WAYNESBORO, Pa. — It looks like the last club might have been swung at Waynesboro’s municipal golf course.
Talk at Wednesday night’s Waynesboro Borough Council meeting centered on a solar array and agriculture as future uses of the 100-acre recreational area off Cemetery Avenue that challenged local golfers for many years.
“I don’t think that it’s council’s appetite to entertain a golf course any longer at that property,” borough Manager Jason Stains said.
The council heard a presentation Wednesday night from a solar-development firm that proposes to use 8 acres of the links for an array of panels to offset energy costs of Waynesboro government operations.
Ideas also are being investigated for the rest of the course
“We have several parties who are interested in agricultural purposes and uses for the property,” Stains said. “We will be discussing with them their concepts. Depending on their usage, there may have to be some rezoning that goes on at that course.”
The most recent lessee of the beleaguered course closed it in August and handed the keys back to the borough, which originally farmed out operations in 2014 after it became unprofitable.
The borough solicited proposals last fall from anyone interested in operating the course. At least two were received, but the council never took action on either offer.
SGC Power officials said the Elkridge, Md.-based company could develop, engineer and manage the building of an array, and it has three potential energy investors that would own the system and work with the borough serving as the host.
The contract typically would be for 25 years at no cost to the borough.
“It’s a solar-energy contract,” said Gentry Rouse of SGC Development. “It’s a way for the borough to say, ’75 percent of our energy is now solar energy.’”
Rouse said SGC would make an approximately $3 million investment under the plan, and he projected energy savings for the borough based on the track of current electric costs.
Rouse said the per-unit cost of energy that the borough buys now costs 6.84 cents. SGC’s plan would offer a power-purchase agreement rate of 6.1 cents.
SGC projects savings over 25 years at $548,000 if electricity rates go up by 1.5 percent; $775,000 if there is a 2 percent hike; and $1 million if rates rise by 2.5 percent.
Rouse cautioned that the proposal is based on a project to happen in 2019 because of the status of the renewable-energy-credit market, which has tripled since December. Tax credits on those projects will begin to drop in 2020, he said.
The council made no decision on the solar proposal or the golf course at the meeting.
“I would not recommend to borough council to rush into the solar plan,” Stains said. “It sounds pretty good, but we need to do some analysis before any final decisions.”
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