EDITORIAL: Roof project worthy of support

   School district elections will take place on April 21 this year and among the many contested races (32 candidates are seeking seats among our eight area districts) and school budgets on the slate this year, one district is also asking a question that we hope residents will come out to support without hesitation.
   Northern Burlington County Regional School District will ask voters to approve a roof and solar-panel project that would cost the average homeowner just about $3 a year. Total.
   For the amount of money that you could probably dig out from beneath sofa cushions or car seats at any given time, the school building could be hooked up with cutting-edge “green” technology that would have a ripple of positive effects throughout the community and region.
   Most immediately, it will reduce the demand for electricity and save the district money on power bills. This in turn will save taxpayers money in other ways. By reducing the demand for electricity, it reduces the demand for fossil fuels — which trap us in an endless loop of pollution and exploitation of natural resources. We can’t run out of sunlight — not for another 5 billion or so years at any rate — regardless of how many times the sun might dip behind a cloud.
   Not only does this plan save money, but ultimately the solar panels could put energy back into the power grid and make the district money, offsetting other costs.
   The board has listed over $4.1 million in financial incentives including grants, rebates, state aid, and energy certificates to support the project. In fact, the district lists the cost of the project ($3.8 million) as less than the incentives, producing a net gain of over $300,000.
   The answer to this question — “Should we build it?” — is so obvious it might not seem to warrant a lengthy defense, but it is important that everyone headed to the polls in Mansfield, Chesterfield, North Hanover and Springfield understands what they are voting on.
   Sometimes people automatically vote “no” to everything just to make a point about how property owners should not be the ones funding educational costs. But regardless of your opinion on the overall school budget, this question demands voters’ attention and we hope residents in the Northern Burlington district will vote “yes” on the roof and solar panel project on April 21.