FLOORMODEL Orchard to start growing its own electricity

Glenwood Springs Post Independent 02/14/2013
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Volume 122, Number 45
THURSDAY, February 14, 2012
Orchard to start growing its own electricity
Carbondale church
installs an 88 kW
rooftop solar system
John Stroud
Post Independent Staff
A Carbondale church building
is set to be home to the town’s
largest rooftop solar photovoltaic system — and one of the
largest roof-mounted systems in
the entire region.
The new 88-kilowatt (kW) sys-
tem at The Orchard, which
includes the popular Gathering
Center venue for community
events, is expected to generate
100 percent of the building’s current electrical consumption.
And, through an agreement
with Xcel Energy, the utility will
pay the church 10 cents for every
kilowatt hour of electricity produced beyond the building’s
needs, which will flow back onto
the power grid.
That should give the church a
consistent revenue stream to
help offset the cost of the lease
payments for the system, accord-
ing to Sunsense Solar, the Carbondale-based installer that
helped the church secure the
necessary financing for the project.
Sunsense, which has been
around for 24 years, specializes
in putting together financing
packages for both public and private entities to install PV systems
under a lease-purchase arrangement.
Nonprofit organizations, in
particular, can have a hard time
paying the high up-front cost of
installing solar equipment.
Sunsense provided the techni-
cal design for the system and
coordinated the agreements
between The Orchard and Xcel
Energy.
A company called Sunpower
Corp. provided the equipment
and capital costs, using federal
tax credits and other incentives
that would otherwise be unavailable to The Orchard.
“The Orchard will use the electricity produced by the PV system,
instead of purchasing the energy
from Xcel, and make a monthly
lease payment to Sunpower,”
according to a joint press release
from the church and Sunsense.
“Sunpower solar panels produce more energy per square
foot than other solar modules,
and the solar panels are warranted to produce energy for 25
years,” according to the press
release.
At the end of the 10-year lease
contract, The Orchard will be
able to purchase the solar equipment at a greatly reduced price. It
can then expect to continue to
receive payments from Xcel
through 2033 as an extra source
of revenue.
ORCHARD A3
.
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!
SKIING
AMAZING
IN AUSTRIA
Not every 17-year-old walks into her first
world championships with medal
expectations and a roomful of media. For
Mikaela Shiffrin, it’s just another challenge
she’s handling like an old pro. PAGE A17
STATE
GUNS
ON CAMPUS
A House committee approved a bill to make
public college campuses off-limits for
concealed weapons in Colorado. PAGE A8
LOCAL
PARK NAMING ON HOLD
The Carbondale Board of Trustees agreed to
look into naming a local park in
acknowledgment of the Ute tribe who once
occupied the Roaring Fork Valley, but it may
be a while before that happens. PAGE A3
31
NEW classified ads in today’s
edition. PAGE A21
35 | 14
PAGE A35
f
WEATHER
Calendar, Movies
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World & Nation
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Horoscope, Comics
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A4
A6
A7
A8
A9
A16
A17
A21
A34
Kelley Cox Post Independent
Florist Kim Cornelius, right, owner of Flowers-n-Such on Grand Avenue in Glenwood Springs, spent Wednesday making Valentine’s Day flower arrangements along with her employees Courtney Gabriel, center, and Karen Crownhart. As is traditional, red
roses were in high demand for the lovers’ holiday. For those times when it doesn’t go quite so well, see the winners of the Post
Independent’s Worst Date Ever Contest on pages A12 -13.
Carbondale trustees reject a county
proposal to revise Access Control Plan
Mayor angered over move by Commissioner John Martin
John Colson
Post Independent Staff
CARBONDALE — Officials here have
rejected a proposal from Garfield County
aimed at rewriting parts of the recently
adopted Highway 133 Access Control Plan
to satisfy demands from residents of the
Satank neighborhood. The neighborhood
is located in the county and falls under the
jurisdiction of county government, not the
Carbondale city government.
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MODEL
2013FLOOR SALE!!!!
All contents © Copyright 2006 Post Independent and postindependent.com
BRAND
NE W
According to Public Works Director
Larry Ballenger and state highway planner Dan Roussin, the county wants the
town to accede to a rerouting of Dolores
Way, to send traffic from Satank on a new
road through part of the newly rebuilt
PROPOSAL A3
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963.2100
February 14, 2013 6:25 pm / Powered by TECNAVIA
Glenwood Springs Post Independent 02/14/2013
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POSTINDEPENDENT.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
A3
Town holds off on naming a park to honor the Utes
Carbondale trustees want more research, community discussion first
John Colson
Post Independent Staff
CARBONDALE — The Board
of Trustees agreed to look into
naming a local park in acknowledgment of the Ute tribe of
Native Americans who once
occupied the Roaring Fork Valley, at the urging of Trustee John
Hoffmann.
But before any naming can be
done, the trustees agreed, more
discussion is needed.
“I’m ashamed to say, having
grown up here, that I know very
little about the history of the Utes
in this area,” said Trustee Pam
Zentmyer.
Mayor Stacey Bernot, like most
of the trustees, was open to the
idea of naming a park in honor of
the Utes but was worried that
others in the community might
feel slighted.
“I think we need to do some
research,” Bernot said. “I think
we’re just a little ahead of the
curve here.”
She argued, and others agreed,
that the town needs to establish a
clear policy concerning the naming of publicly owned properties,
and that there needs to be some
public education on the subject
before anything is done.
“There’s a lot of wonderful
people and organizations and
groups in this community,”
Bernot said, after voicing a concern that without a clear policy
the town could “open up a can of
worms, naming something that’s
already been named.”
Hoffmann told his fellow
trustees he had been talking
about the idea with Roland
McCook, a Ute tribal elder and
former member of the tribal
council of the Uncompahgre Ute
tribe.
McCook, who lives in Montrose and has worked with federal land managers on Ute historical issues, is scheduled for a talk
on Ute history on Feb. 20 at the
Third Street Center.
Zentmyer, while not doubting
McCook’s standing in the tribe,
asked whether he was the only
tribal official who should be consulted on the subject of naming a
town park, and whether there
were others in the area who
should be included in the talks.
“He’s the only guy in this area,”
Hoffmann responded.
Hoffmann said there are a couple of likely candidates for the
renaming, including the Stairway
Park on the banks of the Crystal
River at the western edge of
town.
“I’m sympathetic to this,” said
Trustee Frosty Merriott, “I like
the idea a lot.”
But he agreed that more discussion is needed before any
steps are taken.
In other action the trustees:
• Approved special events
liquor licenses for events
planned by three organizations:
Ducks Unlimited, which will
hold a fundraising event on
March 2 at The Orchard Church
of Carbondale; the Carbondale
Council on Arts and Humanities,
for the Green is the New Black
fashion show and fundraiser on
March 8-9 at the Third Street
Center; and the Carbondale Clay
Center, which will hold its “Pairings” fundraiser, offering handmade cups for sale and an array
of beverages for tasting at the
Center on March 5.
• Approved liquor license
renewals for two restaurants, Mi
Casita and Peppinos, both on
Main Street.
• Renewed a medical marijuana dispensary license for the
Doctor’s Garden medical marijuana center, 580 Main St.
• Agreed to send a letter to the
Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission stating the
town board’s opposition to gas
drilling proposals in the Thompson Divide area southwest of
town.
jcolson@postindependent.com
Kelley Cox Post Independent
The newly installed solar panels are easily visible on the rooftops from the front of The Orchard community outreach facility in Carbondale.
ORCHARD FROM A1
The new PV system at The Orchard is on
track to be operational by the end of February.
By comparison, the new PV system is
the largest rooftop array in Carbondale.
Two public buildings, the Carbondale
Recreation and Community Center and
the Third Street Center, both have 52-plus
kW systems.
The largest PV system in the Carbondale area is on the Colorado Rocky Mountain School campus. The ground-based,
147-kW solar farm was also installed by
Sunsense.
Elsewhere in Garfield County, the
PROPOSAL FROM A1
Roaring Fork Transportation
Authority’s (RFTA) Bus Rapid
Transit park and ride facility.
The new street would connect
from the west to Highway 133, at
or next to the present entrance to
the park-and-ride area, at an
existing four-way intersection
and traffic signal controlling the
bus lot and Village Road, which
meets the highway from the east.
But, as noted by Carbondale
largest rooftop system, at 101 kW, is located at the Garfield County Fairgrounds riding arena in Rifle. And Rifle is also home to
one of the largest ground-based solar
farms in the country, at 858 kW.
In addition to the new rooftop system,
The Orchard is also replacing nearly all of
the lights in the auditorium and the Gathering Center. A total of 95 out of 105 lights
are being upgraded to LED lights throughout the building.
Andy Lietz, who attends church at The
Orchard and also works for Sunsense Solar,
said the extra investment made sense.
“This was an economically sound decision on many levels,” said Lietz, who
spearheaded the project. “It will reduce
energy costs by using at least 75 percent
Mayor Stacey Bernot, “The Village Road option has been a
nonstarter for RFTA,” because
the agency opposes new traffic
crossings of the Rio Grande Trail,
which used to carry the Denver
and Rio Grande Western Railroad.
Since it bought the old railroad
right of way in 1997, RFTA has
preserved the right of way not
just for bicycle and pedestrian
use, but also for the possibility of
future passenger train travel up
and down the valley.
“It will reduce energy
costs by using at least
75 percent less energy
than incandescent
lighting, saving on
operating expenses.”
Andy Lietz, who attends church at The Orchard
and also works for Sunsense Solar
less energy than incandescent lighting,
saving on operating expenses.”
The proposed revisions to the
access control plan arose at a
special Jan. 22 meeting between
Satank residents and Garfield
County Commissioner John
Martin, who offered to meet with
RFTA officials to work out an
agreement that would accommodate the desires of Satank,
according to Ballenger and
Roussin.
Bernot was visibly irritated by
Martin’s proposal and said the
meeting with Satank was held at
a time when no Carbondale
All contents © Copyright 2006 Post Independent and postindependent.com
LED lights can last 35 to 50 times longer
than incandescent lighting, and about 2-5
times longer than fluorescent lighting, and
will also help reduce cooling costs
because they produce less heat. The estimated annual electric bill savings to The
Orchard will be about $4,000, Lietz said.
The Orchard has also signed up with the
Garfield Clean Energy Challenge for Business, which will include a follow-up
cost/benefit analysis and case study.
Lietz is looking into the costs to install
an energy navigator at the church, which
allows the public to monitor energy use
and solar production.
jstroud@postindependent.com
trustees could be present
because they were all at a town
board meeting.
“I just don’t like how it was
handled,” she declared at the
trustees meeting.
She said one argument against
changing the access control plan
in this way is that it could open it
up to other challenges from residents unhappy with one aspect
of the plan or another.
Roussin, who said he could
accept the proposal from Martin
as an option that may or may not
be realized, at one point assured
the trustees, “You’re not going to
put a road through a parking lot.”
The trustees voted 6-1, with
Trustee John Hoffmann dissenting, to reject the proposed
amendment of the access control plan.
Roussin and Ballenger said
they would take the matter up
with Garfield County again and
come back to the Carbondale
council when they had done so.
jcolson@postindependent.com
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