Crawfordsville approves IMPA tax abatements for 22-acre solar panel park

IMPA will build a 22-acre solar panel park consisting of approximately 8,000 panels at 500 Memorial Drive, near Pleasant Meadows subdivision. The park will be the largest IMPA has established thus far and will be capable of producing two megawatts of power.

Since IMPA is a public utility, it will make payments on its pilot in lieu of taxes over 10 years. Its payments will increase 10 percent each year until the abatements expire.

IMPA Senior Vice President Jack Alvey said tax abatements were a significant factor in the public utility’s decision to build a solar park in Crawfordsville.

“All the communities that we have been in so far have supported us with tax abatements,” Alvey said. “The abatements lower our cost of power, so that is going to turn around and lower the cost of power that we are able to sell to Crawfordsville.”

Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton advocated tax abatements for IMPA in order to establish local infrastructure.

“In the end we will have that infrastructure invested in our community,” Barton said. “That’s good because we will eventually capture the tax benefits and have more generating capacity in our community. That’s important because we won’t have to solely rely on the outside world when something goes wrong. We will be producing reliable power here.”

Alvey estimates IMPA will pay between $400,000 and $500,000 in taxes for equipment over a 40 year span.

Crawfordsville Electric Light and Power Manager Philip Goode announced in July that IMPA selected Crawfordsville and four other cities to develop solar panel parks.

“IMPA’s goal is to put solar in all 60 communities,” Goode said. “To get it to Crawfordsville, Mayor Barton and I had to find property and get it done here. This is a win for our community and the other 60 members of IMPA.”

IMPA originally planned to invest $2 million for the project. Barton said that total increased to $4,515,000 after IMPA analyzed its power distribution.

“Fortunately, we have the infrastructure in place,” Barton said. “We have direct access to the grid, and that property eventually was going to be developed. This is a good use for it.”

Alvery said construction of the solar park is slated to begin during the spring. He hopes the park is complete by the end of the summer. September 2015 is a hard deadline, keeping in mind possible construction complications due to weather conditions.

In addition to the abatement, the council suspended its rules and adopted an ordinance modifying commitments to the property. The ordinance would no longer require the construction of a 12-foot berm between the solar panel park and Pleasant Meadows subdivision.

Montgomery County Commissioners previously supported removing the berm because shadows would inhibit energy production. Residents living in Pleasant Meadows also supported removing the berm during a Nov. 18 Crawfordsville Plan Commission meeting.

Adding solar power diversifies IMPA’s portfolio and Crawfordsville’s energy production. Barton said the solar panel park fits in with Crawfordsville Energy LLC’s clean energy initiative.

“It’s important that we have a good mix of power sources in our community,” he said. “We want IMPA’s investment in this community instead of elsewhere. Without that abatement, we may not have received that investment and would have to rely on outside power sources. Imagine if we lost power last winter and had to rely on other locations.”

Alvey praised Crawfordsville for its reception of solar power.

“The community has been very welcoming,” he said. “Crawfordsville was a founding member of IMPA, and we are glad to make another big step here.”

In other business, the council:

• Approved a confirmatory resolution authorizing personal property tax abatements for RR Donnelley, which will invest $15.9 million to expand its printing operations. The council approved a declaratory resolution for the 10-year tax abatement during its November meeting.