Scottsdale bond panel defers vote on changing El Dorado Pool solar project to photovoltaic canopies

The Citizens Bond Oversight Committee on June 30 deferred action on a staff proposal to change the scope of a 2019 bond project for El Dorado Pool from a ground‑mounted solar pool‑heating system to a photovoltaic (PV) parking‑shade canopy.

City engineer Lisonbee Timkew told the committee the original bond description called for “a ground mounted solar pool hot water heating system at El Dorado Pool to reduce energy costs for heating the pool during the shoulder seasons and winter months. The project is estimated to save approximately $70,000 per year in energy costs.” Timkew said staff could not replicate the $70,000 estimate and cited maintenance, space and seasonal‑mismatch concerns with a solar thermal system.

The proposed alternative would instead construct a roughly 71‑kilowatt PV system mounted on parking‑shade canopies and connected…