FLOYD COUNTY —
Questions on whether a school district pursuing windmill technology to sell energy is legal, where the money will come from and more surfaced during what promised to be the first of many events where the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. is seeking out input from the community.
Wednesday morning district employees and invited community members met for a two-hour Blue Ribbon Breakfast to talk about the hot topics facing education, but the great majority of the talk and questions focused on the fact that the district is looking into participating in a wind turbine farm in northern Indiana.
Deputy Superintendent Brad Snyder said each turbine will cost about $3.5 million, which includes all insurance, construction and other fees. The revenue from selling the electricity is expected to be about $11.5 million over the 25-year life of the turbine, he said. Snyder said it could be paid for through revenue bonds — a low interest loan option that would be backed by property taxes.
Superintendent Bruce Hibbard said funding cuts from the state are forcing the school district to think of ways to generate money. However, not all were in favor of a school district getting into the business of making money.
State Sen. Connie Sipes raised questions about whether this is legal, to which district officials replied that their lawyers have said they believe so.
“I’m still stuck on the philosophical question of this. Should school districts do this? Is that what schools are about?” she asked. “Just to throw it out that we are talking about windmills is overwhelming to me.”
Others agreed.
“I’m still not convinced it’s the right direction to go, but I’m interested to see what the community has to say about this,” said Kevin Voehnlein, who has children in NA-FC and is a local financial advisor.
He said this seems like a long-term decision made after a short-term economic downturn.
“We do need to find alternative ways of generating revenue and we do need to be creative, but I’m not sure this is the best way to do it,” he said.
Robert Kleehamer, who is on the district’s building corp. as well as the foundation board, said he’s not sure where he stands yet, but he understands the thought behind the move.
“You need to step back and see what it is all about and how it can help the school corporation to educate our children today and in the future,” he said. “I’m not opposed to it. I’m not in favor of it. I’m still gathering information on it.”
Snyder said the district will need to make a decision on this issue by February, but possibly as late as April, due to federal tax credits that will be expiring. He said he hopes to hold a town hall meeting in early November and ask the school board to have a public hearing in December to help get community feedback on the idea.
“That’s why we’re here,” he said of getting feedback. “Are you OK with us doing this? If not, we’ll move on to the next thing, but if you want us to advocate for our kids, we’ll advocate for our kids.”
“We’re going in the right direction academically,” Hibbard said. “What we need to do as a community is figure out how we will pay for it.”
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