The sun is up again on a plan by Siemens Energy to provide solar energy to the village of Fredonia government.

Mayor Douglas Essek said Siemens told him the program was off due to issues with setbacks and grid capacity for solar power. However, at the last two Board of Trustees meetings, Trustee James Lynden has flipped the switch back on for the plan.

He said at the Oct. 31 meeting that he got a different story from Siemens than Essek did. Lynden said he heard that with alterations, the project potentially could move forward.

He also heard that the power grid is not near capacity.

The project was proposed for 43 acres of land the village owns on Glasgow Road.

“The village, as we know, clearly needs revenues,” Lynden said. The project would offer revenues of $10,000 per year, he said.

He noted that the 250-foot setback is a town of Pomfret requirement — but Fredonia owns the property.

“We can notify (Pomfret) of what we’re going to do, but we don’t have to take into consideration fully that request it has to be a 250-foot setback,” he said. Questioned by Essek, Lynden said he learned at a state seminar that towns can’t dictate what happens on village properties.

Lynden asked the board to reconsider the proposal and let Siemens do more research on it. Trustees agreed to that.

Essek said his information that it cannot move forward was “very precise,” but he was also open to the idea of revisiting the opportunity.

At Monday’s meeting, Lynden said he asked attorney Mark Guglielmi of the village government’s law firm Webster Szanyi to investigate zoning issues with the project.

“I think I can report back soon, certainly before the next meeting,” Guglielmi said. “If we can get around the town’s zoning, I think everyone wants to, but there certainly is a question of whether we can or not.”

Lynden said even if there is a zoning issue, the village could apply for a variance.

“This would be a project that would be of a community, public benefit, in line with the state’s goals on green energy,” he said.