Burlington Fox Hill Building Committee Votes 12-0 to Pursue Solar Power Purchase Agreement

BURLINGTON — March 18, 2025 — Burlington's Fox Hill Elementary School Building Committee unanimously backed a power purchase agreement over direct town ownership for the new school's solar installation. The committee voted 12-0 at its March 18 meeting to recommend the PPA — which would cover rooftop panels, parking-lot solar canopies, and no battery storage — to the full School Committee, which is expected to take up a warrant article for May Town Meeting. Financial consultants presented a net-present-value model showing the PPA would save approximately $842,191 over 20 years, compared with about $722,000 under direct purchase, with the town-ownership scenario also requiring roughly $3.5 million in new borrowing. Members cited construction-schedule pressure — bids are due in December and the first MSBA submission in July — and the risk of competing with other town borrowing needs as key factors. The committee also rescinded and re-voted a bundle of Danisco invoices totaling more than $370,000 after a bookkeeper caught a duplicate line-item entry of $9,157.50 that should have read $4,950.