Orange County NC Website
12 <br /> HRC Comments:There was no direct social justice or racial equity component demonstrated. Cedar Falls Park is <br /> in a relatively white community. <br /> CFE Comments:While CFE reviewers liked the concept of replacing high energy consumption lights with LEDs, <br /> and the idea of investing in a highly used public park, the cost per unit impact of this project is high.This <br /> application does not leverage funds or partnerships very well compared to the town's other applications. <br /> The financial benefit of the project includes an estimated $97,150 in utility bill savings plus $99,510 in avoided <br /> maintenance costs over the 25 year lifetime of the LEDs.This nearly adds up to the total project cost of <br /> $220,000. Any economic development will result from local purchasing of the LEDs, and preference will be given <br /> to minority/women owned businesses. Awareness about the project will be shared with the town residents and <br /> park users, which can have a positive impact. <br /> The plan is well-developed and easily implemented and the Town of Chapel Hill has the capacity to bring the <br /> project to a successful conclusion. <br /> Applicant is asking for a large amount of funding, and balancing the benefits of this project with the other <br /> proposals,the CFE is recommending partial funding for this project using the remaining funds after the higher- <br /> ranked projects are funded. With more than 50%of project costs covered by this grant, the Town may still be <br /> able to complete most or all of this project through the use of Duke Energy Incentives to reduce the total project <br /> cost as well as the large expected lifetime cost savings in reduced energy bills and maintenance expenses. <br /> #7 Ranked Project— Orange County Eco-Innovation Park <br /> Applicant (Collaborators): Forest Foundation (Green Oil Company, LLC; Greenway Transit Services, LLC; and <br /> Carolina Biodiesel, LLC) <br /> Cost Estimate: $700,000 <br /> Recommended Funding Level: $0 <br /> Total Score(Out of 25 pts): 12.3 <br /> Project Description: "Orange County Eco-Innovation Park(OCEIP) is an innovation and entrepreneurship <br /> incubation park of collaborative businesses and organizations, based on renewable energy, waste biomass and <br /> plant derived economies.Together they create a "tool chest" of options for sustainable economic development <br /> and training, that can be replicated and appropriately scaled in other communities.At it's core is the GOAL <br /> Model, developed from 2004-18 in a HOPE VI Community of color in East Durham. GOAL is a decentralized, <br /> closed-loop, multi-nodal,waste-to-fuel-to-transportation, renewable energy system; designed to allow many <br /> renewable or recycled waste, or plant-derived business strategies to be added. By doing so, one businesses' <br /> waste stream becomes the feedstock of another, overhead and expenses are shared and lowered and resiliency <br /> is increased." <br /> "We would like to use grant funds to: first, assist in permitting hurdles for utilizing our site as a green business <br /> incubator and demonstration site; second,to improve the property energy efficiency, such as lighting, solar hot <br /> water and biofuel infrastructure; and third,to install some sustainable technology to increase income, efficiency <br /> and resiliency that can be demonstrated, scaled and replicated." <br />