MINUTES TOWN OF HORSEHEADS PLANNING BOARD MEETING April 4, 2018

Transcription

1 MINUTES TOWN OF HORSEHEADS PLANNING BOARD MEETING April 4, 2018 A regular meeting of the Planning Board of the Town of Horseheads, County of Chemung, and the State of New York was held at the Town Hall, 150 Wygant Road, Horseheads, NY on the 4th day of April, 2018 at 7:00PM. MEMBERS PRESENT: Heather Davis, Joe Atkinson, Tom Nagle, Roxanne Mark, Tom Jansen, Tom Skebey, William Dominikoski MEMBERS ABSENT: OTHERS PRESENT: John P. Mustico, Town Attorney; Cathy Wood, Secretary; Peter Dolgos and Michael P. McDonnell, Delaware River Solar, LLC; Brenda Knoll, Ray & Laurie Cass, Carol Gonzalez, Cindy Manganaro, Richard Gawenas, Mike & Vicki Golden, David Van Duzer, Amy Lese, Residents CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Bill Dominikoski called the meeting to order at 7:00pm. MINUTES: A motion to accept the minutes, of the March 7, 2018 meeting, was made by Board Member Joe Atkinson and seconded by Board Member Heather Davis. All were in favor. CORRESPONDENCE: None OLD BUSINESS: A. #791D, Delaware River Solar, LLC 198 Hickory Grove Road Site Plan Review Public Hearing - Installation of 2 Community Solar Photovoltaic Facilities Chairman Bill Dominikoski read the Public Hearing Notice that was published in the Star Gazette Newspaper on March 26, 2018 and then turned the meeting over to Town Attorney, John P. Mustico to conduct the Public Hearing. John P. Mustico explained the rules of conduct for the Public Hearing. Persons wishing to comment will stand, state their name and address and upon being recognized make their statement. John also explained the Planning Board will not respond to questions presented during the Public Hearing. Questions will be addressed when the Public Hearing is closed. John P. Mustico opened the Public Hearing to any persons wishing to comment with regards to the Solar Photovoltaic Facilities. Questions, concerns and comments were as follows: Richard Gawenus, 123 Hickory Grove Rd, Horseheads, NY began by reading his prepared concerns which included removal of trees, shrubs etc., the environmental hazards of such clearing, economic effects, property values, state subsidies such as NYSERTA financing solar projects and panel removals once life expectancy exhausted. He is opposed to this project and encourages Planning Board Members to visit the solar array farm located on Hogback Road in the 15

2 Town of Baldwin. Richard s prepared written concerns will be placed on file to be included with these minutes. Mike Golden, 155 Hickory Grove Rd, Horseheads, NY questioned the fence height, distance from fence to road, will a buffer be put in place, the height of panels and snow drifting as a result of tree removal. Dave Van Duzer, 236 Hickory Grove Rd, Horseheads, NY concerned with the amount of water run-off, mowing or use of weed killer, chemical use, fixing of compacted soil, trees on his property falling and hitting the solar panels who is liable, was the property purchased or leased and panel removals once life expectancy exhausted. Cindy Manganaro, 68 Oak Hill Rd, Horseheads, NY owns land on Hickory Grove Rd, questioned the effects on the tax roll, elimination of green space, who benefits and how, employment and who will maintain and panel removals once life expectancy exhausted. Amy Lese, 209 Hickory Grove Rd, Horseheads, NY concerned with short and long term effects on the environment, benefits to the community and panel removals once life expectancy exhausted. Carol Gonzalez, 408 Bush Ave, Horseheads, NY questioned what the tax breaks, is IDA providing tax break/pilots, how the Town will benefit, did the County approve and why and will people purchase panels or is it a community array. After two requests, no other person came forward to comment. A motion to close the Public Hearing was made by: Board Member Joe Atkinson and Seconded by Board Member Tom Nagle. AYES: (7) Davis, Atkinson, Nagle, Mark, Jansen, Skebey, Dominiski NAYES: (0) At this time, Town Attorney John P. Mustico turned the meeting over to Peter Dolgos, applicant and Michael P. McDonnell, engineer. Michael M. presented an updated diagram of the site. They began the discussion by addressing the questions and concerns, expressed by residents during the Public Hearing. A summary of the discussion is as follows: Delaware River Solar, LLC purchased the property which is approximately 61+/- acres. They are proposing to develop, install and operate 2 community solar photovoltaic facilities. Each facility will be 2 megawatts and referred to as Project 1 and Project 2. Twenty (20) acres of land will be cleared. Project 1 is approximately 10.3 acres and Project 2 is approximately 9.7 acres. Vegetation will be cleared to ground level. 16

3 A 75 setback from all property lines is required. Nothing will be cleared in the setback areas. The natural vegetation is intended to serve as a buffer. An 8 chain link fence, sometimes referred to as a deer fence, will surround the entire 20 acre project. The panels are 4 x 6 in size. The height of panels from surface is 3 to 9 3 as they slope. Panels can be up to 15 high according to zoning. The panels are not electrically hot to the touch. There is very little chance of electrocution. Only qualified professionals will be allowed on site. A temporary road, running perpendicular to the road, as recommended by the County, made of rock, with a swing gate will be installed to use until the project is complete. Solar facilities usually do not cause an increase in water runoff. The only ground disturbance is for setting the posts. The panels being 4 x 6 and on a slope, the water runoff falls approximately within 4. The natural vegetation will absorb and take care of this once the project is complete. The Stormwater Plan will cover this and be reviewed by the Stormwater Office. The inverter pad will have a light with a manual switch. Could be motion detected. No other lighting planned at this time. The inverter does make noise during the day when collecting solar. The noise it creates will be a constant noise. It is located on the interior of the property. The ambient level of noise is not above normal noise for that area. A noise study report will be provided. Some local hires may be needed during the construction process. Once the projected is completed, the site will be monitored remotely. To maintain the vegetation, a local landscaper may be called upon. Also, could possibly need a local electrician from time to time. The project does not require surveillance. Sometimes it is installed around the perimeter or at the gate. No chemicals will be used to maintain the vegetation. A local landscaper may be needed to keep the vegetation from growing taller than the panels. Snow drifting occurs mostly on the interior of the project. The buffer area 75 will not be cleared that is on the exterior of fence. Life expectancy of these projects is about 20 years. A Decommissioning Plan will be presented and needs the Town approval as well. It is a complete removal of the system. All materials involved in the construction of the solar arrays are removed. If Delaware Solar decided to sell the property, all contracts remain in place. The new owner must follow and abide by the contracts of the project. The applicant will work with the Town s requirements regarding no use of chemicals to remove vegetation, buffers, style of fencing and the recording of the Decommissioning Plan, if deemed necessary. NYSERTA provides incentives for solar projects. The project is contingent upon approvals from all agencies involved. Some approvals happen during the SEQR process. SEQR process is not complete at this time. Once all approvals are complete and Tom Skebey can issue a permit the project will take 2 to 3 months to complete. 17

4 An agreement between the applicant and NYSEG is necessary for NYSEG to deliver power to the grid. Meters will track the amount of solar energy versus NYSEG energy provided to customers. Delaware River Solar will absorb the costs for any upgrades that NYSEG requires to connect the solar system to their grid. This is a benefit to NYSEG. Customers who subscribe to the system, contract to start is for 1 year, will receive a reduction in their electric bill for the portion of energy the solar system provided. No penalties to withdraw. This reduction is reflected from the supply portion of NYSEG bill. It is approximately a 10% reduction from the supply cost. So, energy provided to customer from the solar system is less expensive than energy provide to customer from NYSEG. This difference should reduce the overall electricity cost of the customers bill. Dave Van Duzer expressed concerns regarding his trees falling onto Delaware Solar property and possibly causing damage. John P. Mustico explained, generally when a tree falls, it s considered an act of god. Where ever the tree lands is that property owner s responsibility. However, if a property owners trees are observed to be in bad condition and it is brought to their attention in writing by the neighbor, it is the property owner s responsibility to take care of the trees in bad condition. Peter Delogos stated that possibly if any trees on Dave s property appear to be an issue, maybe an agreement can be met between them to take care of the damaged trees. As far as impact to property values, Peter D. stated there are only a few articles pertaining to this. The information is speculative as solar panels have not been around long enough. John P. Mustico explained the tax impacts. The State Legislature deemed these projects tax exempt. The County decided to view solar projects just like any other project. The County will implement a PILOT on this project. The applicant did apply for the PILOT. The Town is the only entity bearing an impact with regards to this project. The Town will receive some tax money. It is usually 7% of what is collected. The school receives the majority and the County receives the balance. The amount to be collected is unknown at this time. It is a challenge to assess this type of property. The Town Board is requesting a Host Agreement. This is added consideration to the Town for being the host of this project. John P. Mustico also touched upon IDA s role in the taxing process. John P. Mustico suggested residents with questions regarding IDA and their role in the process should contact them directly. The discussion ended with John P. Mustico explaining this is the only public hearing. If residents have any other questions, to please put them in writing and submit to the Planning Board prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting which is May 2, OTHER BUSINESS: A. Overlay Zones for Lake Rd. & Grand Central Ave. This item will carry to the May 2018 meeting. Board Members were reminded of the upcoming training in April at Corning Community College. 18

5 As there was no further business to come before the Board, motion to adjourn was made by Tom Skebey at 8:09pm. All were in favor. Respectfully submitted, Cathy Wood, Secretary Town of Horseheads Planning Board 19