Cornell City Council - Excess solar energy could be bought for residents

By Ginna Young

As more and more people turn to solar power to heat their house, and turn on the lights, the Cornell School District is joining in on what could be huge savings. However, some questions need to be answered before doing so, such as the one if the city will purchase excess power generated during the district’s “off” months.

While they are attempting to purchase and install solar energy facilities, for the elementary and high school buildings, the district needs to know the city’s feelings on the matter, as they could need to redesign the project. Before the city can express an opinion, the school needs to complete a required Public Service Commission (PSC).

There could also be zoning concerns, because of where the solar array would be located.

“Would this be beneficial to us?” asked Floyd Hickethier, Cornell City Council member.

City administration Dave DeJongh says it would be less they would have to buy off the grid. DeJongh recommended a meeting with the school district before proceeding any farther, as he’s seen enough bad companies that misrepresent how much energy the owner will get off the units.

“So, people make these investments in these solar panels and they’re not generating anywhere close to what they told them they were going to,” said De-Jongh.

The council did approve updating a procurement policy, which allows professional services, such as auditing, engineering, grant administration and legal to be obtained, without requiring proposals. When requesting bids from engineering or administration companies, it can be hard to get anywhere.

“Most of the time, unless they know you’re trying to switch, they won’t give you a proposal,” said DeJongh.

The policy was passed, for one, because the city is short on time for their next grant project application and would need to bid out services, instead of just going with Cedar Corp., who has already conducted surveys for the work.

“I wouldn’t think you’d want to start all over from scratch,” said DeJongh.

Council member Bill Kvapil said he would feel more comfortable with Cedar Corp. and thinks they’ve done good work for the city. The policy is non-binding, in the event another engineering firm is required.

“We can always switch, if something would come up,” said mayor Mark Larson.

During the meeting, it was also reported that Ryan Salzman declined to accept the offer to become the Cornell Police chief, even though the council thought it was a done deal and appointed him to the position at their previous meeting. DeJongh reposted the job notice and did have a couple responses, now that the search has begun anew.