Malar: Let the Sun Shine in

The Cranford Township Committee will decide whether to join a countywide renewable energy program at the committee's next meeting Aug. 17. Nineteen other municipalities in Union County are also pondering the move.

Created by the Union County Improvement Authority, the initiative would install solar panels on the roof of the Cranford Public Library and possibly the Community Center. The UCIA believes Cranford will see savings of more than 10 percent on its yearly electric bill for each building, Library Director John Malar said.

On behalf of participating townships, the UCIA plans on requesting bid proposals from private developers in early September, who will install panels and other renewable energy devices on community structures ranging from schools and libraries to municipal buildings. Responses will be due from vendors Oct. 19, said Ryan Scerbo, legal representative of the UCIA. Then the installing of renewable energy devices will begin around November.

"All projects will be completed within a one-year period," he said.

Malar introduced the program to Township Committee members at its last meeting July 19. Some commissioners said they were wary of committing to the program before fully understanding its potential costs and benefits.

The commissioners expressed concerns about two key issues: Will the bonding cost the municipality anything? And if something goes sour with the deal, who will own and be responsible for dismantling the solar panel equipment? 

"They found it too good to be true that there would be no cost to the town," Malar said. "They're very interested, but they had certain questions, and I sent a memo to the authority's legal counsel, and he answered every question, I feel, very satisfactorily."

The company that installs the solar equipment will pay for the $45 million in bonds to be borrowed for the county wide projects, he said.

"The vendor pays the bonding back and the vendor on the other hand gets all sorts of tax breaks, they also get energy certificates," he added. "There is no cost to the town. "

Private developers will have incentive to submit proposals and build the renewable energy devices, as they will then receive a 30 percent federal tax credit and thousands of energy certificates, which they can sell to utility companies, Scerbo added in a telephone interview with Patch.

The private vendor will also own the equipment, and will be responsible for dismantling it if the deal goes south, he added.

He said the UCIA is also willing to extend Cranford's deadline for submitting a letter of interest and passing a finance ordinance to participate in the bonding of the initiative.

The deadline was originally July 31, but about one-third of interested municipalities requested more time or a special date to pass the initiative, as their finance boards could not approve it before July 31, Scerbo said.

The Cranford Community Center will also likely be included in the project, given the committee and authority's interest in utilizing the facility.

"The Improvement Authority said it wasn't too late [to include the community center in the project] and they sent a consultant to look at the roof and they figured it would be another great place to put a panel. If the project goes forward they will probably include the center, too," Malar added.

One meeting attendee applauded the initiative – Pat Pavlak, the president of the board and member of the Cranford Green Team, a group of citizens to promote environmental practices among the municipality and other residents.

"I'm all in favor of the solar panels," Pavlak said. "I'm very interested in seeing us become more environmentally conscious. For me its a no-brainer."

"We're working on getting Cranford certified as a sustainable community. We're almost to the point of doing that," she said.