Bainbridge moving forward with IMPA solar park

Friday, March 20, 2015

BAINBRIDGE -- The Bainbridge Town Council approved a recommendation to move forward with the Indiana Municpal Power Agency (IMPA) solar park at its March meeting.

A purchase agreement will see IMPA purchase the 4.82 acres of land located at 320 W. Vine St. for the same price the city originally paid for it: $39,765.

As per the agreement, IMPA will pay an earnest deposit of $3,976 (equal to 10 percent of the total purchase price) with the remaining $35,788 to be paid upon closing of the agreement.

Originally slated as a 2016 undertaking, the solar park was fast-tracked during February's meeting when IMPA informed the town that it was able to move ahead as soon as March.

The new timeline put the town into high gear, needing to process everything from zoning to annexations to brokerage of the sale of the land.

The board also approved rezoning the parcel on which the solar park will be built so that it is primed for light manufacturing as per the legal requirements.

Regular updates on the status of the solar park will be available through the Banner Graphic as progress is made on the project.

The park board brought several items to discuss at the meeting, including a tree planting event to take place on Earth Day, April 22, between noon and 1:30p.m.

The park board also discussed adding a sidewalk that would connect the park to Main Street. The topic was informational at this stage, with no formal decision being required on the matter.

In other business, the board:

* Heard that Putnam County Commissioners are seeking possible road salt storage locations in the county and would like to know if the Town of Bainbridge would like to be considered. The council agreed that they would in fact be interested, although no location was specifically given or offered at the time of the meeting.

* Approved rezoning multiple properties to be zoned as public use, including a 3.98-acre parcel; a 3.4-acre parcel and a .5-acre parcel.

The Town of Bainbridge holds its monthly meetings at 7 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at the Bainbridge Town Hall at 201 N. Grant Ave.

Its next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 8.

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  • I am glad to see there is interest in "Green" energy, and I am relieved the town did not go with a $4.5 million electricity generating windmill, because the most energy these machines can each make is approximately $50,000 worth per year; if it runs at full speed for 24 hours a day for 365 days a year. No money will be created for regular maintenance, or repair costs, and the cost will be repaid in just about 90 years. Too bad their projected lifetime is less than 40 years.

    -- Posted by alfr1 on Fri, Mar 20, 2015, at 7:48 PM
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