Your Award-Winning News Source for the Upper Delaware River Valley Region Since 1975
Vol. 42 No. 9
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MARCH 3-9, 2016
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www.riverreporter.com
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$1.50
Cochecton solar farms: The good, the bad and the ugly By LINDA DROLLINGER
that prototype satellite dishes were huge but that subsequent refinements soon resulted in much smaller dishes, rendering earlier models obsolete. Supervisor Gary Maas said that New York State grants a 15-year real property tax exemption for solar farms. And that could have a significant impact on Cochecton’s tax base. If Cochecton decides to permit solar farms, it must decide where to permit them. And that is at least partially dependent on circumstances beyond town control; the three-phase power supply needed for solar farm operation is not currently available throughout the town, according to code enforcement officer Greg Semenetz. Hence, only those sites with access to three-phase power would be eligible for consideration. Maas is also concerned about the visual impact of solar farms in the scenic Upper Delaware recreation area, as well as along the Scenic Byway, Route 97, serving it, so he suggested that they be prohibited in the river corridor. Deputy Supervisor Ed Grund took that concern one step further, asking Semenetz and the planning board about setback requirements on town roads with views of solar farms. Semenetz said that 100-foot setbacks and roadside vegetation, either tall shrubbery or low trees, could be required. Seeking to simplify the criteria for determining whether or not to permit solar farms, town board member Paul Salzberg asked, “Will solar farms located within the town provide lower-cost energy to town residents? Or will they draw on town resources and then ship the energy produced elsewhere?”
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AKE HUNTINGTON, NY — Although the February 25 joint meeting of Cochecton’s town board and planning board produced no immediate decision on whether to permit solar farms within the town, it brought into sharper focus the stakes and stakeholders. The urgency of the deliberation made the stakes seem high. A town landowner has already signed a lease agreement with energy company Cypress Creek for a 10-acre solar farm. But the town currently has no ordinances pertaining to solar farms, solar installations that produce energy for offsite use. Within as little as 60 days, the town may receive an application for installation of a solar farm on that property, pending successful completion of a Department of Environmental Conservation review of storm-water runoff and drainage issues pursuant to the clear-cutting required for solar farms. What will happen if the energy company goes bankrupt and/or dissolves? That was the overriding concern of planning board chair Earl Bertsch and planning board attorney Bill Chellis. Chellis said that startup energy companies are infamous for going out of business in short order, leaving behind derelict equipment, disillusioned lease agreement partners and towns smarting from generous tax exemptions extended to green technology companies. Bertsch said that rapidly changing technology can make state-of-the-art solar farm equipment obsolete almost overnight, forcing energy companies into bankruptcy or causing them to abandon installations containing equipment that is no longer viable. Comparing solar technology of today to yesteryear’s satellite television technology, Bertsch noted
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ZIKA VIRUS: What you should know
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PETER PAN extends an invitation...
TRR photo by Fritz Mayer
Two businessmen plan to install a digital sign like this one outside of Honesdale, PA, on 17B in White Lake, NY.
Digital sign for 17B? By FRITZ MAYER
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HITE LAKE, NY — “Controversy is coming,” said Councilperson Dawn Rider as she explained that a digital sign would be the subject of a public hearing to be held by Bethel’s zoning board of appeals (ZBA) on March 22. Rider was speaking at the Bethel town board meeting on February 24. She said the sign would be located in Mongaup Valley on Route 17B, in the space now occupied by a sign for the River Edge Restaurant. The proposed sign was also the subject of a ZBA meeting on January 25. Monticello businessmen Jeff Siegel and Mark McEwan, who are both well known in the county, created a company called Bright Advertising and plan to install the digital sign. Comparing digital signs to conventional billboards, Siegel told the board, “They
are cleaner, they are brighter, and they look better. The information that can be on those boards is pretty immediate. It is all done through the Internet and uploaded, whether it is information that is an emergency-type situation or just regular billboard ads.” He said the size of the sign would be eight feet tall by 12 feet wide, and would involve showing six ads on each side of the signs. The ads would be rotated and show for eight to 10 seconds at a time. There was quite a bit of discussion among board members about whether this would constitute a billboard or a sign. Signs in the district in question are permitted, but not billboards. The general definition of a sign, according to the town code, is that it advertises a business or other entity on the same property as the sign. Although the code does not currently define billboards, it was agreed in Continued on page 3
SPANNING 2 STATES, 4 COUNTIES, AND A RIVER THAT UNITES US
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