PORT ANGELES — City Hall has nixed plans to install solar panels on City Pier.
The decision was made after staff concluded the area wasn’t suitable for the large panels, said Larry Dunbar, city deputy director of power systems.
“We just couldn’t find an acceptable location,” he said.
The placement proved controversial at a city Planning Commission meeting last month.
Several commissioners questioned whether the 42-foot-long and 9-foot-wide solar array should be placed on a concrete wall near the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center.
The commission approved a permit for the panels in a 3-2 vote.
The panels would have helped power the center, which would also tie it into their educational programs.
But not all is lost for the center.
Instead of having its own solar array, the center will incorporate Serenity House’s solar power installation at its Maloney Heights apartment complex into its educational efforts, said Deborah Moriarty, Feiro educational coordinator.
The Bonneville Power Administration grant that would have paid for the panels will be used instead to install a kiosk that will display data from the Maloney Heights installation.
As a result, the $38,000 grant, passed through the city, will be reduced, Dunbar said.
The panels would have provided up to 10 percent of Feiro’s electricity.
The decision was made not to place them on the center’s roof because of difficulties facing the panels southward, where they would catch the most light.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
