Archbold school officials to approach county over turbine

ARCHBOLD - Archbold schools officials are to appear next month before the Fulton County Planning Commission to discuss zoning issues related to a wind turbine the district plans to erect on the Archbold High School campus.

Depending on which of several possible sites is chosen, zoning variances could be needed for the turbine's tower, particularly regarding the "fall space" that would be necessary in case the tower should blow over, Superintendent of Schools David Deskins told the school board last week.

But the project has developed a cash-flow problem, the superintendent said, that arose because the Ohio School Facilities Commission allocated only $625,000 in bond funding toward the turbine, representing the difference between other grants the school district has received for it and its estimated $1.7 million cost.

The problem, Mr. Deskins said, is that the other grants are payable as reimbursement for project expenses, and the school district doesn't have the cash available to pay up front.

Furthermore, Mr. Deskins said, the school district has just 90 days to encumber the funding for the commission, while a $750,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act "stimulus" grant won't be released until an environmental study mandated by the U.S. Department of Energy is completed.

Mr. Deskins said the district's financial adviser will investigate the possibility of obtaining a "bridge loan" from a local bank to plug the cash gap or whether a tax-anticipation note could be used for financing.

"I have worked very diligently to ensure no general-fund dollars are used in this project," the superintendent said. "This year is the deciding year for the project moving forward."

The planning commission meeting is for Aug. 23, starting at 7 p.m.

The environmental study, Mr. Deskins said, will address such questions as how the turbine tower may affect birds or other wildlife, aviation, and surrounding residents, including noise and aesthetics.

Stephen Switzer, the schools superintendent in neighboring Pettisville, said his district is conducting such a study for a similar turbine it plans to construct just south of its campus, but Pettisville faces the same cash-flow problem Archbold has.

"The missing element is bridge funding of about $950,000," Mr. Switzer said, representing the $750,000 federal stimulus grant and a $200,000 formula grant from the Ohio Department of Development that are both reimbursable, rather than billable.

The two neighboring school districts both qualified for grants to pay for the wind turbines as alternative-energy research installations after preliminary studies using a state-owned turbine indicated wind-energy potential at their schools.

But the environmental studies' cost of between $50,000 and $75,000 each might have been enough to derail the turbine projects had the state development department not stepped in and agreed to cover that cost, both superintendents said.