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Apr 06, 2023

The Newport News School Board signed a 30 year contract for solar panels. Will the city council allow it?

Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot Thoroughgood Elementary in Virginia Beach on

Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot

Thoroughgood Elementary in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.

Jonathon Gruenke/Daily Press

Yates Elementary in Newport News is seen Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.

Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot

Solar panels on the roof at Renaissance Academy in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.

Jonathon Gruenke/Daily Press

Heritage High School in Newport News is seen Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.

L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot

Ocean Lakes Elementary School in Virginia Beach on Aug. 18, 2020

Kristen Zeis/The Virginian-Pilot

Renaissance Academy in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.

Jonathon Gruenke/Daily Press

Lee Hall Elementary in Newport News is seen Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.

L. Todd Spencer/The Virginian-Pilot

Ocean Lakes Elementary School in Virginia Beach on Aug. 18, 2020

The Newport News City Council will decide whether to grant conditional use permits allowing the installation of ground-mounted solar panels at several schools in the district — and some members aren't happy about it.

They’re frustrated that the School Board did not bring the project to them sooner — before signing a contract. The contract is a 30-year agreement that is expected to save the school division about $4 million over that time if all of the sites are approved.

"I really think the schools should have come to us," Councilman Dave Jenkins said.

Vice Mayor Saundra Cherry agreed.

"I can't go back in time and change that, so now we’ve got to make the decision as best we can, based on where we are now — whether that's to approve it or not approve it," Jenkins said.

"I don't think I have enough information. Even if they came later, they’ve already signed a contract, so it's like what do you do?" Cherry asked. "For me, I was under the assumption that they’d all be on the roof, so now they’re coming back and saying, ‘Now by the way…’ No, I have a problem with that."

The requests for two conditional use permits were on the agenda for the Nov. 24 City Council meeting, but the vote was deferred to January at the request of Sun Tribe Solar because the representative from Newport News Public Schools that was going to speak to the council couldn't attend the November meeting because of safety concerns.

At the council's Nov. 10 work session, council members said they had been under the impression that all of the solar arrays would be installed on rooftops.

Solar panels on the roof at Gatewood PEEP, a center that serves special-needs preschool students, have been activated. Solar arrays are also being installed on the rooftops at Lee Hall Elementary School, Heritage High School and the transportation office.

Daily Press archives show the solar arrays were expected to be added to rooftops at Yates Elementary School and Discovery STEM Academy as well, but plans shared at the Nov. 10 work session indicate that if the solar arrays were installed at these schools, it would be as a carport.

Solar panels installed on the rooftops do not require a permit because they’re considered to be part of the building but when installed as carports or on the ground they’re considered electrical substations in the zoning ordinance and require a conditional use permit, Flora Chioros, assistant director in the Department of Planning told the council.

If the permits before the council are approved, solar arrays would be installed on the ground at Gildersleeve and Hines middle schools and Saunders Elementary School.

The Planning Commission voted 5-2 to recommend granting the conditional use permits for ground-mounted solar panel fields at Saunders Elementary School and 4-2 to recommend granting the permit at Hines Middle School.

The solar array facility would take up about 1.5 acres of the 17.9-acre Saunders Elementary School property. The ground-mounted solar panels would be placed in the southwest corner of the property adjacent to Interstate 64 and would be surrounded by a 7-foot fence.

At Hines Middle School, the solar array facility would occupy about 2.4 acres of the school's 28.73 acres. The facility would be placed in the southeast corner of the school property adjacent to the CSX railroad tracks and would also be surrounded by a 7-foot-tall chain-link fence.

Mayor McKinley Price expressed concerns about what may happen in the future if the schools need the land where the solar facilities are located. Noah Carter, Preconstruction Manager, Sun Tribe Solar, said the schools would have to pay a penalty fee for ending the contract early but that Sun Tribe Solar would remove the panels and return the land to its original use.

If the permit is approved, trees on school grounds would be cut down to give the panels access to sunlight, Carter said. New trees would be planted but would not be able to grow high enough to shade the panels.

Councilwoman Patricia Woodbury is concerned about the safety of the panels and cited the opposing votes from the Planning Commission as evidence that others have concerns about the panels as well.

Carter said most of the safety concerns were about electromagnetic fields.

Power lines, microwave ovens, computers, TV screens and cellphones are also sources of electromagnetic fields. The World Health Organization has concluded that "current evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields."

Middlesex County Public Schools installed the first ground-mounted solar system at any school in Virginia, according to Sun Tribe Solar. It was the first school district in Virginia to have its schools powered entirely by on-site renewable energy.

City Council voted unanimously to continue the vote on the conditional use permits for Saunders Elementary School and Hines Middle School to the meeting on Jan. 12.

The Planning Commission will also vote on whether to recommend granting permits for Gildersleeve Middle School, Discovery STEM Academy and Yates Elementary School in January.

Jessica Nolte, 757-247-4513, [email protected]

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