Two approvals needed

MARION – The first of likely many public hearings on the proposed one-megawatt solar farm proposed on 6.5 acres of land along Tucker Lane came in front of Marion Planning Board at the board’s July 20 meeting.

The solar farm, to be developed by Colorado-based Clean Energy Collective, will be contained all in Marion but the only access to the site will be in Rochester, forcing the group to present its site plan review in both towns. Rochester’s first public hearing on the plans was scheduled for July 28, after The Sentinel went to press.

In Marion’s public hearing, Marion Planning Board Chairman Rob Lane noted that Marion Board of Selectmen had received a letter from GAF Engineering asking for the withdrawal of a total of 7 acres of Chapter 61A agricultural use land in order to have the solar farm built there. There was some confusion between selectmen and engineer Bob Rogers, of GAF, about the steps to be taken in the 61A process. Lane said in order to do the 61A, Rogers must show that the 7 acres will support all the dimensional requirements of the plan, including setbacks and that they will not be able to go over those property lines.

“If the lot is 23 acres and you take 7 acres out, you have to show the dimensions of the 7 acres,” Lane said. “The lot lines don’t matter but you’re creating a smaller lot. If you were taking out all 23 acres, then this would be a moot point. You need to show us the farm and all of its setbacks.”

Greg Carey, of Clean Energy Collective, assured the board that they would have the updated 61A changes for their next meeting. Rogers said the farm would be ground-mounted solar where they would sell to residents in the community. Rogers said most of the site was already an open field and would not need to have many trees cut, except near where the grid power lines will be attached to a pole off Tucker Lane. There will be a gravel access road built, but accessible only from Perry’s Lane in Rochester, as well as a chain link fence, but little other construction.

“The only engineering will be in the drainage design,” Rogers said.

Marion Planning Board member Jennifer Francis asked about tree clearing and Rogers said if there were any tree cutting it would be minimal, mostly in some clearing for the access road.

With the focus on keeping the area natural, Rogers said trees under 20 feet will stay and some that are bigger will be cut with the stumps left and that the only maintenance on the site will be in weed-whacking any overgrowth between the panels.

Marion Planning Board member Eileen Marum said it seemed like it was the perfect site for this as it is an isolated spot that would not be a detriment to neighbors.

“It’s about as good as you can have for a development of this use,” Rogers said.

Marion Planning Board member Steve Gonsalves said he was looking forward to following this through, the first solar proposal under the town’s new solar bylaw.

“This is a new thing for me; for all of us; and I’m looking forward to seeing how the bylaw handles it,” Gonsalves said. “It will be a learning experience.”

In speaking of the escrow account which would need to be in place for the sake of eventual decommissioning and the dismantling of the site that carries an average life of about 25 years, Marion Planning Board member Michael Popitz thought the proposed $39,000 was not enough. He said his research showed that number, generally valued at 15 cents per watt, should be around $150,000. Carey said the $39,000 comes from a bid for the decommissioning and dismantling of the specific site. He told the board that of the other three solar farms he worked on, the escrow account came within $1,000 to $2,000 of that $39,000 bid.

A Perry’s Lane resident of Rochester asked how long the solar farm construction would take when approved and was told that it would take two weeks to build drainage basins and four to six weeks to construct the one megawatt system, totaling six to eight weeks. Gary Cosman, of 2 Tucker Lane, first noted that it seemed like the solar farm was already seemingly approved and questioned if the board would be so quick to approve if it was in their backyard. Moving on from the comment, Cosman said he had concerns for how visible the project would be from Tucker Lane. Rogers said the only thing that would be visible from Tucker Lane would be the pole.

In a response to his comment, Marion Planning Board member Rico Ferrari said while the planning board may seem favorable to the idea of solar, with Ferrari already having one in his backyard, he said there is still a process that must be followed before there is any decision and that’s what this and subsequent public hearings will be about. Cosman also asked if the solar farm would help diminish their property values but Ferrari said it’s been shown that it would not.

“A turbine would be a different story but these are out of site and out of mind,” Ferrari added.

Cosman said with the decommissioning talk that there must be a shelf life for this project and Lane said that’s exactly why the escrow account was brought up and how that money needed to be re-evaluated every seven years to assure enough is there to cover the work to dismantle. Finally, Cosman asked what would be the protocol if the neighbors did not favor the solar farm and it was approved and Lane told him that the public hearings would continue and to stay involved and if need be, they could appeal the decision when it’s rendered. Ferrari encouraged Cosman to read the town solar bylaws to see what protections are already in place for residents such as he.

“It’s pretty detailed and clear,” Ferrari said.

Marion Planning Board Clerk Norm Hills encouraged all residents and abutters to stay connected to the process and participate in it fully, listening to the engineers as they hash out the proposal.

The planning board discussion turned a little contentious when it was discovered an engineering firm to work on the project was chosen that was not the four firms selected from the RFP process last year. Lane said it was determined that none of the four firms that were part of that RFP had the specific solar experience needed for this kind of project and that’s why another firm was picked. Hills said that decision should have come before the board for discussion but Lane said it never had before and would slow down the process.

“We would not have been able to hold the public hearing,” Lane said, who used the Saltworks Marine proposal as an example of the board going out to find an engineer that was not deliberated among the whole board. “I never knew who was doing the peer review until they just showed up.”

“Then why did we go through the (RFP) process?” Hills said.

Lane said it was because Hills wanted it and Gonsalves agreed.

“I don’t think there’s a problem here,” Gonsalves added.

Popitz said he interviewed the four engineering firms that were selected with the RFP and a dozen others, settling on one that he thought was the best for the solar project.

The public hearing was continued until Aug. 3.

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