Letters to the editor

By Staff
Go green with new school
Editor:
Hartselle has finally accomplished the goal of acquiring the funding for a new high school. And if all goes according to plan the new school should be ready for occupancy in 2012.
Three architectural firms submitted designs for the new school. Goodwyn Mills and Cawood were awarded the contract for the school design. This was the firm recommended by Superintendent Reed and was opposed by Ms. Sittason and Dr. Joy. One could draw the conclusion Superintendent Reed did know about the $500.00 donation to Mayor Tankersley’s campaign fund, and therefore recommended this firm. What do you think? To remove this illusion of possible impropriety by Superintendent Reed and Mayor Tankersley the best solution would be for Mayor Tankersley to return the monies to Goodwyn Mills and Cawood immediately. This would be the end of the issue.
One would think with all the new technologies on alternative energy sources currently available there would have been more discussion on how to incorporate this into the new school design. So far the only mention of any environmental green energy is to do some drilling to investigate the possibility of using geothermal heating and cooling. What about solar and wind energy? For more information on this issue see the Hartselle Enquirer of Feb. 4 “Board OKs bond issue.”
How green could this new school building be? What about solar panels for heating hot water during the warmer months, heating and cooling the building and to generate electricity? What about some wind turbine generators for generating electricity for the school, or what about geothermal energy for heating and cooling? Why not separate the sanitation plumbing into two systems, black water and gray water systems? The gray water could be used for watering the grass and shrubs. Why not let the taxpayers know these things? Some of the citizens may have an interest in knowing how environmental friendly this new high school will be. This could have a huge impact on utility costs over the life of the new building. Any excessive electricity generated by the green energy systems could be sold back to Hartselle Utilities. This could further reduce the utility costs for operating the school building. It is possible this could generate substantial savings for the school.
Also, with all of this green technology in the school building this could be used as a teaching of green energy courses in conjunction with Calhoun Community College system. There certainly is a need for this.
Will our school board members and our city leaders look into the future and see a need to address this issue now, or will they choose put on the blinders and go with the status quo? Let us hope they will look to the future.
Gene B. Aittala
Hartselle
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