Solar farm moving closer in Maybrook

- Audeen Moore
Posted 2/15/23

The process Carson Power is following to build Maybrook’s first solar farm is long and tedious, but another step was made at the village board meeting Monday night.

The board voted …

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Solar farm moving closer in Maybrook

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The process Carson Power is following to build Maybrook’s first solar farm is long and tedious, but another step was made at the village board meeting Monday night.

The board voted unanimously to accept the N.Y.S. Full Environmental Assessment Form (FEAF) Part 2 from Carson Power that outlined various impacts of the development. The firm will return to the board once it addresses the various impacts noted in Part 2 and submit a Part 3.

The impacts outlined by Village Attorney Kelly Naughton were mostly minimal or none, with a few areas noted to carry “moderate” or “large” impacts. Many of those impacts were temporary and related to future construction at the site, such as impact on vegetation. She characterized the FEAF Part 2 as “pretty thorough”.

Carson Power representatives attended Monday’s meeting and tried to address the various impacts to the board. But Mayor Dennis Leahy seconded Naughton’s suggestion that the impact explanations must be in writing and included in the FEAF Part 3, yet to be submitted to the board.

“You send us Part 3,” Leahy said, “and we’ll take it from there.”

The solar farm proposal is in its second draft. Originally, the company was to construct 22 single-family homes on one side of the parcel, a part of the original Goldman Farm, and two solar fields on the other side that would generate a total of ten megawatts of electricity that would link into the Central Hudson Gas & Electric substation on Maybrook Road. The site was originally a 78-parcel on the west side of Maybrook, near Cardinal Health and Taylor Recycling.

Because of rising costs, the developer (represented by R.J. Smith) has now proposed to keep the solar farm but scrap the residential development and, instead, deed that land — about 52 acres — to the village.

There are many pieces and required reviews before final approval can be given the project, including annexation of 24.5 acres in the Town of Montgomery into the village and approvals from the village planning and zoning boards.