Mayor Inks Deal For Construction Of Solar Farm
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Water Valley Mayor Tommy Reynolds signed an agreement with Renewvia Energy Company allowing the construction of a small solar farm on city property. The solar farm is expected to generate 15 percent of the electricity used by the city.
WATER VALLEY – The Water Valley Board of Aldermen voted unanimously to execute an agreement with a solar company to build a solar micro farm on city property. The agreement will allow the city to purchase electricity at a reduced rate.
The deal with Renewvia was inked during a special meeting Friday afternoon at city hall. The solar panels will be generate approximately 15 percent of the city’s electricity consumption. Reynolds explained the cost of solar-generated power from the project will cost less than electricity purchased from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
“Assuming the rural development grants for funding go through, the city will save $87,000 per year in electric power costs,” Reynolds explained. “The savings can be used for repairs needed on the lines in the city.”
The agreement comes after the city applied through the USDA’s PACE (Powering Affordable Clean Energy) program for funding that will incentivize the cost of the solar installation. Yalobusha County Economic Development District CEO Kagan Coughlin reported that the PACE program allows small, rural communities to partner with a solar company to build small solar farms. Coughlin said the incentive for Renewvia is 20 percent loan forgiveness for the project after the project is completed.
The micro solar farm will be constructed on city-owned property on Hwy. 32, across from Solero Technology. Coughlin reported the execution of the agreement comes after almost 18 months of work on the project.
Other business discussed in recent city meetings includes:
• Eddie Foster questioned the process for selection of a site for a back-up electric transformer that will be installed in the city to provide emergency backup power in case of a power outage. The proposed location on South Main Street on property owned by Solero Technology is for one of two backup transformers that will be installed to allow the city to receive power from Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association in the city’s substation fails or there is problem with the transmission line feeding the city.
“This transformer is needed in the city, we are not against that,” Foster noted.
Fosters owns the property adjacent to the proposed site, the old Jeff Davis school. He explained that the site has been marked with survey markers.
“We didn’t know what the survey markers were there for. We asked about the survey markers and couldn’t really get any answers. I did my own due diligence and started asking questions and didn’t get very far,” Foster told aldermen.
(For a full description of Foster’s comments, a letter to the editor from Foster is published on pages 4 and 5.)
• Reappointed Kevin Lee to serve another five-year term on the Water Valley Housing Authority Board of Directors. The appointment was made following a recommendation from the housing authority’s executive director.
• Reynolds reported over 30 BEAM (Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi) reports were submitted to the city.
Reynolds had previously requested citizens to fill out the BEAM reports, a form that allowed residents to document internet speeds on three different dates.
“This is in regard to our challenge of Maxx South’s objection to the $1.136 million that TVEPA requested with the support of Water Valley for broadband fiber,” Reynolds noted during the meeting.
Reynolds said the BEAM reports will be placed in the minutes of the meeting.
BEAM announced last year that Tallahatchie Valley Electric Power Association (TVEPA) would be awarded $1.136 million to deploy fiber to 811 households in the City of Water Valley and outlying areas served by the City of Water Valley Electric Department.
The BEAM funding was put on hold after MaxxSouth filed a report with the Federal Communications Commission. The filing stated that some areas that would receive the BEAM funding for broadband deployment already receive high speed internet from MaxxSouth.
“The burden of showing that this is not true rests entirely on the city,” Coughlin noted in a previous city meeting.
Reynolds and Kagan Coughlin are spearhead- ing an effort to counter the claims from the cable company in an attempt to have the BEAM funding reallocated to the city.
Reynolds also noted during the meeting that Water Valley residents can continue to submit BEAM forms to city hall.
