Solar field project at central Muncie brownfield moves ahead with city council approval

MUNCIE — Muncie City Council gave its blessing Monday to action by the city administration to hire a contractor and continue to work to turn the site of a former General Motors factory into a solar panel field.

The city is in negotiation with a contractor, GM Development Companies (not affiliated with General Motors) to turn 53 acres into a solar field that would generate up to 24.6 million kWh of electricity. 

Construction and engineering have been estimated to cost about $17 million. 

Dan Gibson, attorney for the council, said the city is working with GM Development on creating a BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) agreement.

Under a BOT, government usually grants a private company the authority to finance, build and operate a project for a period of years, hoping to earn a profit. After that period, the project is returned to the public entity.