Integrated Infrastructure Powerpoint Introduction

Summary of the workshop's vision for Integrated Infrastructure on Cape Cod: 

SWOT Exercise Summary

(Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

Imagine Cape Cod in 2020:   What are the essential components of the physical infrastructure system that provide our basic needs?   Will we need anything more in 2020?   How have we successfully or unsuccessfully integrated our infrastructure system thus far?   What more could we do as a community, as business people, as individuals?   And how do we measure our progress in this effort to create an integrated infrastructure system?

Participants at this workshop thought about how Cape Codders might better plan, design and operate the Cape’s infrastructure system to create a sustainable community.  

   Cape Cod’s Strengths:

Natural Resources:

• Much land is already protected (Cape Cod Land Bank)
• Fisheries and aquaculture
• Good access to the water and the beaches
• Massachusetts Military Reserve (open space, resource protection)

   Drinking Water:

• Clean water supplies (for the most part drinking water doesn’t have to be treated)
• Good supply of clean water
• Good water infrastructure system (the towns are up to 80 or 85% served)

   Energy:

• Local power generation (Canal Electric Plant)
• Lots of natural sources (wind, tides, waves)

Transit:

• Accessible sea transit (Cape Cod Canal, ferries)
• Rail and existing rail bed rights-of-way
• Airports (one major and several minor)
• Route 6 as a backbone, plus other roads
• Bus service

Public Engagement:

• High level of public awareness, and high level of education

Cape Cod’s Weaknesses

Infrastructure:

• Lack of all types of infrastructure to support the existing population as well as provide for future growth
• Risk to infrastructure where it crosses the canal (vulnerability)

Wastewater:

• Lack of public wastewater infrastructure
• Heavy reliance on septic systems (our drinking water supply is our wastewater disposal location)

Telecommunications:

• Too many holes in the wireless, cellular and broadband systems
• Fiber to individual homes is not a priority for utilities (it is not provided or anticipated)

Transit:

• Need for roadway and transit infrastructure improvements on Route 6 and Route 28 (access and safety)
• Too much reliance on cars
• Need for feeder road access to Hyannis
• The ferry systems funnel everyone through our two biggest towns
• Not enough off-Cape ferry service options
• Need to improve access from the Hyannis Transportation Center to the ferry terminal
• Need to increase use of ferry as transportation to off-Cape locations
• Need for more public transportation options
• Need for more safe bicycle transit routes

Energy:

• Canal power plant (low efficiency, pollution, and fuel spill risk)
• Poor power quality, especially on the Outer Cape (brownouts)
• Lack of alternative energy sources (all energy for local use is imported)
• Need to extend the natural gas infrastructure to underserved areas

Development patterns:

• Land use patterns (sprawl, density of use, lack of diversity)
• Need for more commercial building diversity

Development:

• High cost of land
• The Cape is too developed to offer as much flexibility for development options
• Growth has already infringed on areas that should not have been developed, we need to protect what we have left.
• The coastal areas and wetlands have been over-developed
• Growth would require more expensive infrastructure to maintain our current levels of service

Seasonality:

• Leads to unoccupied seasonal buildings (which could also be viewed as a strength)
• To much dependence on seasonal livelihoods such as tourism and retail

Tourism:

• We need to manage tourism

Services:

• Decentralized system of services limits the opportunity to optimize their use efficiently

Opportunities for Cape Cod

(Suggested Action Items)

Policy:

• Cape Cod as an example in sustainable living, particularly around energy
• Change state law where necessary

Infrastructure:

• Our distributed infrastructure is an opportunity to test different options before committing public funds and human resources

Energy:

• Diversify our alternative energy infrastructure, especially given our dispersed land use patterns and town-focused political (parochial) system
• Use our waste to create energy
• Community and utility solar and wind power
• Co-locate alternative energy infrastructure (i.e. wind turbines and water pumping stations)
• Offshore and on-shore wind energy
• Hydrogen and methane capture systems
• Conservation and efficiency
• Education on energy efficiency and conservation (Cape Light Compact and Cape Cod Community College)
• Convert the Canal plant to natural gas
• Electrolysis plants and other means to store electricity
• Thermal hot water systems for domestic uses

Solid Waste:

• Strengthen our recycling programs, including the use of incentives (composting, bottles, renegotiate SEMASS contracts)
• Encourage our renewables industry sector
• Convert our solid waste into energy

Natural Resources:

• Encourage green construction, build a demonstration “green house” in a prominent location
• Protect and conserve our natural resources, they are needed to protect drinking water, the economy, air quality, etc.
• Restore coastal water quality with new wastewater infrastracture
• Look at our ecosystems as potential wastewater infrastructure, and use new technologies to take advantage of them for wastewater solutions

Telecommunications:

• Use our telecommunication systems to reduce vehicular commuting trips and to encourage work-at-home
• An opportunity for business to construct the system they need, as well as enable the technology to grow
• An opportunity for towns/regional government to become partners with business to invest in building public telecommunications infrastructure

Transit:

• Use of wifi at the Hyannis Transportation Center to improve services (increased transportation and business productivity, make public transit more user friendly and provide accurate up-to-date transit schedules to the public, virtual-commuting)
• Distribute secondary public transit services
• Use the rail rights-of-way to bring back the use of rail service
• Create linkages between local bus lines, cabs, etc.

Utilities:

• Underground utilities for disaster preparedness
• “Last mile convergence” (bundling services and billing to increase efficiency, improve distribution systems and encourage cooperative planning – i.e. undergrounding electricity and other utilities when installing sewer infrastructure)

Tourism:

• Ecotourism

Threats to Cape Cod

  Policy:

• Lack of political will
• Homeland Security
• Lack of funding
• Resistance to change by service providers
• Parochialism of the towns and policymakers
• Providers of telecommunication services are unwilling to recognize the demand for sufficient ROI (return on investment)

Public Perception:

• Government can’t efficiently manage infrastructure systems

Vulnerability:

• Single access points to Cape Cod (bridges and wires)
• Pilgrim nuclear power plant, oil spills, ammonia

Business:

• Lack of legitimate competition among service providers

Natural Resources:

• Individual septic systems threaten groundwater quality
• Lack of willingness to pay for more effective (but more expensive) public wastewater systems that will protect the groundwater

Growth:

• “If you build it, they will come”, improved access will drive increased growth

Suggested Indicators of Progress

Inventories and Maps:

• Past spills (oil, gas, ammonia) and dollars spent to clean them up
• Brownfields on Cape Cod
• Maps to illustrate existing measurements and future conditions

Population density and development:

• Population density in proximity to the infrastructure & services (transit, cellular, etc)
• Population density in village centers and along the coastline
• Land use patterns
• Measurements of how well village centers are served by infrastructure & services

Communications:

• Telecommunications coverage - % cell coverage, high speed data coverage to homes/business
• Number of cable connections, telephone connections and cell phones
• Number of phone lines and multiphone lines
• Number of cable modems and percent of population who have them

Energy:

• Energy wiring and distribution network
• Power quality - brownouts
• How much of the electric and utility lines are undergrounded now
• Overall energy consumption (electric, gas, oil)
• Number of green buildings
• Number of energy efficient vehicles sold (diesel, hybrid, etc.)
• Number of SUV sales

Transit:

• Level of Service of our roadways
• Commuting patterns
• How many bus route miles of service, quality and percentage
• Air traffic and number of passengers
• Rail trips (MBTA by zipcode)
• Bus ridership – access to service
• Air traffic
• Ferry traffic

Natural Resources:

• Marine water quality
• Shellfish harvest
• Shellfish bed closures
• Beach closures
• Likelihood of coastal flooding
• How many houses have been lost to coastal erosion
• How many seawalls have been constructed and their proximity to flood zones
• Areas and % of population served by advanced or centralized sewer systems
• Permitted wastewater capacity
• Number of composting toilet installations

Other:

• Percentage of our needs that comes over the bridge – energy, food, fuel, manufactured goods, etc.
• Measurements of things that show increased self-sufficiency (natural gas use, methane use, photovoltaic generation, solar and thermal systems, wind turbines)
• Number of cooperative agreements between entities (towns, individuals, developers, utilities, etc.) Distribution of healthcare services across Cape Cod and percent of population served
• Insurance infrastructure and insurance rate increases
• Business consolidations