City of Monona proceeding with plans to annex property in Kwik Star area
By Audrey Posten, Times-Register
The city of Monona is proceeding with plans to annex property south of Highway 18/52 and west of Falcon Avenue into the city limits. The council, at its Oct. 19 regular meeting, approved publishing a public notice regarding its intent.
Three property owners—representing six parcels—have requested voluntary annexation. That includes Kwik Star, which originally prompted the conversation due to plans to expand at its location just off Highway 18/52.
The notice was published last week, and the council plans to take further action on annexing the property at a special meeting on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 5:30 p.m.
“We need to get moving forward,” city administrator Barb Collins told the council. Although the city can meet with Kwik Star representatives now to discuss expanding and financing infrastructure to the area, no official action can be taken until the annexation process is complete.
Following council approval on Nov. 5, Collins said notices about the annexation will be sent to the Clayton County Board of Supervisors and utility providers for approval. Then it needs to be signed off on by the state.
“Once we get a letter back from them, it’s done, which could take up to four to six weeks,” Collins said.
City looking into solar
The council reviewed a report from Dubuque-based Eagle Point Solar that detailed preliminary numbers on the cost and possible locations of solar use by the city, as well as possible savings on future electric bills.
The report includes options to solar power the sewer plant, new well, swimming pool, community center, Egbert lift station, well number two on North Page Street, fire station, city hall, city garage and Gateway Park. Some locations would require ground arrays, while others could have roof systems.
“Like the community center,” said Collins, “we didn’t think we could do that because it would take up our whole ground area, but the roof is fine.”
The two trickiest locations, noted Collins, are the pool and sewer plant. The pool is operational for just several months of the year and, when utilizing solar, electricity can only be used in a 12-month period.
“So what you build up and would use at night and in the winter is wiped away,” she said.
Any solar project at the sewer plant would have to consider future expansion and land use. It could be one of the biggest savings areas, however.
Collins said the projected price to solar power all the locations would be just under $1 million.
“But you don’t have to do all the things. You can just do one of the things,” she stated.
The project could be financed by the city, which is not eligible for government incentives, or by investors through Eagle Point Solar.
“If we had an investor do this, it would cost us nothing,” according to Collins.
The investor would put the solar arrays in and take care of the insurance on the equipment for 25 years. He or she would make money by taking advantage of government rebates and selling unused electricity back to Alliant Energy. The city would continue to pay the electric bill, but the price per kilowatt could drop from 16 or 17 cents to just 7 or 8 cents. After 25 years, the city would pay the investor for what the equipment is considered worth and assume ownership.
Collins said an investor would likely not do a project for less than $500,000.
The council was intrigued by the solar potential and gave Eagle Point Solar the go-ahead to gather more information and determine closer cost figures. The company will contact the local weather station, getting 25 years of history and how many days of sunlight the locations have had during that period. Drone imaging will help pinpoint the best placement for arrays.
This step, like the preliminary report, would come at no cost to the city.
The city also doesn’t have to decide yet on how to pay for potential solar use.
“We can still think about financing or going with an investor,” said Collins.
