Special Town Meeting voters approve $700,000 for solar experts, land purchase
Finance Committee Member Alan Slavin talks at the Special Town Meeting. Photo by Bobby Grady
Finance Committee Member Alan Slavin talks at the Special Town Meeting. Photo by Bobby Grady
Voters at the Jan. 13 Town Meeting approved using town money to hire solar experts to testify on the town's behalf and purchase two acres of land.
The Planning Board is involved in multiple court cases in which solar energy developers are suing the board for denying them permits.
Voters approved the allocation of $100,000 of certified free cash to hire solar experts to testify on behalf of the town in those cases.
Certified free cash is leftover, unallocated money from the previous fiscal year.
The experts would not provide legal advice, but scientific insight into a variety of issues regarding large scale ground mount solar installations.
Also approved at Town Meeting was the allocation of $600,000 to purchase a piece of property next to Town Hall.
Town Administrator Derek Sullivan described the 2.09 acres, located at 80 Marion Road, as the “gap in the teeth of town.”
The town does not have a current plan for the property but it will be used for municipal purposes. Select Board Clerk Jared Chadwick said the property should be used as the site for a new police station.
The final price of the property is still up to negotiations with the current land owner but Sullivan said the price will not exceed $600,000.
After the approval of both items, there is around $3.6 million left in certified free cash.
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