By Sherry Pierce and Brian Kovack -
For the children’s sake, we are recommending you vote “No” on the Aurora School District 129 referendum.
The school district web site is big on pretty pictures and light on good reasons why anyone should vote for this referendum. There are a lot of photos & computer generated images of new schools and building additions. You have to scroll through 10 pages to get to any information about geothermal which is where $23,800,000 of the total $84,200,000 referendum dollars is to be spent. If you really dig you will find board documents that show what we're talking about. This gives a broad overview of where the dollars are to be spent.
Our first concern is why are we looking at replacing systems that are not broken? This seems to be a solution looking for a problem.
Among our concerns:
- Geothermal requires electric heat pumps, exchanging natural gas for electric costs. Is the electric bill going to less than the natural gas bill and is it included in the cost savings?
- Heat pumps require greater maintenance than boilers or forced air, how much more or less is this compared to current maintenance costs?
- Geothermal is a specialized system that requires “specially trained technicians”. Since geothermal isn’t in great use, there are fewer qualified people at a greater cost for maintenance and repairs. Nowhere in the documents have I seen a proposed or budgeted cost for maintenance and repairs. Also, no information has been given for what backup systems will be installed let alone their cost.
- Since geothermal requires electricity, backup generators will need to be installed. These use natural gas and must be turned on, systems switched, tested and switched back regularly. Have these costs been factored in to the budget?
Is geothermal really going to save the school district money?
Per the Kane County Chronicle, “The district is expected to save between $250,000 and $350,000 annually in utility costs by installing geothermal heating and cooling systems at nine schools, district officials say.” We don’t know if this include the maintenance, repairs and backup systems. Let’s say that is does and all the numbers are what the board has said. Taking the total cost of $23,800,000, divide by $350,000 (being generous and assuming that the numbers aren’t off), gives us 68 years to recoup the cost of install.
We are not saying geothermal is a bad idea, but not before we really know all the details and if it really will save the district money. Installing Geothermal at all the schools will not benefit our schools, community but most of all, will not benefit our children.
That is why Aurora Tea Party Patriots is recommending you vote April 7 and vote “No."
Sherry Pierce and Brian Kovack are writing on behalf of the Aurora Tea Party Patriots
