Energy Discussions — Energy was a recurring topic at Monday’s Follansbee committee meeting, where Mayor David Velegol Jr. briefly touched on plans for a medical waste recycling facility and the committee is updating solar-powered street lights that are being tested near city buildings.- Warren Scott
FOLLANSBEE — Plans for a medical waste recycling plant, possibly adding solar street lights, were among the items considered by the Follansbee committee on Monday.
Mayor David Velegol said there appeared to be a generally positive response from public officials and others who toured the riverfront property being developed by Empire Diversified Energy on Wednesday as a multimodal Intermodal port.
But he said the company’s plans to build a medical waste recycling plant had raised some public attention, which he said was the result of a misunderstanding about the operation of the proposed facility.
”It’s not incineration. It’s a closed system that produces no emissions,” Villegor said, adding that it will generate electricity for the port or elsewhere.
Contacted for comment, Empire Diversified Energy president Scotty Ewusiak also said the operation did not involve incineration, but said there were plans to release more information he hoped would help those with concerns feel more at ease.
The Follansbee Council recently approved a building permit for a 3,000-square-foot facility on the site of the former Koppers factory, which is designed to convert waste into energy using a process called pyrolysis.
Licenses for such facilities are issued through the state Department of Health and Human Resources’ Infectious Medical Waste Program.
Donna Goby-Michael, an official with the program, said no applications had been submitted for the Flansby facility, but if there were, there would be a period of public comment.
Among other operations, city manager Jack McIntosh answered questions about the recently installed solar street lights outside the city building on the corner of Main and Penn streets.
McIntosh said an attempt is being made to determine whether other solar street lights could be used to replace the 72 street lights along Main Street from Allegheny Street to Duquesne Street.
McIntosh said the lights seemed to be dimmer at times, and he said the intensity of the lights could be adjusted, and he had lowered it from 100% to 30%, which seemed appropriate.But he added that the light is equipped with a motion sensor that increases brightness when someone or something approaches.
The city manager said the solar cells can be stored for up to four days to accommodate cloudy days.
The light is also different from the city’s existing street lights because it’s aimed below rather than outward, McIntosh said.
To address some of the streetlights that are not working properly, the City Council has approved replacing streetlights with traditional streetlights from Allegheny Street to Ohio Street.
City officials had hoped to dig trenches along Main to replace the old line and mend those areas of the street, which are part of Interstate 2.
But state highway officials said the city had to resurface entire sections of the road, leading city officials to consider removing and replacing the sidewalks under the old street lights.
Mayor David Velegol Jr. noted that about $1 million in federal U.S. rescue program funding awarded to the city has been allocated to streetlights, which will also be equipped with internet boosters.
≤ McIntosh suggested that the city’s water bill may need to be increased by $5 or $6 per 1,000 gallons to offset the roughly $400,000 in lost revenue from the closure of the Mountain State Carbon plant, which is a major customer.
He added that state regulations require the sewerage department to allocate 12.5 percent of its budget to a working capital fund, while Velegol noted the city’s water meters need to be replaced.
Villegor said the city was lucky that U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (RW.Va.) was able to allocate $10.2 million to upgrade the city’s wastewater treatment system.
The mayor said the weekly plan includes two food trucks: one with a variety of foods that will be featured each week, and one with a variety of “secondary” trucks.
He added that he hopes to announce a contributor to the Ray Stoaks Plaza expansion in the next two weeks.
≤ McIntosh opened two bids for City Building’s billing software.To be reviewed by the city manager at a later date, the apparent bids are: $145,400 from Software Solutions of Dayton, Ohio and $125,507 from Mountaineer Computer Systems of Lewisburg, WV.
≤ City Clerk David Kurcina asked when signs banning semi-tractor trailers would be posted in residential areas in Districts 3 and 4, adding that he made the request in October.
City Police Chief Larry Rea said signs and other signs to provide directions for truck drivers have been discussed together, but the “No Semifinals” sign could appear in the near future.
Post time: Jun-22-2022
