Back in November of 2014, we reported on the efforts by the Wainwright House board of trustees to get a low-interest loan in order to completely update their energy and lighting systems.
By Bill Lawyer
Back in November of 2014, we reported on the efforts by the Wainwright House board of trustees to get a low-interest loan in order to completely update their energy and lighting systems.
Funding was to come from a PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) loan through the Energy Improvement Corporation (EIC) — a New York State local development authority. EIC is administered by Energize New York (ENY), which also offered grant money through Westchester County to reduce the cost of a loan.
The deadline for submitting proposals for the Westchester funds was mid-January of 2015, and required the participation of the City of Rye since the loan would be paid back through the municipality’s tax collection process.
After a thorough discussion in public hearings of the details and implications of joining the EIC, the City Council voted to do so. They restricted participation to non-profit organizations. When the NYSERDA-funded estimator submitted his report, the price was about $340,000.
Everything seemed to be moving forward, but then Wainwright House learned that to receive the extremely low interest loan, they had to pay all the project workers the “prevailing rate,” rather than the rates quoted by the licensed contractors they had approached.
According to Wainwright board member Judy Martin, this would have raised the price to over $500,000. So Wainwright turned to the ENY to access the municipal bond market, without the benefit of the Westchester grant funds. The process moved along at a very slow pace, and the interest rates started inching up as the winter went by. Finally, they were able to secure a 20-year loan at a 5.8% rate. The closing took place in mid-August. The loan will be repaid as part of Wainwright’s property tax bill.
The entire project should be completed in six months. The incentive to get the work done in a timely manner is that the Con Ed incentives won’t be received until it is done. The energy- efficient light fixtures will receive the highest portion of the incentive payment.
The YMCA is also very excited about the project’s getting under way, as the Y is using space at Wainwright for various classes, and part of their expenses include the utilities costs.
The Wainwright board is planning to use their project as a way of convincing non-profits and corporations to take advantage of the EIC program. They have scheduled an Open House October 7 at 6:30, to which all eligible institutions are invited.
