NMC trustees to vote on bond financing for geothermal campus project

Northwestern Michigan College moved closer to financing a geothermal overhaul of its Front Street campus by routing $10 million from the $27 million Boardman Lake Campus sale into the project and covering the rest with bond funds. For Grand Traverse County taxpayers and NMC students, the decision matters because it turns a one-time property sale into a long-term bet on whether lower energy costs will offset the debt now being taken on.

Trustees were scheduled Monday to authorize the issuance and sale of bonds for the work, after the Building & Site Committee recommended geothermal project financing and an additional investment from the Boardman Lake proceeds. The board had already approved using up to $5 million of anticipated sale proceeds for the geothermal project in a Feb. 23 motion, showing the college has been steadily increasing its commitment to the campus energy upgrade.

The project is aimed at replacing an aging and inefficient steam-boiler system with a sustainable ground-source geothermal exchange system at NMC’s Traverse City campus. A U.S. Department of Energy environmental review says the work includes final design and engineering, plus installation of a geothermal borefield and vault, as part of a larger distributed heating and cooling system that would serve six buildings on the main campus. That makes the financing decision more than a utility repair. It is a capital investment in how NMC will heat and cool a major part of the Front Street campus for decades.

The college has said the Boardman Lake sale proceeds will support strategic plan and campus master plan priorities, including student success, campus infrastructure, student housing and a new power plant. NMC has described those planned investments as totaling well over $100 million, meaning the geothermal project is one piece of a much larger capital push. The college also arranged a one-year leaseback so offices can be relocated, and no NMC classes are currently held at the Boardman Lake site.

The property itself sold for $27 million to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, which said it plans to use the campus as a centralized governmental services center while keeping public recreation access, including the Boardman Lake loop trail. The sale agreement prohibits gaming on the property. For NMC, the latest financing vote tests whether selling land and borrowing against the proceeds can produce a campus energy system that saves money over time, or simply add another layer of debt to the college’s future bills.