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Town of Potsdam to seek proposals for solar array on old landfill

Posted 10/10/19

BY CRAIG FREILICH North Country This Week POTSDAM -- The town of Potsdam has taken another step toward leasing part of an old closed landfill to a developer who has expressed an interest in building …

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Town of Potsdam to seek proposals for solar array on old landfill

Posted

BY CRAIG FREILICH
North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The town of Potsdam has taken another step toward leasing part of an old closed landfill to a developer who has expressed an interest in building a solar array there.

At its meeting Tuesday, Oct. 8, the Town Council adopted a resolution for a draft of a request for proposals from possible developers that specifies the role of environmental provisions for the 167-acre site, a former landfill on Reynolds Road that has been closed and sealed and has sat unused for decades.

An approach last year by a developer who might like to put a commercial solar array on a portion of the site prompted the town to specifically address such developments in the town code, which has been done with a change in local law.

The request for proposal (RFP) would solicit plans and bids from developers interested in the site. Kevin Murphy of the Wladis Law Firm explained to councilors that it would only lay out conditions from the town and not bind the town to anything, as it would be a start of negotiations with potential developers.

When the board first discussed the possibility of using the site for a solar array last year, the idea was met with approval.

"Of course the landfill is valueless right now. It will only have value if someone can make use of it," Town Supervisor Ann Carvill said at the time. "If things move in a positive direction it could be of tremendous benefit for the town," she said.

The primary benefit to the town would be the money from the lease of the land to the developer, but council members discussed other possible benefits, such as negotiating the use by the town of some of the electricity for its own needs in its facilities, or distributing some of it to a community solar program where residents could purchase discounted electricity.

While Murphy said that such use could be negotiated in a deal with a developer, he warned that demanding such things in a request for proposals could limit the value of the deal to a developer, potentially reducing the number of offers the town receives.

The consensus of board members seemed to be to suggest in the RFP to developers that such an arrangement might be viewed as a factor in their favor.

Town Attorney Frank Cappello said a commercial developer would likely want to sell the power to a single user or small group of users, such as the proposed LC Drives factory north of the village, for simplicity's sake.

The closed landfill is still subject to Department of Environmental Conservation rules which the town and any developer must observe, such as regulations regarding wetlands and leaving the seal over the brownfield-like site undisturbed.