Special Town Meeting gave a unanimous green light to a 6-megawatt photovoltaic facility on 30 acres of capped landfill on Theophilus Smith Road in South Dennis. Selectmen are authorized to enter a 20-year lease agreement with American Capital Energy to construct and operate the facility, which the town may purchase for $1 when the lease expires. ACE is responsible for obtaining all permits and arranging power agreements with NSTAR.
This, said Selectman Wayne Bergeron, is a win-win deal. ACE will annually pay the town $75,000 to lease the land and $64,000 in taxes. It is estimated that the town will save $12 million in electric costs over 20 years.
Because the property can hold enough solar panels to generate six megawatts of power, twice the amount needed to power town buildings, voters also authorized selectmen to enter into agreements with the Dennis Water District and the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District. The water district will buy one megawatt and the schools two megawatts of power at an anticipated 20-year savings of $2 million to the water district and $4 million to the schools. Over two decades, this project is expected to save taxpayers $18 million.
“In negotiating with the schools, the town will ensure that all savings go directly to educational programs that benefit the children of Dennis and Yarmouth,” Bergeron said.
Residents also approved four Community Preservation projects, the most controversial of which was the purchase of the .08-acre pocket park in downtown Dennisport. While Carlyn Carey, co-chairwoman of the Dennisport Revitalization Committee, said that the park symbolizes revitalization in the village, Finance Committee Chairman Jim Plath opposed the purchase. Plath argued that not only is $148,000 too high a price for a tiny parcel into which the town has poured 600 man hours worth about $11,000, but an environmental study has not been conducted. “We’d like to see a deal that’s as good for the taxpayers as it is for the sellers,” Plath said.
But Carey said the town can negotiate with owner David Maslen to conduct the environmental study during the purchase and sales agreement. Historian and Dennisport native Burt Derick said the property has held a hardware store, novelty and pottery shops and a residence, suggesting that pollution is unlikely.
Archiving of historical documents and artifacts will continue with the appropriation of $32,000 of historic preservation funding, and $35,000 will be devoted to restoring the historic Obed Baxter fence at the South Dennis Congregational Church Cemetery. Voters also agreed to grant $470,000 to the Housing Assistance Corporation to help with development costs of a $7 million project that will bring 27 units of affordable housing to the former Melpet Farm property on Route 134 in South Dennis.
Source: http://www.wickedlocal.com/dennis/news/business/x1655827845/Dennis-solar-development-gets-thumbs-up#axzz1eRHrtGY9
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