Sharon Hears Solar Update

SHARON SPRINGS — Wednesday January 21st, the Sharon Joint Planning Board held their regular monthly meeting. Secretary Ron Ketelsen, Chairman Ray Parsons, and Board Members Frank Sabler, Patsy Nicosia, Rob Keller, and Seth Browe were present. Board Member Ryan Ducharme was the only member not in attendance.

Sharon Solar Vista Document Review was the primary agenda discussion. Residents with land across from where the Community Solar Farm project would be built were in attendance to hear the Public Hearing presentation by Chad Dickason of FreeState Solar (who used to build the systems and has been in the solar industry for 20 years) and Jutta Middel from RENUA Energy.

The Board was approached with the topic around the beginning of last year according to Ketelsen, and Dickason explained they’ve finished the initial review with the engineer. 

The venue assessment was updated and documents were provided to the Board including Preliminary Design Photos for 1073 Slate Hill Road, Visual Assessment Study, Site Plan, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, Updated Equipment Spec Sheets, and Landscape Plan.

Middel said they changed from a fixed tilt, which would have been a consistent view of panels standing 10-feet tall, to a single-axis tracker for the panels to change their direction on when rotating to face the sun. Dickason added the new angle will make less of a visual impact and that the design is one-panel high with the highest point typically at about 7 feet; “The pivot point per the spec by the manufacturer of the tracker is 4 feet. The panels are 94 inches long.”

Snow impact modifications will be considered during the process according to Dickason, so snow will be able to slide off the panels in a way that won’t impede the panels from going back up after.

Dickason said this project is unique and the landscaping plan is still being worked on. On the design plan, he pointed out Countrymans’ properties across the street and explained their assessment showed they will be most impacted by the system, as there will be little to no impact from Highway 20. Middel said the trees they picked for the Highway 20 side will be fast-growing White Pine and White Spruce.

One of the concerns expressed to Dickason is the Countrymans don’t want tall trees obstructing the vast view they have from their homes. So, they’re working with the Countrymans to see if they can come up with a different approach than the currently slated trees that would grow to 80 or 90 feet at mature height. They also plan to pick trees that are not sought after by deer so they won’t get eaten.

Ketelsen asked if all gets approved, how long construction would take and if it made sense to get trees in and established first. Dickason responded that the tree landscaping timing could be part of a request and the project would take about 3 - 6 months from start to finish depending on scope, time, resources, organization, and how many people are sent in mechanical and electrical crews.

Lamont Engineering representatives Jodie Serowski and John Wilson have reviewed the storm, water, and drainage plans and reported they all meet codes.

Dickason would like to see the project get approved and move forward as quickly as possible for the ability to offer State-designed incentives that would provide different benefits to the Town, but that can only be done if those incentives are still currently available when the project gets approved. One example Dickason mentioned is a 10% discount on electricity bills to anyone in the Town. The incentives currently available will likely go away at some point this year and impact their ability to offer any according to Dickason.

FreeState Solar plans to hire a firm who will handle subscriber signups where residents will get the 10% bill discount. In a future model if the benefits time window runs out, the State manages everything and the local discount option goes away to Dickason’s knowledge. Dickason said he will check to be sure in response to an attendee’s question about how long the discount lasts, but believes it would be 20-25 years.

Energy created by this site, Dickason confirmed, will stay in Town supporting all the properties at Slate Hill Road and feed into the Substation grid, which already has the solar system by the Walmart Distribution Center as a feeder. 

Town Attorney, Dylan Harris, was present to answer any legal questions the Board had and suggested the Board make a motion for its intent to take on lead agency of managing and overseeing of the solar project, then send their signed documents to a list of other organizations. The motion carried and Dickason plans to be at the February and March Joint Planning Board meetings.

As stated on their Schoharie County Joint Planning Board website page, they meet every 3rd Wednesday of the month as needed; 6:30 PM at 129 Main Street in either the conference or community room.