SOLAR PROJECT … Village Administrator Anthony Burnett (left) answers a question regarding the village’s solar panel field project with committee member Al Fiser (middle) and mayor Ed Kidston (right) in Thursday’s Pioneer Finance Committee meeting.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Pioneer Village Finance Committee met on Thursday afternoon at the Pioneer Community Center.
In attendance were committee members Al Fiser, Ben Fiser, and Joe Nickoli, Village Administrator Anthony Burnett, Fiscal Officer Nikki Mittelstaedt, and Mayor Edward Kidston.
Committee members heard an update from Kidston regarding the five-megawatt solar field panels project, which is going to be located on U.S. Route 20, just south of the village, covering 30 acres of the village lagoons.
Engineering bids for the solar fields project will be closing on Friday, August 1, based on the request for proposals. The village will then negotiate with the bidders.
Kidston added the loan papers by the United States Department of Agriculture in which the village is waiting on as of last Friday.
“I think we have a workable agreement now between the village and the USDA,” noted the mayor. “We should be able to move forward with the project.”
“The first pay estimate through USDA, and I know this when we built the water treatment plant, sometimes it takes 90 to 120 days to process,” said the mayor. “Then once you get into the system and it’s working, it usually comes every 30 to 60 days.”
To make the initial payment into the USDA loan, the village will make a payment totaling $200,000 down on the $10.5 million loan.
One of the guidelines, according to Kidston, regarding the project, is to begin construction before the end of the year.
“I already told the engineers, the attorneys, I like to energize by Christmas, not just started by Christmas,” said Kidston.
“This thing obviously has gone slower than we anticipated. I know for a fact to qualify for the tax credits; we got to be started by the end of this year. Then we have to finish it by the end of 2027. “
The village will benefit from a 20 percent loan reduction and a 30 percent tax credit thanks to the USDA loan for the project.
Another ten percent of tax credit is also being offered, meaning the village must buy American-made products for the project.
“It’s a complicated formula,” admitted Kidston regarding the American-made products tax credit. “I can’t get a straight answer out of the attorneys.”
“We have to meet through this complicated formula. There is a certain percentage of our project that has to be buy American.”
The committee discussed a job description for a new village employee who is going to be eventually hired following an interview.
Upon being hired, the new employee who is going to be multi-tasking in the village will be supervised for one year by current village employee Bob Siegneur, with Burnett being the secondary supervisor.
Two of the requirements for the position include getting fully licensed to operate both water and sewer plants in Pioneer.
Besides operating the water and sewer plants, the new employee will also be managing the village summer rec program (coaches, umpires, concessions, field preparation), maintaining parks (mowing, riverbanks, trash, restrooms, splash pad, tennis courts, shelter house, community center, concession stands and batting cages) among the numerous tasks.
“The objective here is for this employee to make a livable wage so he can raise a family on and to solve a lot of issues for the village,” noted Kidston.