Councillor questions previous denial of solar panels at rink

A Foothills County councillor had some questions about their previous decision to pull the plug on solar panels at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink.

At their August 30 meeting, council decided not to move forward because of structural issues and the cost of retrofitting the building to hold the panels as well as the lack of a provincial recycling plan for them.

Then last Wednesday, September 6, Division 3 councilor Barb Castell questioned why the reasons for denial weren't reflected in the minutes of that previous meeting.

She was also concerned about one of the reasons for denial, the lack of a provincial plan for recycling the panels at the end of the life.

Castell pointed out they had decided to take money from energy savings at the rink and put them aside for use down the road when a plan might be put forward for recycling them.

She also wondered if the county could be blacklisted for future federal solar grants after not moving forward on the $1.2 million it was eligible for this time, sending the message they're against solar energy.

But Reeve Delilah Miller pointed out the huge TC Energy solar farm in the industrial corridor shows that's not the case.

Administration pointed out the total cost of the project kept changing and savings estimates came in lower that what was originally expected.

The cost of retrofitting the building could mean the project could end up costing the county more than they got in the grant.

In the end council voted to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and did not decide to take another look at the project.

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