WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2017
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 120 NO. 15 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
SPORTS: Carlson named MBC Player of the Year. PAGE 14
Lights on for SunTuria Solar array BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Farms, homes and businesses powered by Polk-Burnett Electric Co-operative are now drawing electricity from a solar array tucked between cornfields behind the co-op’s Centuria office. “As far as we know it’s the first utility-scale solar project in our service territory of Polk and Burnett counties,” said Steve Stroshane, general manager of Polk-Burnett Electric Co-op, at the ribbon-cutting celebration last week. Dubbed “SunTuria Solar,” the 1.25-megawatt array is expected
SUZANNE LINDGREN | PAPER NAME
Polk-Burnett and Dairyland have no initial investment in the $2-million project, but have signed a contract with SoCore to buy the array’s output at a fixed rate for 25 years.
to produce 2.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power about 200 homes. The 4,800-panel array is owned and operated by solar developer SoCore Enegry. SoCore
is leasing the 10 acres on which the array sits from Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative. In turn, Polk-Burnett and its wholesale power provider, Dairyland Power Co-operative, will purchase the array’s output
from SoCore. “SoCore is in charge of the ownership, operation and maintenance,” explained Stroshane. “Our responsibility is purchasing what’s produced SEE SOLAR, PAGE 7
Thirty ways to help the river BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER PRESS PUBLICATIONS
THE SUN
Based on data from the School District of Osceola.
Osceola school board adopts $19 million budget BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
The Osceola school board adopted a $19 million budget last week for the 2017-’18 school year. The spending plan includes funds for a few items the district had expected to go without after voters rejected a referendum to increase the district’s operating levy last spring. After slicing nearly $900,000 in expenditures for this year, revenues came in higher than administrators had anticipated, including a large bump from Governor Scott Walker’s $200-per-student increase in aid. For Osceola, that adds up to $324,900 in funding. Although Walker proposed the increases to K-12 funding in February, they weren’t a sure thing until the budget was signed Sept. 21. By then, several teachers had announced early retirements to save others SEE SCHOOL, PAGE 2
A group of 30 St. Croix Valley residents gathered at Camp St. Croix in Hudson Oct. 26 with one thing in common: love of the water. These 30 individuals were certified as St. Croix Master Watershed Stewards. Each had completed a capstone project (some in pairs, with a total of 25 projects) which were summarized and presented at the Oct. 26 event. Projects were as diverse as the St. Croix River ecosystem itself, and were implemented across the furthest reaches of the St. Croix, from the headwaters near Solon Springs to the Mississippi conflu-
ence at Prescott. These included wildlife research such as tracking endangered Blanding’s turtles at Warner Nature Center, stenciling storm drains in Forest Lake, and engaging citizens in art projects highlighting the many underappreciated macroinvertebrates found in the river. Phil and Joanne Peterson of St. Croix Falls wrote a book, “Children of Mystery River,” to educate the next generation of water stewards. Al Kruger, also of St. Croix Falls, helped produce last year’s “Once Upon a River” performance, comprised of music and SEE RIVER, PAGE 10
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Ian Karl, experiential coordinator at Northwest Passage, standing at his capstone project, a rain garden at the Frederic, Wis., program. He explains how a rain garden works at this summer’s Wellness Center open house event
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