The Bainbridge Decatur County Industrial Development Authority, in conjunction with Decatur County, the City of Bainbridge, the Bainbridge-Decatur County Chamber of Commerce and Bainbridge State College, are inviting all contractors and subconractors in the Bainbridge-area to an open meeting over the current Solar Panel Project.

The meeting will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Bainbridge State College Kirbo Center.

IDA Exectutive Director Rick McCaskill said they are looking for local help with the project and are reaching out to contractors and subcontractors.

“This is a really opportunity for our local contractors to get a part of the business,” McCaskill said.

Representative from Southern Power, First Solar and Moss & Associates, all responsible for building and operating the project off of Brinson Airbase Road, will be present for questions and discussion.

Tradewind Energy will install the solar panels and Southern Power will operate the solar power facility. Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, is a wholesale energy provider. The energy generated by the solar farm would be sold to Georgia Power to meet the needs of customers throughout the area.

The capital investment for the project is estimated to be $200 million. Based on the current millage rates, property taxes for the taxable equipment would project to roughly $1.7 million annually. Of that total, the Decatur County Board of Education would realize an estimated $970,000 and Decatur County would receive about $700,000.