Bridgman School Board accepts bid for Reed Middle School solar panels – Harborcountry News

BRIDGMAN — The Bridgman Public Schools Board of Education moved forward on plans to heat and power Reed Middle School with solar panels during its June 24 regular meeting.

The board accepted a bid from Lakeshore Sales Corporation of Baroda (in cooperation with Harvest Solar of Jackson, Mich.).

Superintendent Shane Peters noted that licensing and other approvals from the state are needed before the project can become a reality.

He also said funding issues have to be worked out, especially with the “heavy burden of the tax tribunal” involving a bid by Indiana Michigan Power/American Electric Power to get a large, retroactive property tax reduction for its Cook Nuclear Plant hanging over the district.

“We won’t really know those results (the Tax Tribunal decision and its impact on the district) until mid-October or November,” Peters said.

The approved bid includes the following figures: System price – $898,128; Federal Tax Credit – $242,494; Grants and Rebates – $190,000; Net system cost – $465,634.

Bids also were submitted by Educated Energy and TMI Energy Solutions.

It was noted that the district will likely be paying the power company more than $400,000 over the next 10 years for electrical services.

The solar array (proposed for a location behind the school building on the southwest edge of the property) would include a product warranty of 25 years with an expected lifespan of 40 years.

Estimated year-one savings (after solar is installed) are $55,793, and the 30-year utility bill savings is projected as $3,477,084.

Adam Schaller of Lakeshore Sales Corporation said the solar field should pay off in seven years, leaving “essentially paid-for power for the next 18 (years) or so. So it is significantly less than paying the utility for power over the life of the equipment.”

“It should over the project life save the district about $2 1/2 million in power costs,” he added.

After the meeting, Schaller said he was involved in installing about two acres of solar panels at Lakeshore Die Cast in nearby Baroda (Adam is vice president of the firm).

According to the Lakeshore Die Cast website: “Here at Lakeshore Die Cast we produce four times our yearly electrical usage on-site with our solar arrays. All die cast products are produced with solar energy.”

The solar power idea came from the 2022 Reed Middle School BeeBots FIRST Lego League Robotics Team, which excelled at both the Lancer-Bot-Mania regional qualifying tournament in Stevensville and the state meet in Mason, Michigan.

The squad’s First Lego League problem-solving project involved alternative energy, and their “Super School” solution included solar panels.

Also on June 24, the Bridgman Board of Education OK’d projected 2024-25 budget figures including anticipated revenues of $16,381,079 and expenditures of $16,474440, and the following millage rates: 8.3760 mills levied on non-homestead residences; a .5 mill recreational levy; .88 mills for debt; and .5 mills for the district’s sinking fund.

In another matter, the board adopted student handbooks that make policies covering cell phones uniform in all three buildings.

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