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MARQUETTE -- The Marquette Township Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved a special-use permit for a solar energy system to be located at the Marquette Township Community Center at 1000 Commerce Drive.
"I've always wanted the township hall to be a demonstration site, whether it was landscaping or building design," said Jason McCarthy, zoning and planning administrator for the township.
The 19.20-kilowatt solar array will be ground-mounted and have a return of investment in about 15.5 years after a 30% federal tax credit, said McCarthy, who noted that does not account for potential increasing energy costs from the Marquette Board of Light and Power.
"It will supplement and offset some of the costs here at the township," McCarthy said of the new system.
The Marquette Township Board of Trustees in June approved the funding for the free-standing solar array for the center. The system, which is within the zoned Development District, will be built by the Marquette-based Peninsula Solar LLC for $72,465.
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act allows municipalities to take a 30% direct payment for the installation of a solar system, Township Manager Jon Kangas said in a recent memo to the board.
McCarthy said the township had made changes to allow residential rooftop solar systems, but the system planned for the center, which is of the 19-kilowatt variety, requires a special-use permit.
"I think that solar has become kind of a household name in the last several years," he said.
Commissioner Linda Winslow asked McCarthy whether other nearby business would add solar structures.
"We would like to do a demonstration site and show how it's done, and then hopefully other people catch on to that and utilize the available energy source as well," McCarthy said.