SKOWHEGAN — A proposed solar ordinance and solar project are among the items up for a vote Tuesday evening at a special Town Meeting in Skowhegan.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the council room at the Municipal Building, 225 Water St.
The eight-article meeting warrant calls for regular business items and asks voters to consider adopting an amended Planning Board ordinance, a Utility Scale Solar Energy Facility ordinance, whether to accept a sewer easement and whether to enter into a ground-lease agreement to place a solar field at a closed landfill.
Complete information on the meeting warrant and secret ballot are available on the town’s website — skowhegan.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/951?html=true.
The final portion of the special Town Meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, Aug. 31, with an election to fill a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen. Derek Chretien and Steve Govoni are running for the empty seat for a term that expires in June 2022.
The proposed amendment to the Planning Board Ordinance includes the addition of two alternates alongside a board of seven members. Terms for alternates are for five years, which match those of regular members.
Alternates on the Planning Board serve when a member is unable to attend a meeting or cannot act on an item because of a conflict of interest. The chairperson of the board then designates an alternate as a voting member for that portion of the meeting.
Alternates may attend meetings and participate in proceedings, but can vote only when they have been designated to sit in for a member.
The Utility Scale Solar Energy Facility Ordinance, if adopted, defines how the town will proceed and adds language and standards for utility-scale solar facilities, which are “any solar facility, project or installation which is intended to/or in fact, does generate solar power” and feeds power into the electric grid.
Under the ordinance, as written, qualifying facilities must receive a permit from the Planning Board. Exempt from the ordinance: Facilities that occupy 800 square feet or less, although they must meet state electrical codes and permitting requirements.
This ordinance would serve as an additional level of review, along with the Site Plan Review Ordinance. A list of application requirements is detailed in the proposed solar ordinance, found on the town’s website — skowhegan.org.
The Ground Lease Agreement is for the BD Solar project that would be built atop a closed landfill at 29 Transfer Station Drive. Dirigo Solar of Portland has proposed the project, which anticipates a two-megawatt solar farm on about 10 acres. The $3 million investment is expected to provide additional income for the town, including revenue from the property lease and property taxes.
The project, if approved, would tap into an existing distribution network on Steward Hill Road and feed into the Skowhegan North Side Substation, allowing the town and local homeowners and business owners to buy power directly.
Another article asks voters whether they want to authorize the Board of Selectmen to apply for federal financing assistance under the Land Water Conservation Fund Act.
At the Skowhegan Community Center at 39 Poulin Drive, officials are seeking funding through a grant application for $330,000, which would fund upgrades to the Community Center Ballfield Compound.
If approved, upgrades would include construction of a new concessions stand, with bathrooms and storage, at the football field complex, new dugouts at the Carl Wright Baseball Complex and parking lot expansion.
The Ballfield Compound Project has been around since 2006, with several phases having been completed, including stormwater treatment, a detention pond, a football field, an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant walkway to the Carl Wright Baseball Complex and the Route 2 bypass lane.
Voters are expected to decide next week whether to accept a sewer easement from the First Church of the Nazarene to allow access to a section of sewer line under land that belongs to the church.
The easement would allow the town to conduct maintenance, repairs, replacements and other operations for that section of sewer line.
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