The John Glenn School Board members took action last week to review a recommendation for a Guaranteed Energy Savings Provider for a potential solar project at North Liberty Elementary School.
Superintendent Christopher Winchell said a subcommittee went through the process of interviewing two companies that answered the corporation’s request for qualifications for the potential project. Members of the subcommittee found that Johnson-Melloh provided the lowest proposal.
Board member Robert Borlik, who was on the subcommittee, said the presentations from both companies were very comparable with quality products to offer. Johnson-Melloh’s proposal came in at $701,000 for a 350 kilowatt system with an upgrade to LED lighting and updated lighting controls.
The company worked on the solar project at the Argos Community School Corporation this year.
Winchell said the solar array would be placed on green space on the property of the North Liberty Elementary School.
Winchell commented, “We are looking to situate it in between the playground and the track/football field/soccer field. There is just the right amount of green space there to get solar panels in. There’s actually a transformer right there that they’ll be able to connect right into and doesn’t require any trenching or other sorts of other activities to get hooked into the transformer.”
Winchell stressed that approving a Guaranteed Energy Savings Provider is not tying the corporation to any contract or financial obligations, but if the board wanted to move forward with this project, this was the next step in the process.
The board unanimously approved Johnson-Melloh’s proposal.
