At the Public Works and Parks Committee meeting last Wednesday night, DPW superintendent Rob Perry, in his monthly report to the committee, commented on the notion of siting a solar farm at the reservoir. The following is quoted from Perry's report:
Proposed Solar Farm at the Churchtown Reservoir is a poorly thought [out] idea. First and foremost, it is OUR primary water supply. Construction of a solar farm would require the removal of trees which would increase run-off, increase turbidity and decrease raw water quality. Also, the site was originally chosen 120+ years ago because it isn't flat. It's a "bowl." Other considerations:
We prohibit most construction within 200' of any waterbody or tributary under local (Chapter A334--Watershed Rules) and state law (Title 10 Section 109-1).
Taghkanic is ready to adopt new solar law. Relevant language: "An Active Solar Energy System that occupies more than 40,000 square feet of surface area is prohibited" under §2 Subsection (c) of the proposed law.Perry acknowledged that the one place where a solar array might be sited was the open field at the entrance that leads to what's known as the "Reservoir House" and suggested that anyone thinking the reservoir might be a suitable site for a solar array probably had never visited the reservoir. Hearing that comment, I realized I had never visited the reservoir so yesterday afternoon I made a trip out there and took these pictures.
A special meeting of the Economic Development Committee has been scheduled for Thursday, October 3, at 6 p.m., at which time the committee is expected to hear presentations from WMR Services LLC and SunCommon. The meeting is expected to take place in City Hall.COPYRIGHT 2019 CAROLE OSTERINK
My apologies to any readers who haven't read E. F. Benson and are not Lucia fans for the title of this post.
Once again, let me clear up jaundiced slant to what I said at the meeting. I was never set on using the reservoir, but simply said investigating the feasibility of placing an array there should be investigated, due to the size of the parcel. It was obvious there would be sensible environmental restrictions as well as potential local zoning ordinances, but looking at the parcel does no harm, since this was only such an extremely preliminary concept as to be basically speculative. Furthermore, I stated that a solar field developed on any city-owned land was a good idea, so all proposals that thoroughly investigate such a possibility are welcomed on ANY city-owned parcel, as long as the environmental impacts are low and the construction would be economically feasible. And, it has become clear now that the best practice for entering into a power purchase agreement with a community solar provider or any such entity requires an RFP. For example, the DEC issued an RFP for a power purchase agreement. We were advised poorly on this point, so now we are untangling that problem. As I have stated, I am fully supportive of solar power and saving Hudson money. That said, there is a right way to do this. There is no timeline to due diligence. If we do this right, we can save money and EARN money in the process, but we need to understand what we are doing better. And, Sun Common will not be able to attend the meeting on October 3rd, but they remain interested in helping us transition toward a greener use of power. - John Rosenthal
ReplyDeleteAnd, as I have stated continually throughout the process, East-Light is a good company, with honest representatives, and I support and applaud their efforts at advancing CSA power in New York State. - JR
ReplyDeleteDoesn't anyone recall the Viridian Energy debacle? It was the same thing, racing into the first opportunity that came along without doing the proper research into alternatives. In Hudson we never learn.
ReplyDeleteDitto the Colarusso proposal and the failure of the Planning Board to investigate all alternatives. Why has no one studied the conceivable *maximum* truck numbers to and from the waterfront? We simply accept the company's projected numbers and leave it at that.
In other words, no matter the subject we don't learn anything from our mistakes. So Hudson ...
Readers should know that the main source of the water in the Churchtown Reservoir is the Taghkanic Creek. It is definitely not from runoff surrounding the reservoir.
ReplyDeleteWell over one million gallons daily are diverted from the creek through an aqueduct to the reservoir.
The Churchtown reservoir is recharged by drainages as far east as Hillsdale and Copake via a pipe from the New Forge State Forest.
DeletePerhaps it's time to reconsider the possibility of the idea of creating a field of solar panels within the city limits of Hudson, on the capped landfill at the north end of Second Street, adjacent to North Bay.
ReplyDeleteThe landfill belongs to Columbia County not the City of Hudson.
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