Opposition Continues to CarlisleSeward Solar Power Facility

CARLISLE/SEWARD — Many local residents and officials still hold hopes that a 20MW solar power facility proposed for a spot in the Towns of Carlisle and Seward can at least be significantly delayed.

At the Wednesday, Feb. 5 Carlisle Town Board meeting, Citizens Against Solar Assault members Bill Toohey and Marge Lawston handed out copies of a letter from New York State Department of Transportation attorney Richard E. Swatek to the attorneys for the developers of the Rock District solar project. It informs them they will need to obtain all applicable special hauling permits from NYSDOT before proceeding with the project, including any superload and oversize/overweight permits necessary to transport materials and facility components to the project site.

"Upon review, some culverts located along applicant's proposed haul route may require maintenance prior to the issuance of any special hauling permits to accommodate vehicle loads associated with heavy equipment deliveries to the facility site," Swatek's letter stated. "Additionally, please note that special hauling permit conditions may require that applicant accept responsibility for the restoration and repair of damage and/or further deterioration caused to state highways and facilities along the haul route resulting from the heavy load trips."

Carlisle Supervisor John Leavitt, who had previously said on several occasions that a final permit being issued for the project by the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting would probably happen very soon, indicated at the Feb. 5 meeting that perhaps the letter regarding transportation permits and road repair requirements could shed a different light on things.

"That could tie it up another three or four months, hopefully," Leavitt said.

He and many other Schoharie County officials and residents feel that state lawmakers have gone way too far in attempts to facilitate solar energy facilities.

"Government overreach," Toohey said at the Feb. 5 meeting.

He and Lawston also handed out copies of recent newspaper articles illustrating some of the potential pitfalls of large solar energy facilities. One, by Brad Plumer of the New York Times, recounts a recent large fire at the Moss Landing battery plant in California. The plant holds tens of thousands of lithium-ion batteries that store electricity for the power grid, the article continued. Batteries at such plants soak up excess solar power during the daytime and feed electricity back to homes and businesses in the evening, it added.

The other article by Carl Campanile in the New York Post is about how some state communities are refusing to host massive battery plants that would store wind and solar energy. Among other points, it said Duanesburg officials recently voted to ban BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) buildings.

Also, the two CASA members informed those at the Feb. 5 Carlisle meeting that ORES has assigned a new file number of 23-02971 for the Rock District Solar Project in Carlisle and Seward.

In other actions from the meeting, Council Member Katie Schweigard said the Cobleskill-Richmondville High School Future Business Leaders of America club wanted to hold a fundraising walk/run in May or June, and wanted to know if fellow town board members were agreeable to the idea of holding it on the paved trail around the town municipal building at 541 Crommie Road. Board members said they were agreeable.

Schweigard teaches business at Cobleskill-Richmondville and is advisor to the FBLA club there. She said the walk/run would entail interested local residents paying a fee to enter, and the proceeds then being divided between the FBLA to help fund various trips and activities and the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley.

Board members voted to reappoint Linda Heidenfelder to a five-year term on the town's Board of Assessment Review.