First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers cut the ribbon Tuesday morning for the completed $1.8 million roof at Great Oak Middle School.
The project includes solar panels that officials say will cut electric bills by 15 percent.
“You have basically completed a project in Thanksgiving season that will keep giving to the town, in energy savings, in maintenance costs being reduced,” Drayton-Rogers said, before she took a ride on a scissors lift and took a close look at the solar panels.
In the past, shingles blew off the back of the school because the 20-year-old asphalt roof needed replacement. Now there is a metal roof, eliminating a lot of maintenance cost, officials said.
The next step is to finish work on the lightning protection cables, get Connecticut Light and Power Co. approval, have the local inspector approve the project, and file the paperwork required for state funding that has been increased to 51 percent of the project cost.
The new solar panel system and other elements make for valuable savings, said Bob DeBisschop, chairman of the roof committee.
He helped Drayton-Rogers cut the ribbon.
“This is a 74 kilowatt solar system, and this school was built in the era (1964) when CL&P was offering electricity as a low cost option, so most of the heat is provided by electricity as opposed to oil and the bill here is pretty substantial,” DeBisschop said.
“We anticipate it will save 15 percent to 17 percent. And we’ll have a roof with a 50-year life,” he said.
The roof project had political hurdles to overcome. Earlier this year, town Republicans collected 285 signatures on a petition asking for an alternative to the roof repalcement project. The Republicans and others, including members of “Keep Oxford Green” said the project was too expensive.
There were also logistical hurdles. The project was not finished in time for the start of school Sept. 1, and work continued after school hours and on weekends.
Those political and logistical hurdles are in the past now, Drayton-Rogers said Tuesday.
The system is expected to be operating in early January.
“This is going forward. We’ve completed a fantastic project, and that’s all that really matters,” she said.
