Iola City Council to again consider solar panels

Iola City Council members will be asked once again to sign off on a project that would bring a solar field to Iola.

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January 8, 2021 - 11:15 AM

Iola City Council members will be asked once again to sign off on a project that would bring a solar field to Iola.

The difference between the proposed project and one Council members rejected in 2019 is the cost and potential benefits “would be much more lucrative than during the first project,” Interim City Administrator Corey Schinstock wrote in prepared comments to the Council, which was projected to cost about $3.7 million, plus a slight premium in electric rates.

Energy consultant Scott Shreve will be on hand at Monday’s Council meeting to discuss three options available to the city, depending on varying levels of financing and changing the city’s up-front costs.

If approved, the solar field would be erected west of Russell Stover Candies along Marshmallow Lane.

COUNCIL members also will hear a request from Mason and Chase Sigg to waive electric service installation costs to accommodate them as they relocate Sigg Tire & Repair to the old Michaels’ Truck Repair property at 1304 East St.

The projected cost for the requested service is about $8,200 — about $3,300 for labor and equipment, and another $4,9000 for material costs. The price does not include the cost of $2,850 for transformers that are waived routinely for new construction, Schinstock noted.

THE COUNCIL also will discuss:

— Resolutions setting public hearings for dangerous or unsafe structures at 321 N. Walnut St., 405 N. Third St., 503 North St. and 610 N. Third St.

— Bids for crushed rock used for various street maintenance projects.

— Bulk fuel and gasoline bids for city equipment for 2021.’

MONDAY’S Council meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the New Community Building at Riverside Park.

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