Middleton-Cross Plains board approves Phase 1 sustainability package but delays Sauk Trail geothermal

The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District Board of Education voted Feb. 10 to approve the district’s Phase 1 sustainability projects and funding plan as presented, but removed the Sauk Trail geothermal installation from the approval and will revisit that component in June.

The decision follows more than an hour of public comment and a lengthy board discussion weighing climate goals, projected savings, and uncertainty about federal incentives. The approved package (the board’s “option 1” as presented) includes solar and efficiency work across multiple schools, uses $3 million the district has committed from its long-term capital trust (Fund 46), and relies in part on utility incentives and guaranteed energy-savings projections provided by McKinstry.

Community members pressed the board to approve the most ambitious plan. Melissa Gavin, a Cross Plains resident and parent, told the board, “I’m asking you to take this moment to lead and to inspire and urge you to approve the original, the most ambitious proposal and approve all of the projects that are part of phase 1.” Kelly Hilliard, Middleton sustainability coordinator and staff liaison to the community sustainability committee, said “this time in history . . . requires bold action,” and urged support for the district’s most aggressive option. Student speaker Brad Keller, vice president of the Middleton High School Green Team, told the board, “CO2 kills. It’s a problem, like, a problem multiplier.”

District staff and consultants presented three financing and project options. Jared Rosen, assistant superintendent for business operations, summarized that the original package totaled just under $13.5 million and that, with incentives, McKinstry’s analysis put the combined payback for those projects at about 12 years. Rosen said the district would apply roughly $3.0 million from Fund 46, use nearly $300,000 of Focus on Energy incentives, and incorporate $1.4 million in capital maintenance budget items (noting those capital funds would otherwise pay for roof/HVAC work). Option 2 reduced the scope (removing some longer-payback items including Sauk Trail geothermal) to about $9.6 million and moved the district roughly 18.4 percentage points closer to its 100% renewable-energy goal; Rosen said option 1 would move the district about 26 percentage points closer to that goal.

Board members split on how to balance the district’s 2021 sustainability resolution, projected energy savings and payback, and the risk that federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act could be reduced or delayed. Board member Bob Hesselbein warned that federal funding is uncertain and urged caution, saying the board needs to recognize the risk of relying on that funding. Board member Bartlett Durand urged the board to act and described the vote as a moral and fiscal responsibility to students. Board member Bob Green raised lifecycle concerns, noting some HVAC components have roughly 15-year useful lives while some projects show longer payback periods.

The board adopted a motion to approve the Phase 1 package with the geothermal work at Sauk Trail excluded (motion language recorded as approval of “option 1 less the Sauk Trail geothermal project”). A separate, subsequent motion to add the Sauk Trail geothermal component back into Phase 1 failed in a roll-call vote. The roll call during the geothermal motion, as recorded in the meeting transcript, included: Hesselbein — Nay; Kells — Nay; Hansen — Aye; Durand — Aye; Orci — Nay; Berg — Aye (other members voted but the transcript records and attribution of all votes was not a full roll-call in the record). The board directed administration to return with the geothermal question for further consideration in June.

Consultants said projects in the approved scope could begin this year and that completing certain work now could establish a “safe harbor” for claiming tax credits tied to 5% project spend; Rosen said completion of Phase 1 projects would allow the district to apply for the federal tax credits once the work is finished. McKinstry will guarantee specified energy savings as part of the performance-contracting approach the district used to model projected savings. Several board members emphasized that approved projects will still move the district meaningfully toward the district’s 100% renewable-energy goal even without the Sauk Trail geothermal component.

Next steps announced at the meeting included: directing administration to begin contracting for approved Phase 1 projects, pursuing the incentive and tax-credit applications tied to completed work, and scheduling the Sauk Trail geothermal question for board reconsideration in June so the district can assess federal and state funding clarity and contractor scheduling before committing to the larger geothermal scope.