Directors approve solar energy,other projects at WACO

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

WAYLAND ? Spearheaded by a conversion to solar energy, the WACO Community School District is planning to spend around $1.28 million on projects during the next year to 18 months.

Meeting in special session Monday night, the WACO School Board unanimously approved the project expenditures and funding source. Funding for the projects will come from revenue generated through the sale of school local option sales tax bonds, so a vote of patrons will not be needed.

?I think the board had some very good discussion and handled the options well,? said WACO Superintendent Dr. Darrell Smith afterwards. ?There were a lot of options to consider.?

Projects and their cost estimate include:

Solar energy project at the elementary school ? $714,000 (the school will receive a $25,000 rebate from Alliant Energy, reducing the cost to $689,000;

Concrete elementary school parking lot ? $95,000;

Renovation of band room at the secondary building ? $95,000;

Renovation of locker rooms at the secondary building ? $90,000;

Carpet replacement in both buildings ? $75,000;

Renovation of the locker room at the football field ? $80,000.

Although the total of the projects is just over $1.1 million, the board opted for a larger issue due to possible cost overruns and also because they want to begin the installation of solar energy at the secondary building.

It is also possible that local investors and grant funds could contribute to the secondary building?s solar energy project, Smith said.

Directors discussed the projects and funding for nearly 90 minutes with most of the discussion focusing on funding sources.

WACO will be applying for a grant from riverboat funds to help with the solar project funding.

Todd Meyer, who made the motion over an hour before it was approved, noted that the district currently has $200,000 in option tax revenue. ?I think we also can get a riverboat grant of $300,000. Why not get it going??

Remaining board members, especially board President Tim Graber, expressed a more cautious attitude toward funding.

?If we approve the bond tonight, it will hurt our chances for a grant,? Graber said. ?Personally, I would like to spend $200,000 for solar and apply for a $500,000 grant?I think it would be an easy grant to write because it is educational and it is green.?

Smith said that he didn?t think bonding would hinder WACO?s grant chances. ?Most groups awarding grants will look at your capacity to pay because they are supplementing existing revenue.?

WACO?s local option sales tax bonding capacity is $1.46 million, Smith said, adding that he probably should have started earlier on compiling a list of projects. ?I should have been looking at this in January.?

The district will have to advertise for bids on all projects costing in excess of $36,000. Services of an engineer are needed in projects over $100,000, which means an engineer?s report will be needed for the solar energy project.

Jason Egli of EPO Energy of Cedar Falls and Fairfield attended the meeting and said the district, with a full solar energy package at both attendance centers, could save approximately $90,000 in electricity costs. Last year, WACO spent about $115,000-$120,000 on electricity. He also added the district has already been approved for rebates from Alliant Energy which would be about $90,000 if the district did the full project at both attendance centers.

While the district plans to do the total solar project at the Crawfordsville building, Smith said he hopes to spend $200,000 on solar energy at the high school. The solar system must be installed by the end of October for the district to receive the rebates from Alliant.

?We want to structure it so we can maximize the rebates,? he said. ?We can always add on to the project.?

The solar panels will cover a 250x150 foot area on the elementary school roof and ?should supply 80-85 percent of our electrical needs there,? Smith said.

Directors asked if they have to do all the projects immediately, and Smith answered that if the district was going to request proposals (bids), the projects should be done. ?There are so many options on how to spread out the money. When you send out requests for proposals and then don?t do the projects, you run into problems. Companies don?t like it when they spend time working on a proposal and then it is not done.?

In addition to the solar projects at the elementary and secondary buildings, Smith said the elementary parking lot is a priority but did not know whether the district could finish it before school begins. ?We are going to try and do the (parking lot) project this summer, but concrete people are very busy and generally scheduled out a year in advance.?

In the other business matter, the board approved the appointment of Amy McLaughlin to the board. McLaughlin of Wayland was appointed to replace Gary Brose, who resigned last month because he is moving out of the district he represents. McLaughlin will serve until the next school board election (September 2015) unless patrons petition for a special election.

WACO board members will meet in regular session Monday, July 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the junior/senior high school media center.