Solar Energy Project Postponed for Manalapan-Englishtown Schools

On behalf of the Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools, Dr. John J. Marciante, has announced that the district “necessarily” postponed a which involved construction set to begin this summer.

The only part of the project that the district will move forward on, at this time, is a roof replacement at .

According to the project specifications, which were prepared by Spiezle Architecture Group, the cost of the project totaled over $31 million and included the replacement of roofs for , , and . Through this solar agreement, the project came at no direct cost to the district. Additionally, the district would have cut its electricity bills by 71 percent and saved at least $6 million over the next 15 years.

The cost of these roofs, an estimated total of over $4 million, would have been paid for by a contractor in return for leasing the space on the roofs for solar energy panels. Solar Energy Credits, which are profitable for the owner, are traded in a special market.

However, Marciante has released a statement in which he explains that the contractor, after agreeing to specific bid requirements, later asked for financing to complete the project and also asked the board to agree to “substantial changes.” 

“Based on the position by the Contractor the board was legally unable to consider the changes mandated by the Contractor and therefore declared the Contractor in default,” Marciante said in the statement.

The statement does not mention “Contractor” by name, but during a public meeting on March 29, the BOE awarded the bid to Ray Angelini, Inc. of Sewell, N.J.

“RAI has no further comment at this time,” said Marie Holmdal, Ray Angelini’s executive assistant and a company spokesperson.

Dr. Marciante explained that solar energy to generate electricity will continue to be a priority. "With my encouragement, the board will continue to evaluate the economic viability of our solar energy as we continue to consider that this type of energy production is good for the environment,” Dr. Marciante said in his statement.  “I hope to present to the board over the next several weeks a plan that may allow us to proceed in this direction.”

During a July 13 meeting, the board awarded a contract to the lowest bidder, JDS General Contracting for the Milford Brook School roof replacement; the payment totals $618,000.

Dr. Marciante said that additional funding for this project became available in various salary accounts, due to the significant number of teacher and staff retirements this year. The district sought approval from the Monmouth County Education office for a 2011-12 budget transfer in the amount of $163,000. The superintendent said he will address the other two roof replacements in his upcoming plan.