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09/25/2019 09:00 AMDisputes over information-sharing and procedure on the Board of Selectmen (BOS) delayed the awarding of a contract to build two solar carports in the parking lots of Daniel Hand High School and Polson Middle School. The Board of Education (BOE) had previously approved the project.
First Selectman Tom Banisch (R) made a motion at the regular Sept. 9 meeting to approve the project, but the item was eventually tabled and rescheduled to a separate, special meeting on Sept. 17 after Selectman Scott Murphy (D) voiced several concerns related to how the project had come before the BOS.
Murphy said that the Sept. 9 meeting was the first time the BOS had been given a chance to examine or discuss the project and that, while he had no specific issue with solar energy or the project itself, he felt it was his and the board’s duty to devote more time studying the specifics before voting. Banisch reiterated his confidence in the work he had put into vetting the contract.
After further discussion, the item was tabled and a special meeting was later scheduled for Sept. 17. The BOS did not award the contract at that meeting.
At its next regular meeting on Sept. 23, the BOS again took up the carports, eventually deciding to ask both contractors who had initially submitted proposals to submit new ones for the project. Those two companies are Sunlight Solar, an Oregon-based company with offices in New Haven, and U.S. Green Technologies, which is based in Madison.
The process by which the project will be financed involves the town committing to purchase electricity at a fixed price from the solar company while the company pays all the up-front capital and construction costs, and then receives unique tax benefits, according to Madison Schools Facilities Director Bill McMinn. The carports, which would provide protection for parked cars while generating electricity by way of panels on the roof, have not reached a final design.
The project is part of the BOE’s commitment to creating more sources of solar energy, according to BOE Chair Katie Stein and McMinn, and also could save money in the long term.
“This will give us a 20-year fixed price,” said McMinn. “So if you think that the utility rates are going to go up, every year that utilities go up, we’re going to be set, because we have a fixed price.”
The project needs to be underway by the end of the calendar year or it will lose vital tax benefits, McMinn told the BOS at the Sept. 9 meeting. He said a carport was chosen over roof-based solar panels due to issues with the construction that would void warranties on the buildings and potentially cause other problems.
Though a final design has not been completed, McMinn said the overall electricity generated would not fill a major chunk of the school’s power needs, but that it is another step toward clean and renewable energy in Madison schools.
“I don’t have the percentages, but it’s not half, it’s not 40 percent—it’s much less than that. We have the potential in the future if this is successful to add more to the parking lot,” McMinn told The Source.
Solar energy is difficult to predict sometimes, McMinn told the BOS, due to weather being a factor in how much power is generated. As a rough estimate, he said the solar energy purchased would be within half a cent less per kilowatt, plus or minus, compared to the current price of electricity at the two schools.
Stein saw the carports as having another, possibly more important long-term benefit besides the small amount of clean energy they generate.
“It’s a real educational opportunity for the entire student population to learn firsthand about clean energy,” she said. “It will be a real world example for kids to see, as well as modeling the use of clean energy as a resource.”
At least one of the carports will sit directly outside several science classrooms, according to Stein. She said she hoped would spark classroom discussions and curiosity among students.
“It’s going to be a striking symbol of Madison’s clean energy leadership, I think, and our commitment to helping secure a better, more sustainable future for families, our town, and globally,” said Stein.
McMinn and Stein both emphasized that the construction and design would be careful to account for inexperienced student drivers who use the parking lot, as well as other practical issues like snow accumulation.
The conversation surrounding the process at times reflected the tenor of the campaigns for November elections.
Murphy told The Source that while he saw the carport as almost certainly a positive addition to the town, it was one of many areas in which he felt Banisch demonstrated an overall lack of communication.
“We’re being forced into a position of making decisions with limited information. That’s just not good leadership,” he said.
Selectman Al Goldberg (D) echoed Murphy’s complaints, citing other issues including the struggles of the ambulance association and a long-delayed wastewater study as examples of areas where Banisch did not communicate either to the other BOS members or to the public.
“[Banisch] is not being the communicator-in-chief. He’s acting more like the decider-in-chief,” said Goldberg.
Murphy also said that Banisch had failed to notify the public of initial explorations for the solar contract, which he said have been going on for around six months.
“I think there needs to be a bit more of a thoughtful communication plan to the public about these topics as it impacts our schools, our facilities, and our students,” he said.
At the Sept. 9 meeting, McMinn said that the request for proposals (RFP) was publicly available and Town Planner Dave Anderson said the project would go through a public hearing process through the Planning & Zoning Commission if it were approved by the BOS.
“The material was well known by a bunch of other people...It’s not normal for [the other selectmen] to get real involved in the RFP process,” Banisch said. “It’s normal for them to be informed after the fact with what we’ve come up with, and to decide whether or not we should go with it...I think they’re making a big stink about normal procedure, which they’ve done a lot lately.”
Banisch, Goldberg, and Murphy are all seeking re-election this November.