LAKE 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 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?”

As the meeting wound down, Bertsch turned to Maas and said, “The decision is up to the town board.”

To which Maas replied, “I guess we’ll decide at the next town board meeting. That’s going to be some meeting!”

The next town board meeting is scheduled for March 9. But before that, some town and planning board members will attend a March 2 information meeting at the county legislative offices, to get a bigger picture of what’s at stake for towns permitting solar farms.