Students push for green energy

The Iola High student council wants to build a wind turbine near the school.
With a slight nudge from Superintendent of Schools Brian Pekarek, IHS Student Body President Brent Clark said he and the council are in the process of laying the groundwork for construction of a 60-foot-tall wind turbine capable of producing up to 3.2 kilowatts per hour.
Senior Class President Doug Stewart said if a turbine is built, the school could save up to $70 per month in energy costs, or $8,400 over 10 years — the average lifespan of a wind turbine. And aside from saving money, the turbine will also serve as an educational tool, he said.
“It will be on the Internet, as far as how much energy it’s producing, so we can use it in the classrooms,” Stewart said.
Pekarek, who oversaw a similar project while an administrator at the Clifton-Clyde school district, said he’s already submitted a $13,500-grant request to the Kansas Green Schools Network to fund the project.
“When it comes to these green projects, money’s out there,” he said in an interview with the Register last week. “It’s fairly easy to get.”
If the money comes with as much ease as Pekarek predicts, the largest hurdle the students face is land acquisition.
“The grant should cover all of (the construction),” Stewart said. “It’s just a matter of getting the land.”
The desired site for the turbine is the vacated property just north of the high school parking lot, on the 300 block of North Cottonwood Street.
“It has an old building on it, but we figured we could tear that down pretty easily,” Stewart said.
Though that land is foreclosed property, now owned by the Bank of Fredonia, Clark said the council has been in contact with the bank and is awaiting word back.
“We contacted the bank and told them our thoughts,” he said. If the bank, which could receive tax credit for such a donation, decides not to volunteer the entire piece of property to USD 257, Clark said the council is prepared to ask for a parcel of it.
“It needs to be a big enough piece of land so that if the turbine were to fall over, it wouldn’t destroy any surrounding property,” he said. “If they say ‘no’, then we’re going to ask for a little nine foot by nine foot square just outside of our parking lot.”
Presenting their idea to the USD 257 school board Monday night, Clark and Stewart were encouraged to continue to pursue the project.
“I think it would be a heck of a deal if we could get this going,” said Board of Education member Buck Quincy.
BOE President Tony Leavitt agreed.
“I don’t think there are any negative feelings (on the board) at all,” he said.
Pekarek lauded the student council’s pursuit of the green energy project.
“I have to credit them,” he said. “They’ve been very persistent. I presented them options and they’ve been bugging me for awhile about this.”