Sharon holds hearing on solar plans

SHARON — Plans to install a solar array at Sharon Center School (SCS) were summarized by the developer and discussed by residents who attended a public hearing at the regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at the Town Hall.

Representing the developer, Verogy of West Hartford,  in conjunction with the Connecticut Green Bank, was Brad Parsons, Verogy’s Director of Design and Permitting.

Parsons reviewed the details of the project that would build a ground-mounted solar panel array on town-owned land adjacent to SCS. 

When operational, the installation would offset the power utility costs for the school by using solar power, Parsons said.

The site proposal recognizes that the 2.5-acre rear lot at the school was once used for a nature walk, a resource for education and recreation. To conserve that use, Verogy met with school personnel and devised a way to incorporate the solar panels into the site and preserve some of the existing nature trail.

According to the Verogy plan drawings, the solar panels ten feet in height would be installed within a square of land measuring 182 feet by 205 feet, surrounded by a chain link fence.

Parsons noted that the plan would see the removal of 12 trees on the site, leaving the stumps in place. Three young evergreen trees would be planted to act as a visual buffer for neighbors.

Understanding that silt fencing would be used to hinder runoff, P&Z member Stanley MacMillan asked about who would maintain the fencing.

The public comment portion of the hearing was initiated by Doug Rick of the Sharon Energy and Environment Commission (SEEC), who spoke of the value of renewable energy, noting that more than 300 public and private schools in the state have installed solar panels, and he noted the potential energy cost savings to the town.

Abutting property owner David Levinson felt that neighbors had not been properly notified of the plans as they were developed.

“I am a believer in solar,” Levinson said, but he added that he questioned the process that would have approved installation of a proposed 446 panels.

“I know more about solar than I ever did before,” Levinson added, as he has studied the Power Purchase Agreement signed by the town and extended by Green Bank. He noted that if the SCS does not use the specified minimum of generated solar power, there will be a penalty.

Levinson asked for a town meeting vote and a more thorough examination of the proposal.

“As a town, it is important for us to have a vibrant, successful school. There are larger issues at hand than saving money,” Levinson said, although he acknowledged that the SEEC’s intentions are good.

Resident Paree Hecht said that she fully supports the installation of the solar array, but she said that the plans did not recognize the existence of the onsite nature preserve. She said that the twelve trees that are slated for removal had been planted to provide habitat. She called for the planners to replace the twelve trees.

Neighboring property owner Carolyn Mattoon, who serves as SEEC chairman, said that in 16 years, she had never seen a single person walking in the nature preserve.

SEEC member Roger Liddell said that the project “has enormous benefit to the town.”

First Selectman Brent Colley suggested that an additional town meeting might be an appropriate way forward.

“It’s a town decision,” Colley said, adding that the Connecticut Green Bank does a great job, that this is a partnership opportunity. 

“They could have walked away,” he said, “but instead they took the action of extending the term of the Power Purchase Agreement.”