Illinois Valley News

As a member of the Josephine County Fairgrounds Board of Directors, Rick Wilson has spent the past couple of years trying to figure out how to make that operation more self-sufficient.

In 2008, Wilson and his fellow board members decided to examine the possibility of installing solar panels on one of the buildings at the fairgrounds in Grants Pass.

He said that the biggest benefit of installing the panels would be the cost savings for the fairgrounds utility bills.

“Basically, we“re using way more power than we“d ever be able to generate,“ Wilson said. “But this is something that can help us control the costs.“

On a long-term basis, he said, the panels could save the fairgrounds around $181,000.

Josephine County Commissioner Dave Toler, who serves as liaison to the fairgrounds, said that the site was analyzed to determine the feasibility of the solar project. The Flower Bldg. was selected as the most viable location, Wilson said.

Total costs for the project would be around $150,000, he said, but could be lowered through various grants and other programs.

“With all the different credits and incentives, we were going to be about $60,000 short,“ Wilson said. “The county wasn“t going to spend $60,000, and the economy is such that the chances of raising $60,000 are pretty minimal. So we had to backburner it until finding out where the extra money would come from.“

He learned about the Blue Sky grant program offered through Pacific Power, and said that would enable the fairgrounds to bridge the prohibitive financial gap.

But just as the plan was starting to come together, another set of problems emerged.

Some of the money to offset the project costs would have come through the state“s Business Energy Tax Credit (BETC) program. But unanticipated cost overruns and resulting bad publicity prompted legislators to enact new restrictions.

Wilson briefed his fellow board members on the situation during their Wednesday, July 14 meeting at the fairgrounds. He said that the county“s legal counsel office might have to become involved to sort out other issues.

They include bidding requirements and questions of actual ownership of the facilities, he said.

“In the end, it is a county facility and the county owns it,“ he said. “But we have to be careful about how we set up that process, because if we“re doing it through a county project, we have (the Davis-Bacon labor law) to deal with.“

If that becomes the case, Wilson said, the project would entail requests for proposals, competing bids and other new legal requirements.

Also, once the panels are installed, they must remain on the building for at least 20 years, he said. Removal prior to that would result in some of the grant funds having to be paid back, he added.

During the fair board“s July 14 meeting, Fairgrounds Manager Jackie McBee was directed to write a letter to the commissioners soliciting their support for the solar project.

Toler said that he is committed to ensuring the self-sufficiency of the fairgrounds operations. For the past few months, he said, he and many county officials have been preoccupied with implementing an Employer Relations Board ruling against the county for its 2006 decision to privatize mental health services.

That decision lead to a lawsuit by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, and the county recently reached a settlement with that group to resolve those issues.

The fairgrounds could end up retaining its insurance coverage through the county, Toler said, but could be much more autonomous than now.

“I will be really looking at seeing if we can allow them to become a nonprofit operation over there and not really part of the county anymore,“ Toler said. “I will look into that potential, if that“s something they would like. I want to see if we can at least consider it.“

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