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Example of wind turbine- (not necessarily how the turbine being discussed would look) |
On a snowy Tuesday evening, the committee considering a wind turbine for the Wawasee Community School Corp. held a three-hour meeting in the Warrior Room of the new addition at Wawasee High School. Wawasee Middle School has essentially been removed from consideration as the site for the turbine.
Instead, the site presently being considered is within the FFA field by the bus garage off Kern Road near WHS.
Dr. Tom Edington, WCSC superintendent, said a letter was received from the National Weather Service station between North Webster and Syracuse. NWS requested the wind turbine not be built at the proposed WMS site, be at least 3 kilometers away from NWS (the turbine site is 1.9 kilometers away) or the turbine would need to be shorter.
“They (NWS) didn’t know the turbine would be that big,” Edington said, and NWS expressed concern the turbine could interfere with its Doppler radar operations.
Based on the letter, the consensus among the committee is to now consider the alternate site off Kern Road. This will also mean the rate paid for electricity generated will be less as KREMC, which services the area around the high school, pays eight cents per kilowatt hour. NIPSCO, which services WMS, pays 10 cents per hour.
There was discussion about the visit to Tippecanoe Valley High School Nov. 15 to see the wind turbine already being used there. Several on the committee were impressed by its size, but also noted there was very little noticeable noise generated even when standing directly under it.
Some are opposed to the turbine. Joan Szynal and her husband, Robert Smith, live at Lake Wawasee and said they are concerned about aesthetics and how a wind turbine could hinder their overall view from the lake.
Szynal noted Lake Wawasee is a tremendous asset for the local area as it is 3,000 acres and the largest natural lake in Indiana. She said a wind turbine, added to other towers already standing, could not possibly help the property values around the lake.
Smith, citing assessed property values, asked for more consideration to be given to how much lake residents are shouldering the tax burden.
As part of the meeting, Jim Elizondo of City Securities Corp., which would handle the financing if the wind turbine is approved by the school board, gave a presentation on different financing options available. He noted Tippecanoe Valley utilized clean renewable energy bonds through federal stimulus funds, but CREB funding is not available at the present time.
He said the interest rate used would be the current market rate. Presently it is approximately 3.22 percent, but the rate for financing the project could vary depending on how fast of a repayment plan is used. A delayed tax rate impact would bring the rate up to about 3.30 percent, Elizondo said.
Another possible financing option is a five-year repayment plan utilizing a 1.74 percent rate, which seemed to appeal to at least a few of the committee members.
Some discussion focused on the lack of available data for wind turbine production. Committee member Mike MacOwan asked if Performance Services Inc. has had turbines installed for at least one year elsewhere in the state. Tony Kuykendall, business development manager for Performance Services, said two turbines have been in place at least one year near Union City in Randolph County. They have been running at about 10 to 15 percent less production than originally projected, he noted.
Bob Beer, committee member, said he feels too much emphasis is being placed on comparisons with the turbine at Tippecanoe Valley. He said he would like to wait at least a year to see what happens at Valley before any decision is made for Wawasee. “I would like to see us wait before we spend the money,” he said, adding NorthWood High School’s turbine was not approved.
Some of the committee members are not as concerned about aesthetics as they are about the lack of available data and the financial risks involved. Kay Young lives at Lake Wawasee and said she has only heard a few people say they are opposed to a turbine. “There does not seem to be a large consensus of people against it,” she said, but she noted a request asking for more input from lake property owners can be included in the Wawasee Property Owners Association’s winter newsletter.
Spike Ford said he is more concerned about how to properly finance the project and feels once a turbine is installed “you will hardly notice it after a while.”
Tom Tuttle III said his biggest concern is the financial risk. “I think right now the risk is too great,” he said. “I just don’t see how the payback will be good.” An estimated life cycle of a wind turbine is 20 to 25 years, but it could take more than 15 years to pay it off.
Alan Tehan said the mechanical components of wind turbines will fail more often, especially after they have been in place for a few years. He said the interest rate for financing a turbine could change, but it would be wise to wait and look at the data for a while before making a decision.
Frank Dush, WHS student representing the student body, said students are more concerned about the profitability of a turbine. “I think we should wait and see more data and how it could affect property values,” he noted.
Eventually the committee agreed to wait until more data is available. Wind production data will be sought from Tippecanoe Valley, more research will be done on how lake property values could be impacted and a new set of photos will be taken showing potential views of the wind turbine at the site now being considered.
Input will also be sought on production of the turbines in Randolph County, even though the turbines used there have two blades instead of three, which would be on the turbine at Wawasee.
Edington said another committee meeting will likely be scheduled for sometime in March, but no specific date has been set as of yet.
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