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municipalauthorities.org | 65 y our ad could go here ! Do you have a product or service that you would like to advertise? Contact Mandi Glantz at 717.737.7655 x160 or glantz@municipalauthorities.org . l Egal Representing over 40 Pennsylvania Authorities Michelle Portnoff, Esquire President www.portnoffonline.com Delinquent Account Collection Utility Claims • Real Estate Taxes Portnoff Law Associates, Ltd. Kevin H. Buraks, Esquire 4846909332 kburaks@portnoffonline.com s alEs /s ErviCE Dredging and Dewatering Services Industrial and Municipal Cleaning 3100 Bethel Road Chester, PA 19013 800-635-9689 11420 Old Baltimore Pike Beltsville, MD 20705 877-777-9114 1566 Harding Highway Newfield, NJ 08344 800-634-6014 Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, P.C. Erie | Pittsburgh | Jamestown, NY 814-459-2800 | www.kmgslaw.com program paying four cents/kilowatt. That COSTARS contract was for a three-year period that ended with the calendar year. Expecting to be “online” for 2025 we didn’t enroll in the next contract period. The end result – our electric rate went from four cents to eight cents/kilowatt the beginning of 2025. Prior to construction, we did meet with our local fire department to address any of their concerns. Their primary issue was being made aware of the location of emergency disconnects and the procedure for disabling the system in the event of a fire. Like many other transfer stations, we’ve had multiple fires over the past ten years mostly due to batteries. And our transfer facility was one of the rooftops with an array. Unexpectedly, codes became more of an issue than we or our contractor had ever imagined. Our contractor has extensive experience in the installation of these arrays, both commercial and residential. Our maintenance building, first online, failed due to “permanent rooftop access”. Not sure if they wanted an elevator, or an indoor/outdoor staircase, but eventually they gave approval without having permanent access. Upon completion of the transfer station array, we again failed inspection due to “inadequate distance” between conduit lines and the edge of the roof. Apparently, they didn’t feel there was enough space for firefighters to maneuver in the event they had to be on the roof while fighting the fire. We were required to appeal that decision and eventually succeeded in getting approval without having to move any conduit. And then there was the weather. Besides snow, ice, rain and frost which posed access problems, we had several power outages due to storms which prevented utility crews from being available to provide necessary installation and inspection services. At one point nearly 60% of county residents were without power for nearly a week. Finally, in mid-July, we received “permission to operate” on the third and final array. Our system is now 100% complete and up and running. If I were to do this over again, I’d hire a construction manager. Although it seems like a relatively simple process, it does require constant attention. And it wouldn’t be appropriate to finish such a job in today’s world without having a software app that shows you the details of our arrays power generation. For those of you interested, you can go to www.centrecountyrecycles.org/ sustainabilityinitiatives and see the daily production of our solar array. S Solar article continued from page 38.