Bio-en CLC Minutes, 7 January 2014

These minutes were mirrored on 2 March 2014 from http://www.bio-en.ca/meetings/Jan7_2014minutes.pdf (PDF file, 127.8 kBytes).

CLC Meeting January 7, 2014- Minutes

1. Call to Order

   Earl Brubacher called to order the meeting of the CLC in Meeting Room 1 at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira at 7:00pm.

2. Roll Call

   The following persons were present:
   Earl Brubacher, Marg Tassy Kreller, Robert Musselman, Earl Martin, Kevin Martin, Doug Thomas, Bob Gray

   Absent: Jerry Heidburt, Michael Purves-Smith .

3. Approval of minutes of September 10, 2013 meeting

   Earl Brubacher presented the minutes and asked if there were any comments or questions.

   Questions & Comments: none

   Motion to accept the minutes – Doug Thomas, seconded by Robert Musselman. Carried

4. Woolwich Bi-En – Construction update

   Earl Brubacher advised that buildings are almost complete, with some roofing to be finished. Last tank is almost ready for the gas dome installation. Electrical, gas work and piping work are the major items to be done. Generator building is complete; testing is ongoing with electrical as various tests with Waterloo North Hydro and Hydro One to ensure proper synchronization and connection to the grid. Generators are not running, expect to start engines in early February (using natural gas) to continue testing. Hydro One is completing upgrade work on the hydro substation.

   First fill of the digester is scheduled for March 1. Digester needs to be 75%-80% full (approx 3000 m³) to provide sufficient volume for methane gas production.

   Various inspections need to be completed:

   • Township of Woolwich – building inspection
   • TSSA – Biogas plant approval (new- this will be the first biogas plant to be approved under the TSSA)
   • CSA – approval required for the biogas plant
   • MOE – approval requirements
   • Electricians, Waterloo North Hydro, Hydro One will work together for the various electrical inspections and approvals.
   • Ontario Energy Board – licensing and approval
   • Ontario Power Authority (OPA) – require a third party audit to validate construction meets requirements
   • CFIA – approval required for fertilizer digestate
   • Feedstock testing – all sources need to be tested prior to being received
   • Canada Weights & Measures – to certify the weigh scale
   • Lightening protection – first biogas plant in North America with lightening protection required (7000 biogas plants in Europe operating without lightening protection)
   • Department of Labour – Safety Training
     • The two operators have been sent to Germany for system and safety training
     • Operators have taken WHMIS, first aid, arc flash, etc. training over the past two months
     • The Austrian engineers will be on-site during the commissioning to provide additional training for the operators

   Site tour – Date?

   The committee members asked Earl Brubacher when the site tour could be arranged. Discussion followed as to the appropriate time to provide a site tour. Robert Musselman indicated interest in visiting the site when it is in operation. Chuck Martin indicated that as site tour prior to operation would allow people to see inside tanks and digester to View the augers and agitators, which would not be possible after it is in operation. Currently the site is still a construction site, so safety is an issue.

   Earl suggested the site tour be set near the next CLC meeting. Tentative date set for Saturday March 1, 2014 at 9:00am, for CLC members only.

   CLC Letter of Credit

   The CLC is not a legal entity, and the bank needs to have a name to draft the letter of credit to the benefit of a legal entity. Various questions were discussed
   Does the CLC need to be a legal entity?
   Can the LC be made to the benefit of the Township, “in trust for” the CLC?
   Does the CLC need to register as a business name?
   Will a bank account be required?
   Would incorporating the CLC make sense?
   What, if any, additional government reporting might be required?

   Doug Thomas volunteered to investigate further with the Township to see how the LC could be accommodated.

   Chuck Martin advised that Woolwich Township Council raised the point that the Chemtura committee is a committee of Council and as such they have certain responsibilities, but the CLC is not appointed by Township Council, so the Township has no obligation to do anything with respect to the LC.

   Earl Brubacher suggested that the CLC might be able to create a trust, administered by a lawyer. Marg Tassy-Kreller suggested that a “tontine” might allow for funds to be raised and passed in future to the benefit of the CLC regardless of what individuals comprise the CLC.

   Earl Brubacher and Chuck Martin agreed to look into various options and present to the CLC at the next meeting.

5. Other Business:

   Bob Gray asked if anything will be done to lessen the visual impact of the site from neighbouring properties, in light of tree damage inflicted by the recent ice storm.

   Earl B. advised that some tree planting as part of the site plan. Chuck Martin indicated that the trees that came down were not on the site property, but were on Elmira Pet Products property. required.

   Robert Musselman asked if the committee should consider options for raising the 50% matching funds in the event that some technical review is required? Chuck Martin indicated that while the Woolwich Township Council was not in a position to provide a letter of credit for the matching funds, they would prefer to review with any requests for funding on an individual item by item request basis, as opposed to a carte blanche basis. Marg Tassy-Kreller concurred that the Township was uncomfortable with not knowing what the funds might be expended on.

   A suggestion was made that it would be a good idea for the CLC to have a small pool of funds, $2000-$4000, available to pursue technical review. However, once funds are raised, a bank account would be required, and in order to open a bank account a legal entity or name is required. Doug Thomas indicated that this issue feeds back into the creation of a legal entity for the CLC.

   Kevin Martin asked who will be the beneficiaries of the efforts or results of any technical review, and could they be approached to contribute the matching funds?

   Bob Jonkman, member of the public, suggested that the CLC should investigate how much it might cost to perform an odour or sound study in order to have an idea of the possible amount of funds required. Robert Musselman volunteered to gather some information.

   Doug Thomas raised the issue of noise from the generator engines. Chuck Martin advised that visiting an existing operational generator would provide a sense of potential noise generation – Leamington, Hanover. Chuck further added that the experience in Hanover is that the most noise is generated by the fans in the summer.

   Doug raised the issue of truck noise once the biogas plant is operational, indicating that the biogas truck traffic will be in addition to the existing Elmira Pet Product truck traffic. Chuck Martin noted that the volume of truck traffic generated to the biogas plant is small in comparison to the existing truck volume.

6. Next Meeting:
   Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 7:00pm

   Location – to be determined, but most likely Meeting Room #1 Woolwich Memorial Community Centre

   The public are welcome to all meetings.

7. Adjournment

   Earl Brubacher adjourned the meeting at 7:55pm.