BEAVERCREEK — As part of an energy improvements program called Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) the Mall at Fairfield Commons will soon be getting a new roof, insulation and a new air conditioning system.
“This is a collaboration and the mall is extremely important to our city and it’s a destination,” said Beavercreek Council Member Melissa Litteral. “I appreciate the energy efforts and keeping the mall current and in good condition.”
The energy improvement program provides that the financing be a joint effort of the Mall at Fairfield Commons and the City of Beavercreek. By accepting to participate, the city is not utilizing any tax payers’ money and legislation does not provide any liability to the city with respect to the general obligation nor does the agreement put a lien against the city impacting their ability to borrow money in the future. Beavercreek City Attorney Stephen McHugh indicated that the payments would be transferred to the owners- the Mall at Fairfield Commons and its tenants.
Council Member Debborah Wallace questioned the mall’s attorney, David Rogers of Frost, Brown & Todd to make sure the mall spoke with DP&L or any other new age energy companies to see if there were other options. Rogers indicated that they had and decided this was the best approach.
By taking advantage of this program, it will allow the mall to replace the 40,000 square, 20-year-old roof, additional insulation to increase the R-valve and replace the 21 roof top 427 ton capacity HVAC units. The funds will come in form of a $3 million bond issued by the Greene County Port Authority and payments will be spread out throughout the next 15 years, which will be paid by the owner and tenants of the mall, except Macy’s.
Macy’s will not be assessed in the purchase because they own their own space at the mall. Even though they will essentially benefit from the improvements, Macy’s will not be included in the payments.
“The mall, which is an asset to the community, was creative enough to seek outside expertise to solve the problem of replacing a 20-year-old roof. Because of past grants that have been put together to provide energy assistance through the Port Authority, they can tap into this and solve their problem for the roof,” Vice Mayor Julie Vann said. “They were resourceful enough to figure out how to solve it by doing it this way. I feel we need to move forward and do this.”
