New school should be built green
Dear Editor:
Hartselle has finally broken ground at the Bethel Road site for the new high school, which may be ready for occupancy in 2012, providing everything goes well. When will Bethel Road be upgraded to handle the increased traffic?
What a coincidence. In 2012 Hartselle school district will have its first elected school board. The Citizens of Hartselle have spoken with an overwhelming majority (4,583 to 1,219) to have an elected school board. Does this tell our current appointed school board members and the city councel something? This will get rid of the “good old boy, good old gal” method of appointing school board members.
The new high school should be state of the art in all aspects. The only thing I have heard or read, to date, about this being the case is from an article in the Hartselle Enquirer indicating the new school would be energy efficient. So far, the only mention of any environmental green energy is to do some drilling to investigate the possibility of using geothermal for heating and cooling. What about solar and wind energy? What about gray water and black water sanitation systems? What about collecting rain water?
According to a January newspaper article, the architectural plans are only 65 percent completed. Seems there is sufficient time to incorporate green energy concepts into the new high school. What do you the citizens of Hartselle think? Are you interested in this being a green energy school building?
The sanitation systems could be separated into gray water and black water. The gray water could be put into storage tanks along with collected rain water and used to water the grass and other landscape areas. The black water metered and would be sent to the waste water treatment plant.
There is a big difference between energy efficiency and going green. Has any thought been given to or plans developed for going green with the new school building? Does anyone have an answer to these questions? Is anyone willing to step up to the plate from the school board or city council and address these issues?
How green is this new school building going to be? What about solar panels for heating hot water during the warmer months, heating the building during the cooler months 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 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 cost 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 cost 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 for the teaching of green energy courses in conjunction with the Calhoun Community College system. Calhoun has just announced it is going to be developing some green technology classes, and the new Hartselle High School could be used as a classroom. There certainly is a need for teaching this technology here in North Alabama.
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? Past experience has shown us many of our elected city leaders, superintendent of Hartselle Schools and our appointed Hartselle school board members have selective eyesight and hearing when any new ideas are brought forth by the citizens of Hartselle. Let us hope things will be different this time and they will look to the future.
Remember citizens, we will be paying for this school for a very long time and utility cosst will continue to rise every year. Will the one-cent sales tax cover the bond payments every year? If it does not, the shortfall will be covered equally by the Hartselle school system and the city of Hartselle? When all is said and done, it will be “we the citizens” making the bond payments.
Gene Aittala
Hartselle
Express your thoughts in a Letter to the Editor. Send your thoughts to P.O. Box 929, Hartselle, AL 35640 or e-mail to news@hartselleenquirer.com. Only signed comments can be included as Letters to the Editor.
