By SARAH ROBERTSON
Staff Writer
ATHOL — Two potential solar arrays near Secret Lake are being considered by the Santa Monica based company Cypress Creek Renewables after the Conservation Commission held a wetlands delineation hearing for the projects last week.
“With the wetlands delineation, what is going on there is we go before the Conservation Commission to settle the outer boundaries of where we can and where we cannot develop,” said Benjamin Broder, a communications manager for Cypress Creek.
Each project was filed under a different company name; Lyons Hill Solar LLC for 94 acres of land near 884 Petersham Rd., and Hurlburth Solar LLC for 128 acres of land, split between two adjacent parcels, near 160 Mystery Lane. The proposed solar arrays would only cover a portion of the large parcels and adhere to wetlands protection laws.
Cypress Creek Renewables hired GEI Consultants engineer Karen Stackpole to preemptively assess the wetlands boundaries on the two sites and present the plans to the Conservation Commission. Stackpole answered questions from the commission and a handful of abutters notified about the meeting, some of whom were concerned about potential impacts to stormwater runoff.
“We’ve seen the kinds of impacts these projects have on the community so it’s really important the community participate and be informed,” said Karen Chenavsky, an abutter to one of the proposed solar arrays. She said she was disappointed being notified of the meeting with short notice and little information.
Athol’s wetlands agent Ward Smith reviewed the plans, pointed out mistakes where certain wetland areas had not been marked, and requested changes before the next hearing.
“It’s important we get this right, get the wetlands boundaries verified, because after it is they’re good for three years,” Smith said. “If we approve the boundaries at this time, and they can stay one hundred feet from the wetlands, they don’t have to come back to us again.”
Both solar arrays would have approximately 5 AC megawatts of solar power generation capacity, according to Broder. No plans for the exact acreage or number of solar panels, or construction specifics are available at this time.
According to the GEI Consultants’ plans, the Lyons Hill Solar site contains three forested wetland systems and four intermittent streams, while the Hurlburth Solar location includes 14 forested wetlands systems and at least one perennial stream. These assessments could change by the next meeting after updates are made.
“It was a little challenging with the slope down into the lake,” Stackpole said of drawing up the plans.
Both land parcels are apparently owned by the Lyons Hill Road Realty Trust based in Sterling, MA. According to the project applications the realty trust shares a telephone number with Cypress Creek Renewables’ northeast senior project manager, Alex Schild.
Last week’s hearing was not part of an application by Cypress Creek, but rather a preliminary assessment to see if the chosen sites are viable before submitting an official application. It was the first time the board heard any proposals for solar arrays by Cypress Creek Renewables.
“There is no project officially before us, even though we know a project is looking to go there,” Smith said.
Cypress Creek Renewables is a solar company based in Santa Monica that develops, finances, constructs and operates solar farms across the country. With more than 250 projects and 2.3 gigawatts of solar energy, they claim to be a national leader in solar technology.
“At Cypress Creek we believe that solar makes the world a cleaner and healthier place,” Broder said.
Jamie Yutkins attended the delineation hearing with three children in tow after receiving a notice that her own address near Secret Lake was listed as the site of the Hurlburth Solar project. The Conservation Commission later determined the address to be an assessing mistake, but the family is still not excited about the array.
“The property goes right behind our house,” Yutkins said. “We don’t want them cutting down trees and making a mess of the road.”
Smith said the commission would re-notify abutters, verifying all addresses are correct and everyone within 300 feet of the proposed arrays are notified.
“Is this some California thing, did somebody have a little too much weed when preparing these plans,” said Conservation Commission member J. R. Green. “This is very correctable, and should be corrected.”
The hearings were continued until the next Conservation Commission meeting on Jan. 22, awaiting updates to the delineation plans.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@atholdailynews.com.