Madison Approves Solar Panel Project for Polson and Hand Schools

At a Board of Selectmen special meeting held earlier this month the Board of Selectmen voted to approval ZREC Solar Panel Project contracts for Polson Middle School and Daniel Hand High School.

The town had to expend $11,000 to move forward with the solar panel projects according to the selectmen meeting minutes.

Here is the full report via the meeting minutes:

DISCUSSION: Gus Horvath of Aylesbury Circle questioned if the panels and the roofs have conflicting life-spans. For instance, the panels have a life span of 20 years whereas the roofs may need replacement earlier than 20 years from now.

The Board discussed that this issue was taken into consideration before the project was proposed and that there should not be an issue in the future. The Board also confirmed that a savings analysis of the panels installed at the Island School had also been conducted.

First Selectman McPherson stated that the approval for the application for the project had been in May and that now the Town had received the award from the state so the contracts need to be signed.

There is a limited time to respond and the contracts must be returned by July 15th. The Town will have to expend $11,000 total as a surety bond, but that will be the extent of the funds that the Town will have to provide.

The solar panels will provide 100% power to the Polson School and roughly 30% of the power to Daniel Hand High School. The cost for electricity will be $0.10 per kw/hr for a period of 15 years.

MOVED by Selectman Goldberg and seconded by Selectman Hale to APPROVE signing and submitting the ZREC Solar Panel Project contracts for Polson Middle School and Daniel Hand High School.

VOTE: This motion was approved unanimously.