001Yeah. Yep. Okay. All >> right. Good evening, East Hampton Town uh school board. Uh we are streaming on uh YouTube. Phone lines are open. Meeting is being recorded. You may begin. >> Thank you very much. Welcome. Can I have a motion to call the meeting to order? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? Please rise. To the flag of the United States of America and to the stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you all very much. >> Over to >> Yes. So, uh, LTV, you can let our presenters into the meeting. >> Okay. I'm admitting them now. >> Sam, would you like to introduce uh >> Sure. I'll wait for them to be admitted and then [clears throat] >> Okay. So, uh, as
002[clears throat] the board will remember, we, uh, contracted with a, uh, an engineering firm called Wendell, uh, which has done a feasibility study for us in terms of converting to an electric bus fleet, which is going to be mandatory under the the laws currently in place that by the end of 2027, we will not be able to purchase any diesel-powered or gas powered vehicles. I should mention also, Glen, your director of transportation is with us this evening. Glad to work with Greg Coell and I worked with Wendell for them to uh uh conduct this study which has gone on for a number of months. There are some uh important limitations and uh expenses that uh Adam and Brad are going to go over with you this evening. The board I think has all received a
003copy of their study which is quite lengthy. Uh and that study is going to be shared with the state education department uh so that they understand some of the concerns that we will have in spending. So Adam and Brad, are you guys there? >> Yes, we are. How are you Sam? Thank you. >> The floor is yours. >> Excellent. I think Brad's going to share his screen here. I'll start us off. So thank you everyone for the opportunity. Um, you know, again, we're presenting on the findings that we got from conducting our battery electric bus, uh, zero emission vehicle study for East Hampton. Um, it's really focused on kind of the technical approach, the limitations, what's feasible, what's not. Um, I will go through a little bit of an agenda here. Um, again, we are
004not the state of New York. Um, but we are going to present on kind of the situation as it stands for East Hampton. Um, so again, this is uh, you know, our presentation here, Brad. Thank you, sir. Um, so as an agenda item, again, we're going to go over who we are just shortly. Um, the mandate, some key dates that they talk about and were focused on. Um, we're going to go over a little bit of the analysis findings. Um, to Sam's point, uh, there was a lot of work that went into [clears throat] this. There's a lot of analysis, there's a lot of data collection, there's a lot of working with the different parties at hand to make um and understand what this transition would look like. Um and really today we just have
005a highle presentation that shows what some of those results are. Um so again about the bus routes, the types of vehicles, the sizes, the chargers, etc. Um the power availability from PSEG as your local utility. Um, and then we we broke out basically concept plans, some highlevel design drawings, um, and we phased that out into a couple different phases of how you could go about this transition for your site. And we have an associated cost. Um, and then we have kind of an economics summary at the end of this. So that's what our presentation focuses on. Um, again to Sam's point, I'm Adam Calfman. Um, I am an associate principal at Wendell. Um, and I basically supported Brad through this process and through this project. >> And yeah, quick introduction. I'm Brad Flanigan. I was
006the project manager here. Um, so good working with you guys. >> Thank you. Thank you. Um, yeah, so who is Wendell shortly? Um, Wendell is a full-ervice architecture and engineering firm, energy efficiency and construction management. Um, we are a nationwide firm. We have 16 offices and 300 going on 400 employees now. Um again, we started in that little hut on the bottom left or middle left and now our office is headquartered in Williamsville, Buffalo. Um we are we do a lot of work in the state of New York. Um we have five offices um that are kind of throughout the state. Our local office in Long Island is in Hop Hog. Um and that's where I work out of. So, uh, you know, why are we here? Why are we doing this? The state has
007[clears throat] a has a mandate to transition for school districts throughout the state to battery electric or they call it zero emission vehicles. Um, zero emission really leaves you with either hydrogen or battery electric buses. And there's not really available hydrogen bus products on the market today. So our study focuses on the battery electric bus products and chargers that are available. Um focusing on two of the key dates which people may be aware of. Um there is a 2027 date that's for all excuse me sorry. Um so there is a 2027 date that is for all new school bus purchases are to be zero emission or battery electric. um that date does have a a an extension that you can apply for. A 2-year extension um that they are planning to release the paperwork for
008that in January 5th was the latest that we heard. Um so Sam, we will keep you posted as that comes out. Uh but right now that date is 2027 with an extension that could be coming out very shortly. Um, and the main date, the really kind of the the end date that they're focused on right now is 2035 where the mandate is for the entire school bus fleet to be zero emission or battery electric. Um, so again, the state has basically tasked NAERTA, that's who we partnered with and who helped supported and funded this study. Um, NAERTA is the New York State Research and Development Authority. Um, and they're really tasked by the state to provide technical assistance to schools to be able to understand what this transition would look like. Um, so again, they
009they worked closely with with Wendell, the Wendell team, Brad and I, um, and overseeing kind of the the technical approach we take, the analysis results, and they do a lot of data collection. Not only is the study for East Hampton, the study is for NAERTA so that they can help communicate to the state barriers for particular districts and feasibility, cost, etc. And at this point, I'm going to pass it on to Brad. This gets into more of the results of the study. Um, again, what's on the screen is like buses and chargers, and Brad, it's all yours. Passing it to you. >> Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. So to Adam's point to go over, you know, we went through the study with East Hampton specifically. What are the results of this? So we collected from you
010guys all of your existing buses and the existing routes that they take daily. Um, and we put them into our calculations. We model them against the available buses in the industry and the chargers and we say what is feasible at this time. One note on that, we are modeling for the coldest day of the year. So a cold day in January, we're modeling for 8 to 10 years down the road when the batteries degraded 10%. We're look we're using best charging practices, which is not to go above 90% or below 10% on your chargers. All that to say is we've built in all these um efficiencies to make sure that when we say that the buses can go these these distances, they actually can. and they're not going to get stuck out on the road.
011So for East Hampton, you have 16 existing route buses. Of those 16 route buses, eight of the buses are feasible with today's technology. That also leaves eight buses that are not feasible with today's battery sizes. As you can see in the top chart here, we show which buses would be needed to complete each of the routes with those eight buses split out here into the no current replacements where you're going to see six of those and then no anticipated replacements which are two additional. the no current replacement. How we deal with those is those have been pushed in our phasing plan towards closer to 2035 and we anticipate that bus batteries of those sizes will become available over the mandate period. Then the two buses that we don't anticipate there being a replacement in that
012mandate period, we've marked off here and all of these data points as Adam mentioned we're going to highlight. we're going to send to NAERTA and they're going to know that East Hampton has two routes that we don't anticipate the bus sizes becoming available at all throughout the mandate period. Six additional routes that are not currently available with today's in today's marketplace >> effectively means buying additional buses and splitting the routes, right? >> So, that is a possible option, but that's not what we wanted to look into here and that's not what we want to model. Um, we'll see as we go along. you know, this is the intention of this is to model as is today. So, we're not splitting routes. We're not suggesting that um as we go further along in this mandate, as
013Adam alluded to earlier, there there's potential to get waiverss and to um you know, to have exceptions to the mandate. Um that's more of a state decision and an assertive decision. So, for the sake of this study though, we did not mess with any of your routes. we did not split any of your routes. A >> and just to add to that, so um a couple things. One, this is worst case scenario. So on a normal day, those buses may be able to drive those routes. Um again, if it was 70° outside or in most situations, again, we study it as a design day, a most stressful day. Um, and just to the breaking up the routes, to Brad's point, that's not like our goal of this study and what we are tasked and paid
014to do is not to start breaking up particular routes to make them work or not. That is more of kind of a route construction approach. But what I will say is that, you know, you can't if there's a route that is 40 m long and you drive out 40 m and back 40 m, you can't break that up. That's one route that's just very long. In other cases, to your point, you may be able to split this up and drive it with two buses, but again, to Brad's point, not the focus of what we did here in terms of route construction. >> Yep. Um, and then on the bottom table here, you can see the charger sizes. So, depending on the the the length of the routes and the time available to charge, um, we've
015proposed the the charger sizes as well. Here, this slide just highlights those eight buses that we just mentioned. So, the two on the bottom here, which show the buses we don't anticipate to becoming available, and the other six. So, this shows the distance of those routes in the middle here. And then the minimum bus size required. So, as more buses we anticipate coming onto the market, we can see what would be required battery size-wise to complete the routes needed. The next step of our study was to look at the utility requirements. So, PSCG being your electric utility, we reached out to them um and we provided them the peak demand that would be required to make this transition. So we modeled hour by hour for the coldest month of the year. Um how much power
016would be needed for each hour and what is the maximum the peak power needed and we provided that to the utility and we asked them can you provide this power to the site and what would it cost. So PSCG actually came out to site, they did an analysis, they determined that they can provide the power to the site and it would cost this roughly $40,000 to um install a utility transformer for this new service. Next up, just to briefly touch on some of the incentives that are available. Um the main incentives you'll see are NAERTA incentives, which um this specific one is the NISBIP New York State bus incentive program school bus voucher. So based on the type of bus, there's a base amount for the voucher and then a couple add-ons here. The hope
017and the goal of NAERTA is to help alleviate the cost differential between these battery electric buses and what you're currently spending on your diesel buses. Um, you'll see in a couple slides here, it does not fully make up that difference, but it helps to bridge the gap there. Next up, similarly on the charger side of things, voucher per charger that you install. Um, so [clears throat] the base voucher being $25,000 and then by completing a fleet electrification plan, which is this that we're going over right now, you guys now qualify for an additional $30,000 per charger. So for each charger installed, you'll get $55,000 of incentives. >> One last incentive to touch on here. This is a utility incentive. So PSEG has a make ready program they call it. So, this is to help you
018with upgrades needed on the utility side of the meter as well as on the customer side of the meter to make the upgrades to the infrastructure to provide the additional power that you need. Next up, I just want to show you the um Adam alluded to the the concept and phasing plans that we have. So, we phased this out from 2027 through 2035 to help break up the costs and the implementation. So, right here, you're looking at the concept plan for phase one. So, in this phase one concept plan, you can see we're going to be um installing all of the major equipment and infrastructure upgrades. So, starting at the existing utility pole, we're going to be putting wiring and conduit to a new utility transformer that I just talked about on the other page.
019Mhm. >> We're [clears throat] going to be putting a new diesel backup generator as well as a fire pump building because we do include fire protection as part of this plan. And then the switchboards, switch gears, and the wiring to the actual buses and chargers themselves, which in phase one would be five buses and their associated chargers. As I just mentioned, fire protection we include in phase one high level here. This is introducing additional fire hydrants to the site outdoors and then additional water flow and sprinkler systems for the interior maintenance. Now you're looking at phase two. So the buses that we've already installed and all of the equipment is here and now we're just adding buses and chargers along as we go. So this is adding nine more chargers and their associated buses in
020phase two. And then phase three is an additional 13 chargers and buses to finish out the fleet here. [clears throat] Now we get into the fun part which is you know how much does all of this cost? So, we put together this economic summary here, and it's a lot going on, but essentially, we split it up by these three phases. So, we've got phase one over here, which is what I'll focus on first. Um, [clears throat] looking at phase one here, again, we've got the five chargers and six buses. The reasoning that there's one more bus is that one of these chargers is actually a 2:1 charger. So, it's one charger that has two dispensers that can plug into two buses. And what we see here is we have all of the incentives that we
021talked about. So we've got the NIS NISBIP charger voucher. We've got the PSEG make ready programs [clears throat] here. >> We have the bus voucher as well. And then we have that fire protection that we talked about too. Down here we can see the overall costs of this phase one implementation. So the cost with incentives is a little over $3 million. And we also include the comparison here to the diesel bus costs for just purchasing six of those buses. You'll notice as we go on in this transition, phase 1, phase 2, phase 3, some of the incentive values start to drop off. So for the total phase three value here, you'll see we're you know we don't have as much incentive value and that is because we've got some incentives that are have a cap
022on them for so for instance this NISBIP bus voucher you get the first 10 buses with those incentives as of today's um incentive program and then that would drop off. So I point that out to say, you know, these first couple steps are more heavily incentivized right now. That's not to say there will not be more incentives down the road, but these incentives are available now and they are first come, first serve as as it currently stands. So this is a snapshot of from today. The other thing I'd like to point out is the costs that we're showing in future phases. So for example, phase 3 costs over here, we do have 6% of escalation in here to anticipate future costs. So future dollar values. So for instance, this one's about 10 years out. This
023has 60% um of uh escalation involved in it as well. So just wanted to point that out. In terms of schedule, this is an example schedule. This is not specifically for East Hampton. Um, but I want to point this out because there's a couple items here that have long lead times with delivery. So, transformer delivery, we're looking at around 12 months. And then switch gears, you know, anywhere from 12 to 18 months we're seeing currently. So, I point this out just to say um you know, even if you're not planning on implementing this tomorrow, this is something that um you kind of got to keep on the radar because um [clears throat] as you can see, we're a couple years out from even having you know all of this infrastructure on site installed, ready to
024go. >> What happens when everyone every district in um the state starts trying to buy these electric buses at the same time and now we can't get them? That is a good question and I would anticipate that when that starts to happen these lead times will probably increase even more >> and the cost also >> better question is what happens if you don't do it. [clears throat] >> So I I'll I'll go to the first one for a second. I'll get to the second one as well. [laughter] So >> no no no on on the second one. So the carrot and the stick approach they haven't really um gotten into so much detail in terms of language. Um, I know that what they're talking about right now is is pulling aid, right? So, districts that
025are more heavily aided would obviously be more um, you know, under pressure essentially by the state than districts that are less aided. Um, I think like the actual and formal penalty language hasn't come out yet to be really clear and frank about it. Um, but the talk on the street right now is very related to to state aid. Um, so one that's two cents. That's not that's from someone that doesn't work for the state and has no say over what the penalty or um you know um >> no I'm not giving you not directly giving you a hard time. I just it's a question in my mind that it's like >> sure >> I don't know. I'm looking at the math really quick of what we get for state. I think we might come out
026ahead if we don't [laughter] I don't know. >> Seriously, >> right? I mean it's pretty close. >> Joking, right? >> It's pretty close. Anyway, no, you don't have to answer my question. >> I think we'll refrain from that one. Don't worry. >> Sorry. >> I'll let you go too long. >> So, wait. What was this? What was the first question again? You guys threw me off. [laughter] >> No. I was just saying if you don't do it, what would >> No, no, no, no. I got your question. [clears throat] question. >> Oh, my question was, you know, when the deadline hits and and every district in New York State starts trying to buy these electric buses, there's going to be a shortage, which is going to increase the price. Um, everyone's going to be out
027of compliance. So, those bus figures are really going to have to go up a little bit, right? >> Well, I I I think in terms of bus costs, right, you get to economies of scale. Right now, these buses are are much more expensive than diesel buses for a reason because not a lot of people are buying them. And as you get to more um you know, more production essentially, you get to bring down cost. They're estimating that that cost will actually come down over time, right? When you get to um you know, more being produced on a regular basis. So, in terms of cost, in terms of availability, right now these buses are much more available today. to your point as if every district was to move and buy their whole fleet at the same
028time, I'm sure you would have backlog. But I will tell you today it's actually the opposite issue where buying a diesel bus can take a lot longer than buying an electric bus. Um, so from both times it might, you know, probably less obvious in terms of, you know, the expected outcome of those things happening. So again, economies of scale brings cost down. And in terms of availability, electric bus availability is is is actually you can get them quicker than their diesel counterparts today. Again, based on how fast each district moves, that could change. Um, but as of right now, they're they're more available. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So then yeah talking kind of next steps for East Hampton where do you guys go from here? So if you were to say you know phase
029one design that we were looking at you want to implement that we're looking at a design of about 4 months and then probably total about 2 years until the fleet is operating um and everything's installed. you're going the other option or an a potential alternative that you know what's can actually be feasible is what we call a pilot. Um this we are implementing pilots with other districts. There's also several other um districts that we're kind of getting into this process with as well. Um we recognize you guys don't have $3 million sitting around to implement phase one. So in terms of what's a kind of achievable small first step that you can take that's where this pilot comes in. So for instance um district upstate we're working with Gwanda and they are doing a two
030bus two charger pilot. Um so if we were to do a two bus two charger pilot what does that do? It allows us to avoid the significant capital costs that are involved with infrastructure upgrades and fire protection. And what we would do is we would just connect these chargers to your existing electrical um infrastructure. The reason that works is because you do have some available electrical infrastructure. So we could actually implement these two chargers and reduce the cost here significantly on this phase one. We can still get the aid here. So the $55,000 per charger. And then on the bus side, same thing. We could get two buses, which again costs more out of the gate than your diesel buses, but we also get that >> four times more >> bus voucher. And then when
031we look at kind of the total cost down here and what we're, you know, what we would come out at, we're at about 288,000 for implementing the two chargers. And when you compare that to, you know, what you would pay for the existing diesel buses, it's a lot more digestible, a lot closer. So, what's the benefit of doing this is one, it allows you, like I said, to take that kind of small step into it um for not a ton of cap additional capital cost. It allows you to start to, you know, technology. Obviously, there are going to be operational there's going to be maintenance differences with electric buses versus your diesel buses. You can start training drivers as well. Um, so in terms of, you know, Wendell, us being an adviser to you guys,
032I'm not going to sit here and tell you you need to come up with $3 million right now. But in terms of if you're looking to move forward and kind of start to get into this because, you know, we do see that this is not going to go away. There may be an opportunity to push it a year or two. Um, but this transition is getting pushed by the state. And how do you prepare for it? Um, something like this pilot would be a good kind of first step to to get your feet wet into it. >> How many districts do you have signing on for the pilot? Do you have I mean I don't know how far I know we're one of probably this all the state districts had to do it. Are you
033getting any bites? >> Yes. So, I believe we have I know we have I think two to three that we are in design build with currently and then I'd say there's a handful to a dozen more that are we're kind of working through the steps of contracting for it. >> Thank you. >> Yep. And we can also um you know we can provide some sweet home in upstate. We actually built their pilot. Um, Adam, I don't I forget off the top of my head how many chargers that was, but >> that was a three three charger pilot and we're installing eight more now. >> Yeah. So, those first three are actually up and running and operational, too. So, you know, we can provide you some some case study information from that if you're interested. So,
034if I can just jump in for for a minute, that there [clears throat] is a private bus company that services schools on a contract basis in Western Suffach, which probably has the most number of electric buses of anybody in Suffach County. I think they have 10 electric buses. So, I I'm not aware of any other district that has started this so far. I know they're talking about next steps. I think we want to maybe consider letting some of the technology develop a little more and seeing what some other districts do uh before we you know seeing how this bus company private bus company's experience further. Yeah, for sure. And yeah, to your point, Sam, you know, this is not you need to do it now or you can't do it. You know, if you guys
035sit on this for 6 months or a year and you know, as you're kind of again, trusted adviser, we're here for if you guys have questions along the way over the next couple of years, as we get more mandate news, as we get more um news on the the industry and the electric buses, we're going to keep you guys in the loop. So, um, you know, this doesn't need to be a today thing, but just as a first option to keep in mind if and when, um, you guys decide you're you're kind of looking into this more. Um, just as a more digestible first step here. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank [clears throat] you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I think that's all I've got. Adam, if
036you have anything to add. Um, >> I thought you did perfect. Yeah, I just appreciate the opportunity, guys, and the time. Um, again, we will keep you posted as we hear more um that comes out from a legislative perspective. Um, and obviously Sam will keep you posted as um, you know, any of the waiver or application information comes out. >> I will sorry. >> Uh, just just to say, you know, if there are other questions or comments, you know, again, we're we're very open. It doesn't have to be right here right now. if if if it's after the fact as well, um feel free to reach out to us. Again, we're we're pretty responsive here. So, um whatever you guys need, we're we're happy to help. >> Thank you very much for that. We'll probably
037have more. >> Thank you. >> Perfect. Thank you everyone. Take care. Have a great night. Okay. >> You too. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Bye. >> So, the board want to make a comment on this because I have like a million thoughts in my head. [laughter] I don't even know why we're here. Yeah. Honestly, this is insane. This is insane. >> 8 million. >> It was I saw a figure 15 at the end. I don't even know. But this makes zero sense. >> And if we get halfway through it and then they decide, well, maybe that's not a good idea. We shouldn't have done it first. >> Well, then the technology changes even more and now we have to start. >> But on top of that, >> it's changing so quickly. >> Just to go
038back a little bit, last year was it Adam? Did we had the demo? We had a demo bus. So the public should know. We had a demo bus come here. >> I rode on it with bunch of our our staff and some board members and it got back to the front of the building and then they had to have it towed back to wherever it went came from because it couldn't make it back. It couldn't make it back to where it came from. So why are we like have like sort of like the pressure to do this the technology >> I think the words that he used that are that and again there are consultants they're not the same. That's why I wait till they know. >> I think the idea that may they use
039the word may get there may do this may get I think to me you know I operate certainties and making sure kids get to school safely and get home safely and how do I tell principles you know you're going to put a kid on the bus or you're going to wait for kids and they're not going to get you or you're Kathy I'm going to send kids to Harbor Fields and they're not going to get there and they're going to break down on the expressway. My mechanics are not trained in electric buses. We're talking about, you know, bonds out and building for our drivers. >> No, you're talking about taxpayer money to build up this infrastructure. Now, look, these are these continued unfunded mandates. It It's very interesting the amount of the the incentives when
040it comes to, you know, the buses because you know what are the buses, Sam? 400 >> more than 400,000. >> What's an average diesel bus? >> 145 to 160. >> And that assumes that the incentives continue. This is the part finisher that worries me. There's nothing that says the state can't say we're short on money this year so we can't offer the incentives but you still continue to provide the buses. >> So, you know, that's one of the the problems that concerns me, >> the fact that [clears throat] technology doesn't exist. >> Uh, you know, and that it's largely approved >> if they're going to if they're going to connect this with aid, say, you know, that that topic came up and JP brought it up. How much how much state aid do we >>
041three million? We don't get a lot. We don't get a lot. >> No, >> we don't get a lot. >> I mean, we don't want to lose it either. That's not my That's not >> We still don't get a lot as far as helping. >> No, but we shouldn't even have to have this conversation is my point. I mean, you know, our elected officials and maybe everybody needs to write to them and say, "What are you thinking? What are you thinking?" I understand the intent. The intent behind it is great. It's for the environment. It's for sustainability. It's for all those good things, >> but and that's terrific, but technology is not there. Why can't we let technology be so wonderful that we have to have it? >> And we would we would want it
042if it was that good. We would say, "Hey, we want [clears throat] those electric buses. They're the best, you know, performing bus that's out there." And, you know, I don't know, maybe they're not cheaper. Okay, we can have that conversation. But when you have one, >> they have to work. We can't have kids, you know, be breaking down, not doing the roots. >> They're not reliable. And one >> the roots are not sustainable, >> right? Look at look at upstate New York. I mean, you're taking about New York State. Look at upstate New York where people in rural areas had to travel over mountains and stuff. How do that electric bus work from there? You know, I mean, we're kind of lucky on one hand. We just have to go, you know, one, you know,
043in one direction, a long distance and back. Some [clears throat] some don't have to do that. But this is just in it doesn't make any sense. >> Our diesel buses are running just as clean >> that they've ever run. I mean, the emissions are right where they need to be. So we say that, you know, >> using all the electric to power our electric buses is probably dirtier than running our diesel buses. >> And we have to put a new diesel, >> new diesel generator at the transportation facility to charge our electric bus. I mean, [laughter] >> this infrastructure is transportation center, not smart, >> right? they kind of, you know, it's going to we're probably going to have to put a building at the property edge on the road because I I just don't
044think we're going to have room for it anywhere else. And so that's going to be an impact in the community. I know we value our green space here and things as rightfully we should. There's going to be significant impact and it's charges are going to take up room. The other the other issue that we have to think about is some of our you know some of my counterparts in the districts have talked about oh well you know you'll have to charge when you go to another another place for a sports trip that assumes that they have the same type of >> which they may not have >> it's like an iPhone don't have to drive two hours like we do [laughter] and then take the next well we have a charge facility but it's not
045at a school where [clears throat] you where your athletic event is it's over at our transportation facility 15 minutes away. the whole thing. It doesn't work. And there's not enough time during the game to recharge because it takes so long >> arguing just to argue [laughter] to them that the diesel buses are tough to get >> and you could get the electric quicker because what everyone's doing is they're trying to buy up buses >> in fear of not being able to get them in another couple of years. It says a lot that they're readily available. >> What we will probably How long does it take to charge one of those buses? >> Oh, >> so if I had a bus on the road in the morning, I could not put it back on the road
046for the afternoon fully charged. >> So if I went to Harbor with a volleyball team, >> that's right. >> I'm never getting home. >> No [laughter] diesel. You're chartering a jney to get home. >> Um Adam, we're going to need extra money. We're staying overnight [laughter] district where we are strictly on electric buses. We have to have diesel buses in order to get students to where they need to be. >> Colette, let me ask you, how long have you been involved in transportation? >> 35 years. >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> You know, but you know, >> and [laughter] and not to to to beat up on these guys that did the study, but do you need a study to realize this isn't going to work? I mean I know we had to do it. >>
047The importance of the study is that the state is going to receive this study and studies from all across the state districts that are directly adjacent to us are working with Wendell and their competitors and the state is going to get these studies and say >> you know maybe this idea needs to [clears throat] prime time honestly but that and the fire the fire thing is a little disturbing too. I mean, that's a lot a lot of fire suppress. It >> that's going to do nothing. You have to submerge it. >> Yeah. You can't I'm not an expert in fire. >> It reignites for >> But also at a time when we're constantly on high alert out here, >> you know, with everything being so dry and we're at a high fire risk and then
048that's kind of scary. And there was an incident what last year at Station two years ago where we almost had evacuated because of of a battery fire that they couldn't get under control. You're putting kids and you're putting kids right on top of where the battery is. Cuz when we sat on the bus, that's where you sit. >> Could not touch any of those buses. >> You can't. And they shut down. You put that up on a lift. Everything says do not. You can't touch. Our mechanics could not mechanics. We don't want to lose them. >> I mean, we the way we are. >> And is it different equipment, too? like >> you know like we built the transportation depot with the lifts and everything that we need for today's buses. So >> is it
049would all of that have to be completely redone too? >> It would be different retraining buses completely [laughter] different maintenance >> and then the cost of replacing that. So it's you know it's a snowball that just how big are these? >> They're huge. They they they basically would take up the length if you imagine the aisle of the bus inside. It runs essentially the length of the bus in the aisle. [clears throat] It's it's quite long. It's quite heavy and the charging times. >> Yeah. >> Well, I think I think we can move on because I think no sense. >> But anyway, so we're at public comment >> for agenda items. Does anybody have a public comment? I see a few people in the in the audience. No. >> All right. So the consent agenda.
050Can I have a motion to accept the consent agenda? >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? >> The superintendent's report and recommendation resolve that the board approved the additional teaching section appointment in the subject area of secondary science effective November 10th, 2025 through in the remainder of the 202526 school year. Can I have a motion? >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> That is covering the retirement. Uh, all in favor? >> Any opposed? >> Number two, recommend the board approve the instructional appointment of Peter uh Jone to the position of Spanish teacher lead replacement. Can I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Teacher on leave cover. Peter's coming back who retired last year from East Tampa. >> Great
051teacher. Thank you, Peter. >> Yes. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? Number three, recommend the board approve the non-instructional appointment of Angelica Gonzalez to the position of par profofessional. Can I [clears throat] have a motion? >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> A second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> Any opposed? Number four, recommend the Ford re accept the the resignation of Anthony Lefountain as a DOT coordinator and approve the non-instructional appointment upgrade of Anthony Lefountain for the decision of automotive mechanic 4 effective January 1st, 2026. >> Make a motion. >> Have a motion. >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> Discussion. Congratulated. >> Well deserved. Speaking of our mechanics. Thank you. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Number five. Recommend the board accept with gratitude the following donations. I >> have
052a motion. >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> Want to elaborate anything? >> I mean it's variety of things, scholarship, build trip, the Spanish trip. So I mean the community again continues to support the kids in our programs. >> Thank you everyone. >> Wonderful. [clears throat] >> Awesome. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Number six, recommend the board approve [clears throat] the following contract agreements for the school year. Can I have a motion? >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Yeah, we looked at a few contracts obviously snow removal and everything. One, the other one's for LTV. They promised to do high definition, make us look better um when video, but that contract hadn't been looked at for decade. So, we kind of looked at it and the services they're providing
053and we're very appreciative of what LTV does for us. So, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? Number seven, recommend the board approve the budget transfers for the 202526 school year. If I have a motion, >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Standard stuff. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? Number eight. Uh recommended the board of education hereby adopts the proposed 202627 school budget development calendar. Lucky day. >> Motion. >> Make a motion. >> Second. >> All right. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Number nine. Recommended [clears throat] the board approve the first reading of the following revised policies. uh committees of the board policy number and nomination and election of board officers and duties of the president and vice president number one 1320. Do I have a
054motion? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> We need it. We need a a vote, right, Julie for that? >> Yes. >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? Number 10. Recommended the board approve the second and final reading of the district wellness policy number 5661. Do I have a motion? >> Motion. Second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? We have no new business or old business. We're back to public comment. Um, anybody in the audience have a public comment? >> LTV, do we have anybody on the line? >> No, we have no callers on the line. >> Terrific. Uh, can I have a motion to adjurnn? >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I oppose. Thank you very much. >> All right. Hey, good
055night everyone.