Sharon Springs Joint Planning Board Hears About Solar Facility

SHARON — Another solar energy facility is up for consideration in the Town of Sharon.

At its Wednesday, April 16 meeting, the Sharon Springs Joint Planning Board did a sketch plan review for a project called Sharon Solar Vista. The 5 MW/AC facility is proposed to take up about 20 acres of a 93-acre parcel owned by Sharon Springs School Board President Helen Roberts on Slate Hill Road near Route 20.

Under the arrangement under consideration, Roberts would lease the 20 acres to a company called Freestate Solar. Attending the April 16 meeting, presenting plans and answering questions was Project Manager Jutta Middel of Renua Energy, a contractor working with Freestate Solar on the project.

At the Feb. 19 joint planning board meeting, Freestate Solar owner Chad Dixon and Middel presented plans for another 5 MW solar project to be located on 7.5 acres of another parcel owned by Roberts on Slate Hill Road. A much larger 50 MW solar facility just off Route 20 has been up and running for awhile in Sharon.

Middel said at the April 16 meeting that Dixon was unable to attend because of a family commitment. At that meeting, Middel distributed various plans and documents to JPB members, including visual and noise assessment reports. Joint Planning Board Secretary Ron Ketelsen said the board would likely be using Lamont Engineers of Cobleskill to conduct the board's review of the plans.

"I think the next step is to get the engineers (Lamont) involved," Ketelsen said. "We will have to have a public hearing at some point."

Town of Sharon residents Todd and Patti Countryman, who live very close to the proposed project, were the only members of the general public to attend the April 16 meeting. The couple voiced a number of concerns.

"You're going to be right in my yard," Patti Countryman told told Middel, referring to the proposed solar facility. "I will see it and hear it. You don't even want to know how much our home will depreciate in value, and we will still have to pay full taxes. It's tough."

Middel talked extensively with the Countrymans both during and after the meeting about how Renua and Freestate Solar could make the project more palatable for the couple, including possibly locating the solar array a little farther away from the Countryman's property.

"We will work with you on it," Middel said. "We will do everything we can to mitigate it."

In other news from the April 16 JPB meeting, Ketelsen announced the resignations of members Nancy Blencoe and Oliver Kindling and said replacements will be searched for.