Ringgold approves bid, timeline for solar power project; Georgia Environmental Finance Authority will fund half of the $46,995 project. | Catoosa Walker News

“We got about four bids in to put solar panels on our barn where we have crews down there working,” Mayor Nick Millwood said.

City Manager Dan Wright explained that there was an issue with the initial bids and that the process had to be redone.

“The initial bid opening we held was June 27, and there was an administrative-type issue there, so we had to reject all the bids based on the city attorney’s opinion, and then we rebid it on July 18 and Hannah Solar was the lowest and best bid at $45,995,” Wright said.

Half of the project is being funded through a grant from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA).

“This particular project will be funded at 50 percent by GEFA, so we’re very fortunate that we were able to get a grant for that amount of money,” Wright said. “We’re on a very tight schedule to try to get this project in. This was GEFA money that was left over from a previous grant cycle, left unappropriated, so we were able to pick that up.”

This first solar project will give the city a chance to test the waters for future projects.

“The project is to place 22.77 kilowatts of flush-mounted solar arrays up on one of our pole barns,” Wright said. “The reason that it’s that size is … there’s an economic benefit. … If you get more (energy) than you need, then you sell it back to the electric company for just pennies on the dollar. So they try to size this to where you’re just underneath what you need or are expected to need.”

Councilman Randall Franks expressed his enthusiasm for the project, after being a part of the solar power discussion for a number of years during his tenure on the council.

“I’m just extremely excited,” Franks said. “We started looking at the potential of us using solar in Ringgold’s business almost nine years ago now, so I’m so happy to see we were finally able to get the money and have the ability to do that.”

The GEFA grant comes in at just over half the proposed cost.

“So, just to be clear, we’ve got $23,000 that’s basically being gifted to us from GEFA, so that’s half of this bid,” Mayor Millwood said. “That’s what they’re willing to put in, and we’re very happy to get that. We’ll look at the numbers moving forward and see what other projects we can perhaps do with solar.

Over the past couple of years, the city’s water treatment plant is an area where officials have said they’d eventually like to try using solar power.

The board unanimously approved awarding the bid and a 60-day completion timeline for the work.

On Aug. 13, however, Wright informed the Council that GEFA officials offered an extended timetable for completion.

“The contract has been signed off on by the mayor and the contractor,” Wright said. “They’ve offered an extension of time. We didn’t ask for it, but the lady at the state said it was an undoable time limit. We don’t think we’ll need but a week or two, but they’re giving us a 60-day extension.”