Parkman Township Solar Panels Paying Off After a Decade
Parkman Township’s solar panels have been working just fine since they were installed about 10 years ago.
Parkman Township’s solar panels have been working just fine since they were installed about 10 years ago.
Unfortunately, paperwork and equipment apparently fell by the way and the township officials changed several times since then. While First Energy absorbed the electricity generated by the panels, the township did not get credit for the kilowatts and there is little likelihood FE will track down the amount of power it received from the township panels, said Trustee Joyce Peters.
“They have been receiving electricity from us for 10 years,” said Fiscal Officer Denise Villers during the Oct. 4 meeting. “The paperwork was not properly submitted, so we were giving electricity to (FE) for free.”
Trustee Henry Duchscherer said he recently contacted FE and asked if the corporation would “do the right thing” and refund the township some of the electricity the company received over the years, but he didn’t think that would be forthcoming.
“So I asked if the president would send (the township) a thank you letter,” he said.
The situation came as a surprise, Peters said.
“For years, we thought (the system) was working,” she said.
How much electricity comes from the panels is variable depending on many circumstances, Villers said.
The multidirectional meter needed to measure the kilowatts collected from the panels was not installed when the panels were erected, she said.
The oversights have been corrected.
“Henry got the paperwork done,” Villers said, but it appears the township is not getting a refund for 10 years of electricity from the solar panels.
“We’re not going to get anything for it,” she said, adding the township uses about 600 kilowatts a month.
The current trustees and fiscal officer were not in office 10 years ago.
A call for comment to First Energy was not returned before deadline Tuesday.
In other business, trustees discussed using American Rescue Plan Act funds to install the lift in the community building.
Duchscherer said the plans are completed for the lift and he contacted more than 10 companies to handle the shaft project, but recommended Tim Yoder from Parkman for the job.
The shaft for the lift should cost less than $50,000, so trustees don’t have to advertise for bids, he said.
The community house has a large room on the second floor and community events are held there, but access is limited. With a lift, the second floor will be handicapped-accessible.
ARPA funds can be used for many things such as roads, street lighting and fire equipment, Peters said, adding trustees plan to ask the Geauga County Prosecutor’s Office to determine if ARPA can fund the project.
Trustees discussed adapting a noise resolution to serve Parkman’s interests.
Duchscherer recommended following a resolution being considered by Newbury Township Trustees to require standard muffler equipment on vehicles now using their engine brakes to slow down when going through Parkman.
People who live on a hill are exposed to excessive noise as truckers use their engine brakes to slow their vehicles and, if the vehicles have “open pipes,” the noise is extreme, he said.
The township has several roads heavily traveled by large trucks including US Route 422, which intersects with state Route 528 coming south from Middlefield’s industrial sector.
Under the proposed resolution, vehicles must have standard equipment and mufflers and baffles can’t be removed from vehicles if the resolution is approved, he said.
Peters said signs prohibiting noise such as engine brakes have to be erected by the Ohio Department of Transportation if the trustees approve a resolution.
“What we need is enforcement,” she said.
Parkman doesn’t have a police department.
“I know the state police and sheriff will enforce it,” he said. “We’ll get people to avoid Parkman or fix their vehicles.”
