OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford John Reagan of RIC Energy gives a presentation at the Pomfret Town Board meeting Wednesday on changes to a solar energy project proposal.

Based on substantial revisions to the site plan, the proposed solar energy farm in the town of Pomfret is getting a second public hearing.

The Pomfret Town Board set the hearing for 5:45 p.m. Aug. 11, before its next scheduled meeting. This happened Wednesday after board members heard updates on the project from Town Attorney Jeff Passafaro and John Reagan of RIC Energy, the outfit that wants to erect the solar panels on a parcel off Van Buren Drive.

“The board received another mock-up from its code officer based on revised submissions from the applicant,” Passafaro said. “There are substantial revisions the board is just now getting.” He also noted that the required State Environmental Quality Review isn’t done yet on the project, which would happen on a site currently filled with woods and wetlands.

Passafaro suggested a new hearing, noting RIC Energy has no objections to it. Based on the changes, “I don’t believe you’re in any position to make a decision on the application this evening.”

Board members agreed, and Reagan gave a short presentation on the proposed changes. Most noteworthy is that setbacks for equipment are 200 feet from the property lines, as requested by residents of Bernett Drive, a Village of Fredonia street where many backyards run up against the parcel proposed for the farm. In the previous version of the plan, itself a revision from the original proposal made back in the spring, the setbacks were 160 feet.

Reagan added that the new plan moves a transformer further away from the property lines, and includes a pollinator garden sited between the Bernett Drive properties and the area where solar panels will be set up. He also said, “A 95 to 100 foot band of existing vegetation should do a good job of screening the view.”

Bernett Drive resident Zen Olow noted that the plan did not contain a berm to further screen the panels, as he and his neighbors had requested. “We never proposed one. … We don’t think it’s necessary,” Reagan said.

In response to Olow questioning why RIC Energy needed that particular parcel, Reagan said, “There’s a limited universe of land that’s available for solar,” noting that the ability to hook into the power grid is vital. “That really limits availability of sites,” he said.

Wesley Bartoo, who has older family members that own land near the project site, asked what the reclamation plan is when the solar farm shuts down. Reagan said that a decommissioning plan is a state requirement.

“Equipment will be removed and (the land) will be restored to its original condition,” he said. Reagan added that RIC Energy will have to pay for a bond near the start of the project that will be held in place to fund the site restoration, if the company fails to do the decommissioning work itself.

In response to another resident’s question, Reagan said the company has National Grid’s approval to transmit power generated by the project.

The town board set the new public hearing, and Passafaro offered a reminder that everything concerning the proposed project is on file with Town Clerk Allison Vento. Anyone who wants to see the plans can make arrangements with her to see them.