North Putnam approves roughly $4 million solar farm

Thursday, July 16, 2015

BAINBRIDGE -- The North Putnam School Board once again took the proposal to implement a solar farm at the middle and high school to a vote Wednesday night and narrowly approved the project.

The roughly $4 million project, proposed by Johnson-Melloh and geared toward making the adjoined North Putnam buildings a "net-zero" energy school, passed with a 4-3 vote. Board members Jill Summerlot, John Hayes and Travis Lambermont cast the dissenting votes.

Andy Cooper with Johnson-Melloh previously explained to the board the school could potentially become the first school in Indiana to have "net-zero" energy through the use of solar panels in a five-acre area at the middle/high school.

At the June meeting, Cooper used the example that in 2014 the school paid just under $200,000 in utility costs at the middle and high school. Looking forward, the anticipated annual increase in utility rates is at least four percent. Based on the bond payment and rebate over the course of the first seven years, the school would basically be paying out the same in the bonds as it would be paying to the utility company. After the first 20 years is when the school would really see the biggest cost savings.

The board had taken the project to a vote in June after several months of discussion, but voted against it. At a July 1 special session, the board went over a report from a consultant sought out by board member Ron Spencer.

Wednesday night, board member Jim Bowling said he wanted to take the proposal by Johnson-Melloh to a vote for a final time and move on. He noted Cooper has continuously brought the requested information to the board.

Board member Mark Hoke echoed what Bowling said, adding the board also sought out a consultant.

"From what I understand, this is the best deal we can get," Hoke said.

Summerlot said she voted against the project because she is concerned about the funding for the project. Lambermont noted he is also concerned about the funding and the fact all of the finances are based on projections.

This concern stems from the uncertainty about the cost of the solar panels. Cooper mentioned previously the demand is constantly rising for solar panels, so they would need to secure a new bid for the panels.

Following the meeting, Superintendent Dan Noel said he would begin meeting with Johnson-Melloh to start signing contracts. This would allow a more definitive price to be secured for the overall cost of the project.

In other business, the board:

* Approved a change to the cost of all-sport passes and tickets. The family pass, which includes two adults and all dependents will be $175. The cost for each additional adult for the all-sport pass will be $40.

Adult pass is $75, student pass is $40 and senior citizens pass is $60.

* Approved the purchase of security cameras at the middle school in the amount of $56,000. The new cameras will cover more area at the school and replace the old analog cameras that are about 20 years old.

* Approved Noel's request to hire teachers as needed to fill positions before the beginning of the school year. The hiring would start the teacher at a substitute teacher's pay rate until the board formally approved the hire at the following board meeting.

* Approved the following classified positions: Amee Bryan and Amanda Keslar as middle school cafeteria aides, Tiffony Sturgeon as Bainbridge cafeteria aide and Dana Young as middle school instructional assistant.

* Approved the following athletic positions: Barry Armold as eighth-grade boys' basketball coach, Kevin Corsaro as high school girls' head basketball coach, Chris Davies as middle school boys' assistant basketball coach, Kristie Hankins as high school assistant volleyball coach, Greg Murray as middle school boys' assistant basketball coach, Jessica Reed as high school assistant volleyball coach, Randy Summers as high school boys' assistant track coach, Shawn Tennis as high school volleyball coach, Alyssa Ward as seventh-grade volleyball coach, Mecca Willis as junior varsity volleyball coach, Brian Jeter as high school baseball coach and Makayla Seibold as high school girls' assistant varsity basketball coach.

* Approved the hiring of Jessica Wright as high school English/language arts teacher.

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  • Hopefully they figured maintenance into their calculations. While there's a lot of good evidence that solar panels are lasting longer than ever before, there's still a good chance they'll be replacing a lot of those panels in the next 20 years.

    -- Posted by Clovertucky on Fri, Jul 17, 2015, at 4:32 PM
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