To the editor:
Are you aware that the Commissioners voted to apply for a $1.5 million grant to construct solar panels? Due to limited space, they are wrongly planned to install these panels above parked cars and law enforcement vehicles…11ft or more in the air! Really? Our County will have to fork over $1 million to install this fiasco, in addition to weeks of labor and administration. Sure, it is planned to be reimbursed in a few years by the grant…if and when all the documentation of labor, administration, materials, contracts, etc. are submitted. Who has time for this… some individuals over 150 hrs? This ill-conceived plan was presented without much notification for citizens to review (I still cannot find it anyplace in the government website!) The worst thing that was left out in the grant or discussions, is the enormous amount of ongoing labor, repairs and future replacement at end of life. Our County Government has no business being involved in solar power generation, in one of the worst locations in the country… leave that to the electric utilities. I read all the e-mail comments sent in favor of this, and I can tell that most of them did not read the grant (the final copy was only submitted a few hours before the Commissioner meeting). One cannot support something like this just because it sounds good, personal feelings, agendas, etc. It boils down to labor, expense, siting, maintenance and junk afterwards. Call or e-mail the Commissioners.
John Popa PE Bingham
