BV Board approves wind turbine

MANLIUS -- The Bureau Valley District school board voted 6 to 1 Monday night to approve six agreements paving the way for its wind turbine project. Board member Kent Siltman cast the only no vote. Board members Shelley Teske, Keith Bolin, Jeff DeSplinter, Don DeWaele, Roger Craine, and Rick Sturtevant voted in favor of the wind farm agreements. During Monday's meeting, Chicago attorneys Nanci Rogers, Fred Lane and Ken Florey discussed the various agreements, including a decommissioning plan, road maintenance plan and a turbine purchase agreement with the board. The attorneys are with the law firm of Robbins, Schwartz, Nicholas, Lifton and Taylor Ltd., which has been the law firm for the school district since the Bureau Valley district was formed in the mid-1990s. Lane told the board he was pleased to be part of the Bureau Valley turbine project. "It's groundbreaking for the state of Illinois to have a school district get into a project like this," Lane said. "The wind turbine project will provide an outstanding opportunity for the district to save a significant amount of money and also to provide a great teaching opportunity for the students." Board member Keith Bolin was instrumental in researching and promoting the wind turbine project for Bureau Valley. With Monday's vote, Bureau Valley is set to become the first school district in Illinois to use wind energy to provide electricity for a school building. On Monday afternoon, Bolin said the district's wind turbine is not only an example of new infrastructure in Illinois, but also an example of an infrastructure that's obviously good for the environment. From a financial viewpoint, the wind turbine is a way to generate new revenue for the district and make a cut in expenses, Bolin said. "Any time we can generate revenue without raising taxes, cutting teachers or cutting program, I'm all for it," Bolin said at Monday's meeting. The Bureau Valley wind turbine will be built east of the high school football field and will cost the district almost $1 million. The district has gotten about $500,000 for the project through grants from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. At Monday's meeting, the board voted 6 to 1 to follow the finance committee's recommendation to finance the remaining $450,000 of the project through UnionBank. The bank has set 3.37 percent interest rate for the first three years of financing, Bolin said. Even with making loan payments, the district could save $30,000 to $50,000 in the 10 years of financing the project, Bolin said. In time, the wind turbine is expected to save the district about $90,000 a year in electricity costs to Bureau Valley High School, he said. The board also considered the option of taking the final $450,000 from reserves, but Superintendent Rick Stoecker said he agreed with the finance committee's recommendation to not use reserve money because of the low current interest rate and because of contract negotiations. The Bureau Valley wind turbine is expected to produce 660,000 kilowatts of electricity a year. According to earlier estimates, the high school uses about 400,000 kilowatts of electricity a year. The excess electricity will be sold to Illinois Power at an estimated price of three cents per kilowatt. When contacted Monday afternoon, Siltman said he still had strong financial reservations about the project. "I'm all for clean energy and wind power," Siltman said Monday afternoon. "Whether it's appropriate for a school district is the question." Siltman said he would have no opposition to the wind turbine if the district could get all its funding through the state or grants. The options for the district are to either borrow money or to take the money out of reserves, Siltman said. Both options are not very satisfactory, he said. Payments on borrowed money could cost the district more than it would save as long as the district was still repaying its loan. Taking the money from reserves just puts the district one more year closer to not having any reserve money, Siltman said. Siltman did vote with the rest of the board for one turbine-related agreement with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a $150,000 grant. The Bureau Valley turbine is expected to be completed by Oct. 15, the district attorneys said.