Vote yes on solar panel referendum
Can you spell no-brainer? Brick voters have no excuse not to push the yes button on the voting machines on Dec. 9 to approve the Board of Education's $4.7 referendum question to install a solar panel system on the roof of Brick Memorial High School.

For starters, approving the question will not cost taxpayers a penny. What it will do is ensure that the school district receives a preapproved, $1.25 million rebate from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program.

The rebate will go a long way toward bringing down the cost of the $4,775,782 photovoltaic system to $3,525,782.

The annual debt service spread out over a 20-year period would run $162,629. But that's just for starters.

Factor in the $246,750 in annual energy savings and the revenue from the sale of state solar renewable energy credits, and the debt each year becomes profit instead.

School Business Administrator James Edwards is being conservative when he estimates the district would make $84,120 a year on the project.

Edwards based his projection on the $350 in revenue for each solar renewable credit. The credits have recently been valued at between $560 and $600 a credit. So the $84,120 in revenue annually is the least the project could make.

Edwards and Superintendent Walter J. Hrycenko have done an admirable job of presenting the referendum details to the public at both Board of Education meetings and at the Nov. 25 Township Council meeting.

And approving the project will have more than financial benefits. The solar panels reduce greenhouse gases and the use of fossil fuels.

The district plans to install an interactive kiosk in the lobby of the high school, so students can see how much electricity is being generated at any given time. The project will be incorporated into lesson plans for science, math and environmental studies.

Township Councilman Brian DeLuca was right when he asked why anyone would vote against the project.

There is no reason not to. The rebate money will run out on Dec. 31, 2008, has been a frightening year for finances and 2009 promises more of the same.

Grab it while you can. Vote yes on Dec. 9.