Plymouth Utility Superintendent, Donnie Davidson gave members of the Redevelopment Commission a progress report on the Wastewater Solar Project being funded in part by TIF Funds from the U.S. 30/Pine Road Economic Development Area that was created in 2005.
He said about 60% of the materials have been delivered to the Wastewater Treatment Plan on Oakhill Avenue. The contractor, Solar Energy Systems from Nappanee began pounding the post in the ground on Monday. The post-installation is anticipated to take about 2 weeks. Davidson said they have distributed letters to the neighbors informing them of the project. He said they will try and limit the noise to their normal business house of 8 to 5.
Davidson told the Redevelopment Commission he’s met with the underground boring company that will be installing the conduits for the project. That should start right after Thanksgiving. He said, “My goal is to get that done, especially in and around the transformers before it gets too cold, and the ground gets frozen.”
The Utility Superintendent said he sat in on a BakerTilly presentation on available infrastructure grants. He also said the city is doing this one correctly. Davidson said the city cannot start using the new solar unit until January 1st to qualify for the refunds which can be up to 30%. The bid for this solar project was $1,017,792. If the rebate is approved, it will be returned to the city in about one year and could be as high as $300,000.
