Those with the greenest of thumbs are interested in using more renewable energy.
Wood County Park District staff and board members have been looking to a high school solar project for
ideas on how to incorporate more green energy. That goal was suggested by the public as part of the park
district’s master plan, said Director Neil Munger.
"We heard that from the public, that we should be a role model and a leader in looking at green
forms of energy and conserving," Munger said.
St. John’s high school in Toledo has a solar set-up that uses panels to produce heat, rather than
electricity. The panels heat liquid glycol, which is then pumped through pipes beneath a gravel floor,
Munger explained at Monday’s park board meeting.
"We’re looking at that to get an idea of what it could do for it," he said.
Data on the system’s efficiency is incomplete, as the St. John’s system wasn’t operating correctly for
some time, so park staff and board members don’t yet know whether it would be a good use of funds.
"It sounds wonderful, and it would be really cool to be on the leading edge of something like
that," said Bryan Bockbrader, stewardship coordinator.
"It was disappointing that we didn’t have that information, but it still looks promising," said
board member John Calderonello.
Munger said he would need to see convincing data to work a solar project into the park district’s budget.
But if grant funding could be obtained, it could be worth trying before it’s fully proven.
"I’d love to do this, I think it’s a great experiment. But until we have some evidence that says
it’s going to work for us, I don’t feel comfortable using taxpayer dollars to do it," Munger said.

"I think in theory it’s a great idea."
Munger suggested solar could be incorporated, too, as a greenhouse heating source at J.C. Reuthinger
Memorial Preserve in Perrysburg. A class of computer-aided design students at Penta Career Center has
been working to develop a design for the system, he said.
Also on Monday, the board reviewed the schedule of construction projects for the year. The most
significant efforts will be completed by the end of August at Bradner Preserve, with $242,000 budgeted
for a new drive and parking lot to access a new facility to be created by renovating a house on the
property. The plan for those renovations has yet to be determined, but $100,000 is budgeted in 2014.
The earliest project of the year will be replacement of a heating and cooling system at Otsego Park, to
be finished by the end of April and budgeted at $12,000.