Callicoon board says no to $335,000

Solar project shot down by council

By FRITZ MAYER

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — The Callicoon town board has effectively pre-empted for now the possibility of gaining state money in the form of grants and incentives that would have paid for solar installations at the town hall and town barn to provide most of the town’s energy needs.

At a meeting on December 17, three members of the board voted to reject the two bids that had been submitted to go forward with the project, and voted not to have the project re-bid.

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther said in a phone interview the next day, that the $125,000 grant that would have come from her office would be allocated elsewhere, but she wasn’t yet sure of where.

At the meeting, council member Tom Bose said he was not willing to go forward with the project because of several reasons. One was because the system cost too much, and the price of photovoltaic technology was certain to come down in the coming years, and it would be better to wait until then.

Supervisor Linda Babicz, who spearheaded the project and has pushed the reluctant board to consider it, said that the project would cost the town nothing, and even if the price of the technology does come down in the future, the town will not have the grant in the future. Moreover, the $210,000 in New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) incentives may be reduced or disappear in the future.

Another objection from Bose was that in this tough economic environment, the state should not be giving away the grant and the NYSERDA incentives.

Babicz responded that the money was going to go somewhere and said, “Why does it not make sense to get that money for our town?” She further said the incentives from NYSERDA would come in exchange for providing data from the project and serving as a solar “laboratory” to help advance solar technology. On the other side of that issue Boze at one point said, “I was not elected to save the environment.”

At another point, Boze said that residents he talked to in the town about going solar, “roll their eyes and wonder why we are considering this at all.”

Council member Dave Kuebler sided with Bose, saying, “I’m in total agreement with Tom.”

Council member Howard Fuchs voiced the concern that a ball from the field near the town hall could hit the solar panels, and no one had adequately addressed this question.

The two bids for the project were rejected because they did not match the criteria put forth by the town, and they were over budget. The rejection came despite written assurances from town attorney Marvin Newburg that the board had the option to accept the bids anyway, or to renegotiate the bids, or to re-bid the project.

The board voted three to one not to re-bid the project. Council member Charles Schadt was not at the meeting.

One resident at the meeting, George Fulton, supported the position put forth by Bose that the town should wait to pursue solar until the cost of technology comes down.

However, most of the 20 or so residents at the meeting were more inclined to agree with resident Sonja Hedlund who said, “Someone has offered to give us $125,000 and you’re going to say no thank you? If our residents knew about it, they would be outraged.”

Babicz said the board was missing a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The resolution said the board would “revisit the issue at some point in the future,” but setting no time frame, it is likely the grant money will be gone.

Gunther said, “I just think that the entire country is moving toward green technology to stop using fossil fuels, and we in Sullivan County want to keep pace with the entire country.”