Fearing Hill solar hearings stalled by applicant’s repeated absence

Aug 23, 2021

For the third week in a row, Joseph Shanahan, the representative for a proposed solar field development on wooded land on Fearing Hill Road did not attend a Planning Board meeting for which his project was on the agenda.

Shanahan also missed a Conservation Commission meeting at which the project was set to be discussed.

His absence prompted confusion and frustration among both members of the Planning Board and members of the public who attended the August 23 hearing about the project.

The proposed 20-acre solar array, to be located on a 44-acre site at 91 and 101 Fearing Hill Rd., has drawn intense criticism from the public over the past few months

Last week, the board selected the Horsley Witten Group — a Sandwich-based environmental science and engineering firm — and senior hydrogeologist Neal Price to conduct studies and tests deemed necessary to determine the proposed Fearing Hill solar project’s potential impact on stormwater runoff in the area. 

This week, Planning Board Chair Richard Swenson said Price had submitted a proposal for the first phase of his work. In that phase, he will review all the existing information he can get his hands on, including application documents, GIS maps, septic information, and the applicant’s stormwater study. That first phase of work — out of a possible two or three — will cost $28,000.

Those costs, legally, are to be paid by the applicant. But the applicant has the right to appeal the town’s choice of a hydrogeologist. And board member Mike King thought that he should be given the chance to do so before the town officially tells Price to begin his work.

“We need to ensure that the applicant is willing to comply with the request from the Horsley Witten group, and if he wants to proceed,” said Swenson. 

Charlie Rowley, an engineer who consults for the town, said he hadn’t heard anything from Shanahan or his engineer.

“I don’t see how we go forward without talking to the applicant,” said Sam Corbitt, a board member. 

Several members of the public spoke about the project, and most expressed frustration that Shanahan was not present.

Swenson said he’d never seen an applicant seemingly intentionally skip multiple meetings, as Shanahan seems to be doing.

One person attempted to weigh in over Zoom, but the board was unable to get the technology to work so she could be heard.

Annie Hayes said she spoke to 30 homeowners in the Fearing Hill neighborhood today. Of those neighbors, all but six relied on well water. All were concerned, she said, about the safety of their well water if the project continues. 

Hayes also cited several studies that call into question whether existing stormwater management procedures are effective. The data used by engineers, she said, is old — and doesn’t account for the impact of climate change, which is expected to bring more frequent and intense rainstorms. 

The hearing was continued until the board’s September 13 meeting.