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WMU Board: Solar Energy and a New Autism Center

Western Michigan University’s trustees have approved a plan to buy an off-campus building so the university can expand its autism center, among other business at a special meeting Friday.

Western received a $4 million state grant last year to fund autism-related programs. It says the center has outgrown its space on campus.

The trustees also approved a contract with public employee union AFSCME, and agreed to an 18-month extension of an agreement with a downtown Kalamazoo development agency. That concerns a now mostly empty four-block area downtown whose development has been under discussion.

The Board also approved a plan that would allow Consumers Energy to build a solar array at Western’s Parkview campus. Under the agreement, the utility would own the solar panels. The university would pay Consumers about $2.5 million to subscribe to its energy credit program.

Western would earn the fee back as energy credits over the next 25 years. The university says it expects an eventual positive return on the investment. Consumers Energy has to finish a feasibility study before the project goes forward, but it says it’s making good progress.
 

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.
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