, or should the cost be balanced between the community and the developer?  If you support a balanced approach, how would you suggest that housing responsibilities be shared between developers and municipalities? 

As mentioned above, Sun Valley does not have, or currently plan to have, such ordinances. If any ordinances were ever considered, they would have to be based on incentives to the developer to be successful. 

If you believe that creation of affordable community housing should be a priority, what would you do to ensure that more units are either constructed or converted from market rate to deed restricted/equity sharing housing in the near term? 

The priority in the City of Sun Valley will be to establish a level of housing for some, not all, of our critical emergency services workers – those who are essential to live in the City, so we can provide a level of service our citizens and resort require. This housing should be built in partnership with private parties, federal agencies and financed through existing state and federal grant and loan programs. 

VI.     The Environment:

What environmental issues are priorities for your city? 

Our City can and is reducing its energy consumption by operating smarter. The benefit of this is financial savings to the taxpayers. It is important that we look at implementing environmental initiatives that actually save us money. A prime example is in the way we are rebuilding our streets and paths with the CRABS (Concrete Reinforced Asphalt Base System) where the existing asphalt is ground up in place, concrete is added and a strong base is created. The old asphalt does not have to be trucked away, and the new surface lasts much longer. The process is also less expensive than conventional repaving of streets. Our other environmental priorities should focus on making sure we have an adequate supply of clean water and the protection of our steep hillsides and open spaces. 

What, if anything, should your city do to develop alternative energy sources? 

We are looking into grants to see if we can establish a solar demonstration project at City Hall. 

Does maintaining the scenic corridor (property visible from Highway 75 north of Glendale Road) as it is now take precedence over the construction of alternative energy sources (wind turbines, solar panels, etc.) within it? 

Although this is a County issue and not a City of Sun Valley issue, it should be noted that the corridor you mention already has several tall power lines in it. Certainly solar panels would not be taller than the power lines along Highway 75. Given the small amount of reliable wind to power a wind turbine in this narrow valley corridor, I suspect they would mostly be a moot point. 

What leadership role should cities take in the environmental arena; should such a role be regional in cooperation with other municipalities or local, pertaining only to your city?  If you believe that there should be both regional and local roles, how would you balance those activities to ensure the most effective use of funding and effort? 

We should show leadership by example. Our City has taken numerous small steps which have not cost much money, but which have actually saved the taxpayers much. Those are the examples we can show all in the region. I gave a presentation to the Idaho Green Expo in Boise this summer on the numerous positive steps the City of Sun Valley has taken in the environmental leadership area, and in particular where it has saved us money. That is an excellent way to share ideas and efforts. 

Would you support your city switching to a four day work week?  If so, would a material saving first need to be proven in terms of a reduction of both the direct and indirect carbon footprint and in lower operating costs for city buildings?  How would you balance the potential environmental savings versus the loss of service to your constituency? 

Our City has already evaluated switching to a four day work week and it was determined there would be little or no savings. As important, service to our citizens, many of whom arrive on Fridays to spend the weekend, would be diminished. As a resort town, the City of Sun Valley needs to meet the demands of a larger population base which grows on weekends and holidays. Shortening the work week around the weekend makes little sense for a resort town. 

VII.     Sun Valley Specific Questions:

Would you encourage / support construction of the community connector (ex. gondola, fixed rail streetcar/trolley, enhanced bus service including alternative-energy powered busses) that would connect both downtown Ketchum and Sun Valley to Bald Mountain? 

A direct connection between the City of Sun Valley and Bald Mountain through Ketchum should be encouraged and supported. How it is done is another question altogether. A gondola or fixed rail system would be extremely expensive to build and very expensive to maintain and operate. On the surface it sounds exciting, but the cost issues must be fully explored and a funding formula determined and agreed to by all the partners long before any plans are set in stone. In the meantime, a simpler and more affordable “community connector” should be sought and in place before the new River Run development is finished. We must be careful that a gondola or fixed rail system does not come at the expense of eliminating our around town transit programs. 

Would you support utilizing Sun Valley funds for regional purposes such as air service initiatives, regional marketing, etc? 

Yes, see my responses above.

Specific Answers to Spurious Anonymous Charges

Last week I responded to an anonymous letter mailed to Sun Valley voters which mischaracterized the truth and my service on the City Council for the past four years. I have prepared the following specific point by point answer to address the factual errors, and clarify the misrepresentations and distortions in that letter. You can then decide about the vitriolic conclusions the anonymous writer makes about me based on his/her mischaracterizations of the truth.

The anonymous writer claims I have “voted to give your money” away to my following “favorite special interests and charities”:

1. “WREP” – WREP stands for Wood River Economic Partnership. On October 18, 2007 I, along with the rest of the Council, voted to enter into a Contract for Services with WREP to conduct specific economic development work for the City, with payments based on the progress of the work. They were unable to fulfill the contract and NO money was expended.
2. “ARCH” – ARCH stands for Advocates for Real Community Housing. I have NEVER voted to give ARCH any money or enter into any Contract for Services with ARCH. However, I learned through my own review of the City’s finances in early 2008 that former Mayor Thorson gave money to ARCH in 2007 and 2006 without seeking Council approval, a violation of the City’s Community Support Grant Policy. I brought this and other violations to the attention of the City and Council as soon as they were discovered.
3. “BCHA” – BCHA stands for Blaine County Housing Authority. The City of Sun Valley is a member of BCHA by virtue of a joint-powers agreement with the other cities in the valley and Blaine County. On November 11, 2006 I, along with the rest of the Council, voted to enter into a one-year contract with BCHA to manage and sell the workforce housing units created as a result of the Elkhorn Springs development and to conduct a needs assessment, along with the other joint-powers partners. Since then, I have not voted to continue that contract or any payments.
4. “ERC” – ERC stands for Environmental Resource Center. On June 18, 2008 I voted, with a majority of the other Council members, to enter into a Contract for Services with the ERC to conduct an energy consumption analysis of all Sun Valley municipal operations for a total of $1,600. That study was presented to the Council and Mayor on February 19, 2009 and is now being implemented to save the City money. In my early 2008 investigation of former Mayor Thorson’s use of the City’s Community Support Grant fund, I found he had also given money to the ERC in 2007 without seeking Council approval, another violation of the City’s Community Support Grant Policy.
5. “KART” – KART was the original name for the local bus service, now known as Mountain Rides. It also operates under a joint-powers agreement among the cities and Blaine County. The City of Sun Valley has funded the local bus service since its inception years ago with proceeds from the local option tax. I have voted to fund KART/Mountain Rides each year I have been on the City Council under a Contract for Service. Since I have been on the Council, I have worked each year to make that Contract for Service more accountable to the citizens of Sun Valley, which in turn makes the bus service better.
6. “Sustain Blaine” – Sustain Blaine (also known as “GoBlaine!”) is a cooperative partnership of all local governments, numerous businesses, including the Sun Valley Company, and other non-governmental agencies working to develop and implement an economic development strategy for all of Blaine County, including Sun Valley. On June 19, 2008 I voted to enter into a Contract for Service with Sustain Blaine, administered by Blaine County, and then on January 15, 2009, based on good progress, I voted, along with the rest of the Council, to fund our share of the Contract to finish the strategy.
7. “48 Straight” – 48 Straight is the name of the former “The Ski Tour” which was held on Dollar Mountain in 2007 and 2008. I NEVER voted to give The Ski Tour or 48 Straight any money. On December 13, 2006 I voted, along with the rest of the Council, to transfer money from the City’s contingency fund to the Police and Fire Departments to cover their anticipated costs associated with the event since this new event had not been anticipated during the normal budgeting process. On November 15, 2007 I voted, along with the rest of the Council, to enter into a Contract for Services with The Ski Tour to provide the same in-kind Police and Fire support for the 2008 event. It should be noted that the City of Sun Valley also provides the same in-kind Police and Fire support to events put on by the Sun Valley Company, the Special Olympics, and the like, all events which generate local option taxes.
8. “Ketchum Chamber of Commerce” – The “Ketchum Chamber of Commerce” does not exist. The City of Sun Valley has entered into a Contract for Service with the Sun Valley/Ketchum Chamber and Visitors Bureau (SV/KCVB) for around 30 years. When I was first elected to the Council, I noticed the City of Sun Valley automatically gave the SV/KCVB 25% of the local option tax it collected. I have insisted that this practice end and we now have accountability in a Contract that is based on specific deliverables that are related to tourism marketing which benefits the value of our City.
9. “Ketchum Parks and Recreation” – Ketchum Parks and Recreation is a Department of the City of Ketchum which primarily operates Atkinson’s Park and the children’s summer and winter recreation program located there. The City of Sun Valley has historically contracted with Ketchum Parks and Recreation for these municipal services, since we do not have a parks department. I have voted, along with the rest of the Council, for the past three years to enter into a Contract for Service with Ketchum Parks and Recreation to fund approximately 10% of the Recreation Program Fund, which matches the 10-12% program participation by Sun Valley children.

From my documented record above, it is clear I have not “voted to give your money” away to my “favorite special interests and charities” as the anonymous letter writer insists you must believe. Rather, I have voted with the majority of the Council only when it was appropriate to enter into written contracts for legitimate and accountable City purposes. The anonymous letter writer has no idea to which charities I write my personal checks.

The anonymous letter writer next claims I “promoted and supported” the following three ordinances:

1. “The garbage ordinance” – I did support better recycling options for Sun Valley residents. However, it became immediately clear to me that the Ordinance originally proposed by the former Mayor and former City Administrator was not acceptable as written. I listened to the public comments through numerous public meetings and made sure changes were made to the Ordinance throughout the process. I also worked tirelessly behind the scenes to try to convince the City administration to be more receptive and proactive in regard to the citizens concerns, mostly without success. They literally ridiculed me for attempting to try to find solutions. I worked to eliminate the “mandatory” requirements of recycling and make it optional, while still including recycling with the price of your garbage collection. We were able to change the fee structure to the one the public demanded before any impact was felt by the citizens, even though the majority of residents would have actually had lower rates under the originally proposed fee structure. On February 21, 2008 I voted for the current garbage ordinance and rate fee resolution.
2. “The mass and scale ordinance” – I voted to reject the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Commission to adopt the proposed residential mass and scale ordinance at the October 26, 2006 City Council meeting. I did so because there was serious confusion about the intent of the proposed ordinance, due to the fact that the City administration did a poor job explaining it to the public. It should be noted that existing City ordinances since the inception of Planning and Zoning have dictated the size of a house that can be built. These ordinances exist to protect your property rights from a neighbor building, for instance, a ten story, lot-line-to-lot-line, box house on the property next to yours. The existing ordinances do need some updating.
3. “The workforce housing ordinance” – It should be noted that this ordinance was adopted by the City Council BEFORE I was elected to the Council. I objected to a significant change that City Council made to this ordinance from the recommendation they received from the Planning and Zoning Commission, on which I was serving at the time. The change made by that Council was responsible for significantly increasing the fees on small additions and remodels, and had an overall effect of raising other fees. Once I was a member of the Council, it became a priority of mine to correct that ordinance change, however I was unable to get support from a majority of the Council or the former Mayor.

Regarding my vote to appeal the District Court’s decision to the Supreme Court, the City had already invested considerable resources into the case, and the City Attorney advised the cost to appeal would be small. I made it clear in my vote that there were private individuals willing to fund the appeal and it would not have cost the City any money. Therefore, it was in no way a “disregard for managing the public’s money” as the anonymous letter writer put it, but rather a very prudent one.

You can judge for yourself if I am being a “social engineer who wants to dictate your life style” or a public servant looking out for what is best for the citizens.

In the last paragraph of the anonymous letter, the writer discusses the local option tax and makes several factually incorrect and irresponsible statements:

1. The writer of the anonymous letter incorrectly misleads the reads as to the legislative intent of our local option tax (LOT) when he/she says it is to “provide property tax relief to residents.” In fact, the voters of Sun Valley expressly approved 11 uses for the LOT when they adopted the latest version in 2007. The eleven specific intended uses in the law include: administrative and legal expenses; economic development; fire protection; hospital support; land acquisition; law enforcement; municipal transportation; parks, trails and recreation; property tax relief; public information and education; and roads, buildings and grounds. The fact is the City spends the majority of its LOT receipts on roads, police and fire, all of which are impacted by tourism. All proceeds of the LOT are used for their intended purposes in the law, as we are required to do by the law. For the anonymous letter writer to boldly state that the LOT was not used for the intended purpose, as he does in his/her letter, is misleading and reckless. It gives you an example of just how irresponsible the rest of the letter truly is.
2. As a footnote to point #1 above – the anonymous letter writer must not understand that by State law the only way LOT can be used for “property tax relief” is if the LOT proceeds are collected and not spent on any of the other 10 uses (Idaho Code 50-1045). That amount is then used to replace city property taxes in the ensuing fiscal year. Therefore the anonymous letter writer’s argument that the LOT should be used to “provide property tax relief” to residents would mean he/she would like the city not to spend the proceeds on things the voters approved it for, but instead give it back to him/her as a rebate on his/her property taxes.
3. The anonymous letter writer contradicts himself/herself when he/she also suggests that virtually all the LOT should be spent fixing all the streets and roads throughout the City. It is not possible to generate enough tourist LOT revenue to completely rebuild all our streets and roads as the anonymous letter writer suggests, let alone consider using some of it for other purposes like fire and police. The prudent approach for major street and road rebuilding is through a capital improvement program, one the City has historically funded by other means. The suggestion and “urging” for a “property tax levee” (sic) has come from the City’s bond underwriter who may or may not present an idea to the City Council once a revised Capital Improvement Plan is finished. The City’s only outstanding debt, a general obligation bond being repaid with a special property tax levy will be fully repaid in 2011. Numerous factors would play into any decision the full Council would have to consider before deciding to ask the citizens to vote on any property tax levy. When questioned about possible ways to fund a Capital Improvement Program, I have mentioned the possibility of bonding, among others. The truth is I have actually urged the Council to slow down any consideration of bonding until we have a better understanding of all the variables. That is hardly urging on the Mayor and Council.

The mischaracterization of the truth and my service on the Council for the past four years by this anonymous letter, written by someone who doesn’t have the decency to even put his or her own name on the letter, speaks for itself.

The distortions of the truth and taking matters completely out of context in the name of “Better Government” through mean spirited personal attacks is something for which I believe the voters of Sun Valley have no use. Clearly it is a disservice to the citizens of our fine City.

These anonymous cowards may continue to spread their vitriol and misinformation. I am proud to stand by my record of public service. It is available for all to see at anytime. I only ask that you examine the public record, not one made up by some anonymous person or persons.

Sun Valley City Council Meetings the Week of 6/16/08

We have two City Council meetings in Sun Valley the week of June 16th.

On Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at 3:00 pm we have a Special Council meeting. The purpose of this meeting, in the form of a work session, is to hear a presentation by Ann Wescott of Galena Consulting on the elements of Capital Improvement Plans. We will also discuss how a Capital Improvement Plan will fit into our budgeting process and have a discussion on parks and recreation. To see the Agenda and Council packet for the 6-17-08 meeting, click here.

On Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 4:00 pm we have our regular monthly Council meeting. Along with normal business, the principal items of consideration include:

• Request for funding and participation in Sustain Blaine economic study.
• Consideration of contract with ERC for energy consumption analysis.
• Discussion of legal matters.
• Approval of trail easement agreement.

To see the full agenda and Council packet for the 6-19-08 meeting click here.

You can always see the full Council schedule and additional information at my website.

Planning for Future Power Needs in the Sun Valley Area – Final Report

The Community Advisory Committee which has worked with Idaho Power to develop a “Wood River Electrical Plan” over the past year has finished its final report and will present it to the public this coming Wednesday evening in Hailey. The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Campus auditorium with a presentation on the recommendation and will follow with an open house.

As I have stated in my previous reports on this process, the purpose of the project is to create a clear and documented electrical energy plan to serve the load needs of the Wood River Valley from now through build out of the valley. Our goal was to make sure the report is clear and concise – something that will make sense to the public in terms of need, reliability, redundancy, cost, and protection of view corridors. You can read our Final Report by clicking here, and get the Appendices by clicking here.

The challenge of course, and of particular interest for the people I represent, is getting reliable sources of power into the upper Wood River Valley where it is heavily used to support the tourism and second home industry. With only one 138 kV transmission line serving this end of the valley from Hailey, reliability is a major concern, especially during the peak winter season. As the use of electrical power continues to increase with housing and hotel growth, expanded snowmaking, chairlifts and gondolas, so does the need for an additional transmission line. Because we value the beauty of our area, there are visual considerations which we must take into account as well. All of these factors went into the Committee’s recommendation which is to follow Highway 75 along the existing right-of-way to Ketchum.

It was felt that the visual impacts of a new 138 kV transmission line from Hailey to Ketchum can be minimized to the largest extent in this highway corridor as opposed to running it along steep hillsides and ridgelines. This route provides many options for underground or above ground lines or combinations of both. It is also good to know that such a line does not have to be like the massive structures of the existing Hailey to Ketchum transmission line.  Here are a couple photo renderings of what some above ground options might look like along Highway 75 near East Fork Road, with a picture of the existing distribution line for comparison (note that “distribution” circuits are those which bring power to your neighborhoods and homes and “transmission” circuits are the ones which move power from city to city):

The meeting this Wednesday, March 12, 2008, in Hailey is just the beginning of a public process which will give all of us the opportunity to weigh in on how and when this plan may eventually be implemented.

My seven previous reports on the WREP are available here (#7), here (#6), here (#5), here (#4), here (#3), here (#2), and here (#1).

As always, I will continue to report on the progress of this plan and you can also follow it at the Wood River Electrical Plan website provided by Idaho Power. The website has a great deal of information, including copies of all the presentations and minutes of our meetings.

Technology and the Environment

To kick off the New Year, I was thinking today about how we could do some positive things in the City of Sun Valley to improve our environmental image in the resort world. Right or wrong in the grading, the poor ranking the Sun Valley Resort has received the past two years from the Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition has probably not helped the tourism business for the valley from the growing number of environmentally conscious travelers which we so heavily depend on in this highly competitive business.

The Sun Valley City Council began 2007 by passing a Resolution adopting the U.S. Conference of Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. That was a big step for our City, but the remainder of the year showed little follow through. Our neighbor Hailey was very successful in preparing and implementing a climate protection plan as this story by Gary Stivers at SunValleyOnline shows. I am hoping Hailey’s leadership will rub off on us and others.

Our local economy is significantly tied to the climate – both in the winter and summer. The warmer it gets, the shorter the ski seasons are becoming, and the larger the forest fires are becoming, the harder they are to fight and the longer they last. Both have already had impacts on our tourist visits. Our major competitors are taking significant strides to do something about protecting the climate (see Vail, Aspen, Park City, Jackson Hole). Even the little ski area in Montana where I learned to ski as a kid, Lost Trail Powder Mountain, runs its operations on biodiesel. Our neighbor to the south, Nevada and in particular the tourist mecca of Las Vegas has been finding out that clean energy and sustainable development pays off as well, especially in down real estate markets, as this story tells. It’s time for action in Sun Valley, not more studies, talk, finger crossing, wishful thinking or denial.

Being involved in various technology businesses, I thought about the marriage of tech and the environment. In my research I came across a website/blog called “EcoGeek.” They have a great site with ideas, insight and links to a resource of practical information. As they say, “EcoGeek devotes its pages to exploring the symbiosis between nature and technology.”

A story EcoGeek did the other day titled “7 Technologies that will Save the Earth in 2008” caught my attention. It has some very practical ideas and thoughts that can help improve our lives while also making sure that we don’t mess up the Earth at the same time. Give it a look.

Hopefully, the City of Sun Valley has the political will necessary to do the right things to make certain our local economy is strong long into the future by ensuring that our environment is also strong.

Thankful for Habitat for Humanity and ARCH

The first Habitat for Humanity home to be built in Blaine County was announced this past Friday, November 16^th at a ribbon cutting ceremony in Bellevue. It will be built through a partnership between Habitat for Humanity and ARCH Community Housing Trust.

ARCH raised funds from private donors to purchase a lot in Bellevue. It will lease the lot to Habitat for Humanity who will construct the home with the help of volunteers and donors. The home will then be sold to Rene Rodriguez, a Blaine County Deputy Sheriff who currently commutes daily from the Twin Falls area. A news release from ARCH and Habitat for Humanity-Blaine County at SunValleyOnline describes the partnership in more detail.

Habitat for Humanity doesn’t give away houses, contrary to what some people believe. Every homeowner has a mortgage and insurance, pays all the bills and is responsible for the home’s upkeep. However, donated building materials, land offered at a reduced price, or in this case a nominal lease, and an army of volunteers with hammers and nails, makes home-ownership much more accessible to families on limited budgets, and that’s what Habitat offers.

The ribbon cutting ceremony on November 16^th was well attended by many community members and the press. Television station KMVT – Twin Falls had this story of the event. The Wood River Journal had this story in its November 21, 2007 issue.

Plans are to build a very energy efficient home using “insulated concrete forms” for the walls and foundation. It is going to take 320 of these blocks to build the Bellevue home, with construction to take place this coming spring. As a fundraiser, we are asking members of the community who are interested in helping out to buy a block for $15.00 each. You can send a check to:

Habitat for Humanity – Blaine County
P.O. Box 10163
Ketchum, ID 83340

If you would like to volunteer your time to help with the Habitat home or if you would like to make a donation of materials or money, please contact our office at 208-726-0610.

If you would like to help ARCH Community Housing Trust with a donation toward the purchase of land for workforce housing or assist with their other programs, please contact them:

ARCH Community Housing Trust
P.O. Box 1292
Ketchum, ID 83340
208-726-4411

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Planning for Future Power Needs in the Sun Valley Area – Part VII

The Community Advisory Committee, working with Idaho Power to develop a “Wood River Electrical Plan,” held its seventh and potentially final meeting last week. My six previous reports are available here (#6), here (#5), here (#4), here (#3), here (#2), and here (#1).

The purpose of the project is to create a clear and documented electrical energy plan to serve the load needs of the Wood River Valley from now through build out of the valley. The opportunities for tapping into alternative sources of energy are very good as they become available. The challenge of course, is getting the power into the upper valley where it is heavily used to support the tourism and second home industry. As the use increases, so does the need for transmission lines, so there are visual trade-offs which must be considered.

The purpose of the seventh meeting was to review the draft plan and discuss next steps for its introduction to the community. The Committee determined that the draft could use some revisions in its presentation to be more easily understood by the public and that the text could be expanded to better address conservation and alternative energy issues discussed by the Committee.

We had a considerable discussion re-checking and verifying the recommendations and assumptions made in earlier meetings regarding the alternatives being proposed. Our goal is to make sure the report is clear and concise – something that will make sense to the public in terms of need, reliability, redundancy, cost, protection of view corridors, etc. before Idaho Power begins public hearings.

Idaho Power staff will revise the draft, we will then give it another review and the hope is to present it sometime after the Christmas holidays during a public open house meeting(s).

As always, I will continue to report on our progress and you can also follow it at the Wood River Electrical Plan website provided by Idaho Power. The website has a great deal of information, including copies of all the presentations and minutes of our meetings.

Sidebar – Solar Possibilities:

The world’s third-largest solar power plant is located south of here in Boulder City, Nevada. The plant, owned by a Spanish company, produces around 64 MW (Mega Watts) of electricity which is enough to power 40,000 homes. It is located on 350 acres. (As a footnote – the Wood River Valley currently uses just under 120 MW at peak load in the winter.)

Here is a link to an Editorial in the Las Vegas Sun about the plant from this past Sunday.

Here is a link to “The Energy Blog” which has a story about the Boulder City solar plant.

Sidebar – Wind Possibilities:

Speaking of the Las Vegas area – on a trip this past spring, I came across this wind turbine in the backyard of a home in southwest Vegas near Blue Diamond Road. Thinking it was a novel way of using alternative energy I had to snap the picture.

 

In case you didn’t see my first report on the Wood River Electrical Plan meeting, it contains links to three videos taken at the Fossil Gulch Wind Park near Hagerman. The southern part of Idaho seems to be an excellent location for “wind farms” given the topography and sustained wind flows. Click here to see the videos.

Green Affordable Homes and Density

Yesterday I participated in a live on-line meeting on the subject of “Seizing Opportunities in Green Affordable Housing” sponsored by the Government Innovators Network at Harvard University. It was an excellent chance to gain valuable insight into tools and ideas we can use here in our community for improving affordable workforce housing opportunities and at the same time make it more energy efficient and healthy.

Over 180 of us interacted with several national experts in a discussion on topics ranging from design process, policy change, financing and density, to green building performance. One key participant, Enterprise Community Partners, has an outstanding website worth looking into if you are interested in green communities and sustainable homes (click here to see it).

There was an excellent discussion on density, a hot local topic. It focused on how greater density will be a necessity in the future given projected population growth and the limited land areas for development in and near towns. The experts pointed out that green, urban, multifamily housing is the most significant way to lower energy use and costs and thus it has the best potential for meaningful affordable housing.

One of the presenters, Jonathan Rose of Jonathan Rose Companies LLC, gave this example of an affordable housing “project” he developed in Aspen, just 3 blocks from the ski lifts. Can you guess what the density of this project is? (Hint: the density of the new Elkhorn Springs development in Sun Valley – including all the duplexes – is around 13 units per acre).

The answer: 88 units per acre. It also has underground parking. The name of the project is Benedict Commons (click here, then “All Projects A-Z” and look for “Benedict Commons” to read more about it). It is amazing what can be accomplished when creative minds come together and do the right thing.

There was a considerable discussion on financing of green affordable housing units.  The feeling was that since green buildings perform at least 20% better than any other building that meets code (not to mention all the other benefits), financing institutions are now beginning to look at them more favorably. Financing programs especially for green buildings, although in the early stages, are starting to come together.

All of this bodes well for the future of developing affordable workforce homes here in the Wood River Valley.

Planning for Future Power Needs in the Sun Valley Area – Part VI

The Community Advisory Committee, working with Idaho Power to develop a “Wood River Electrical Plan,” held its sixth meeting during the last week of June. My five previous reports are available here (#5), here (#4), here (#3), here (#2), and here (#1).

The purpose of the project is to create a clear and documented electrical energy plan to serve the load needs of the Wood River Valley from now through build out.

During the sixth meeting the Committee worked on screening the alternative scenarios we previously developed to determine a consensus recommendation for the most feasible alternative for each section of the planning area and for the overall plan. Using criteria and goals discussed in my previous reports, we narrowed the recommendations for three areas: 1) the southern transmission stations of Midpoint (near Shoshone) and King (near Hagerman) up to the Bellevue triangle area, 2) the Bellevue triangle area to the Wood River Transmission station (just north of Hailey), and 3) from Wood River Transmission station to the Ketchum/Sun Valley Substation (next to the Sun Valley Red Barn).

 138 kV Transmission Line          Twin 138 kV Underground Lines

We spent a great deal of time discussing the costs of each alternative, the costs of undergrounding versus above ground lines, the costs of easements, the environmental impacts, the visual impacts, and probably the most important factor, the need for additional lines in relationship to growth, demand, reliability and redundancy. Idaho Power and its engineers will now take our work and hammer out these issues in relationship to the alternatives we formulated. We will meet again in a couple of months to review their findings and see if a draft report will be in an acceptable condition to present to the public this fall. This will then lead to a whole round of public meetings and full public discussion and input on the recommendation.

The recent “Red Bridge Fire” near Shoshone took out a portion of the Midpoint Transmission station and then the transmission line to Hailey. Here is a good article from the Associated Press on the fire and what it did to Midpoint (it appeared in the Idaho Press-Tribune). It points to the vulnerability we face here in the Wood River Valley. For several days during and after the fire we were being supplied by the King transmission line only, a line built in 1962 and not capable of handling our entire load in peak conditions. In the north end of the valley, we only have the one line from Hailey to the Ketchum/Sun Valley Substation. There is no redundancy or backup for that line. Our peak load up here is in the winter. One can only imagine what an extended outage would do to the health and safety of our north valley in the cold of the winter, not to mention the economy.

As always, I will continue to report on our progress and you can also follow it at the Wood River Electrical Plan website provided by Idaho Power. The website has a great deal of information, including copies of all the presentations and minutes of our meetings.

* * * Added Bonus * * * 

The Sun Valley Fire Department assisted in fighting the “Red Bridge Fire” and two of our men, Ray Franco and Joe Richardson made the cover of the Twin Falls Times-News in an excellent photo with one of our engines.

Business Development Tour of the Idaho National Laboratory

This past week I spent a couple of days touring the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), formerly known as the INEL, with a group of fellow business development professionals. It was an interesting tour of the facilities, research labs and site. The focus was primarily on acquainting us with the various projects and technologies currently under development at INL that are and could become available for commercial licensing and development.

I came away with a much greater understanding of the array and magnitude of work they do there – not only nuclear research, but everything from biotechnology to bioenergy to homeland security. In addition, I happened upon a couple of areas of interest that might benefit the City of Sun Valley in some of its work in transportation and energy conservation which I will share with my colleagues here.

Obviously there are serious existing environmental concerns at the INL. John Grossenbacher, Director of the INL, discussed these with us. They seem to be taking these “sins of the past” as he calls them seriously and commit a significant portion of their annual budget to the cleanup effort. There was also a lengthy discussion about future technology development at INL which could have impacts on our environment and the future of nuclear power. The October, 2006 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine had an article which covered the subject. Here is a link to the October, 2006 Popular Mechanics article.

A stop at the Reactor Technology Complex was quite an occasion. At that complex we were able to look directly into an actual operating nuclear reactor called the Advanced Test Reactor described in the article mentioned above. That was an experience I will never forget!

Photo: Popular Mechanics -October, 2006

If you are driving the highway between Arco and Idaho Falls, take the time to stop and visit the EBR-1 site that is open to the general public. In 1951 it became the first power plant to produce electricity using atomic energy. It has been nicely restored as a historical site and is well worth the stop, although it is not quite like looking into an operating reactor. The kids will enjoy it too.