Solar and 1812 Bicentennial Highlight Council Meeting

During the town council meeting on Monday, August 4, Town Manager Bill Ingersoll updated the council on the proposal to install a solar array system to power all municipal buildings in Chestertown, and include the Wastewater Treatment Plant, where they would most likely be installed.

Ingersoll said that he would like to have a solar engineer evaluate the thirteen bids submitted and opened on July 18. Of those, Ingersoll recommended that the town go with a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) whereby a power supplier would build a solar panel system on the town’s property at no cost to the town and sell the power at a declared price per kilowatt hour to the town, saying, “they will build it, and we will buy it.” A PPA would be a better choice rather than purchasing and owning the solar equipment outright at great cost. Submitted bids reflected costs between $2.5 and $3.2 million.

Additionally, some bids included annual escalating costs of between 1.75% and 3%.

The lowest bid came in at $0.045 per kilowatt-hour and carried no escalating fee. Ingersoll said that each of the most attractive bids would be carefully studied. The City Manager also recommended that the town get help from Michael Forlini of Funk & Bolton to help assess the bids.

The town is currently paying $0.068 per kilowatt hour on a contact nearing its end.  Ingersoll said that the market for purchasing solar power is now offering some of the best value in years. Had the town implemented earlier plans to use solar power it would have been more expensive. For instance, the county is paying $0.07 with escalation fees but that their arrangement is different because they share the power contract with the Board of Education.

——

Kristen Owen, DCA Chair, Bernadette Bowman, Director of Kent County Tourism Development, Nancy McGuire, Co-Chair of the Saturday morning Prelude events, presented the council with an update on the August 30 and 31^st Battle of Caulk’s Field Bicentennial along with the ceremonies and events to take place on that Saturday and Sunday. An up to date schedule  may be found here.

Bowman said that the long-planned event is gathering intense momentum and mentioned that the original 40 re-enactor signups have now become 170 with the expectation that as many as 300 might eventually be on hand and that national recognition for the event was already in play.

“There is a domino effect taking place and part of that will be lots of visitors to Chestertown who will come back This is a perfect opportunity to showcase our history,” Bowman said.

Kevin Hemstock, former Editor of Kent County News and Chair of the Caulk’s Field Committee, spoke about some of the historical elements involved with the weekend’s reenactment and formal military ceremony to dedicate new monuments to honor the American and British soldiers who fought on the exact location 200 years ago. His research provided most of the in-depth information about the battle used for a 24-page souvenir program.

Events will take place throughout the town from 9:00 A.M to 5:00 P.M. on Saturday. The Caulk’s Field site opens 10:00 A.M. Sunday with the battle re-enactment taking place at 2:00 P.M.

The formal military ceremony will be held At Caulk’s Field at 11:00 A.M, on Sunday. The 229th Maryland National Guard Army Band will be on hand as well as American and British military emissaries for the dedication of the new monument/

The Pride of Baltimore II will arrive at the town wharf on Friday evening and offer two public sails during the weekend. Also, re-enactor encampments will be established that evening.

For complete information about the weekend, go here.