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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9-23 2025 Reg meeting 1TOWN OF GROTON -TOWN BOARD PUBLIC HEARING & MEETING MINUTES OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2025, AT 7:30 PM Town Officers Present: Town Officers Absent: Also Present: Donald F. Scheffler, Supervisor Gregg Beldock, Bullrock Corp. Crystal Young, Councilperson Dan Carey, AG Advisor Sheldon Clark, Councilperson Barry Siebe, Env. Council Richard Gamel, Councilperson Brian Klumpp, Councilperson Barbara Siebe Ron Moore Mack Rankin, Deputy Highway Super. Ed Moody, Zoning Board Fran Casullo, Attorney Robin Cargian, Town Clerk David Durrant Monica Carey, Planning Board W. Rick Fritz, Code Official Julie Graham, Bookkeeper David Lincoln Logan Lincoln Linda Lumbert Reed Lumbert David Bestys Barb Barron Mott Liponis Glenn Morey Logan Randall Beth Ginalski Robert Johnson Pauline Satterly Frank Satterly Eric Carey Guillermo Metz Michael Mancuso The meeting was called into session at 7:30 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance. RESOLUTION #25-068 ‐ APPROVE PAYMENT OF INVOICES MOVED by Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel WHEREAS, vouchers for Abstract #10 for the Year 2025, numbered 378-382, were reviewed and audited by the Town Board, be it RESOLVED, that the Town Board hereby approves said vouchers, which will make the accounts in the Total amounts as follows: A GENERAL FUND 1,100.73 DA HIGHWAY FUND 171,988.00 Total $173,088.73 Ayes – Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Resolution Passed Nays - Town Board Minutes Page 2 September 23, 2025 Tentative 2026 Budget The 2026 Tentative Town Budget was presented to the Town Board. Supervisor Scheffler proposed Local Law #2 of 2025. The intent of which is to override the limit on the amount of real property taxes that may be levied by the Town of Groton, County of Tompkins pursuant to New York General Municipal Law §3-c, and to allow the Town of Groton to adopt a Town budget for (a) Town purposes and (b) any other special or improvement district governed by the Town Board for the Fiscal Year 2026, that requires a real property tax levy in excess of the "tax levy limit” as defined by the General Municipal Law §3-c. MOTION #25-069 – PROPOSE LOCAL LAW #2 OF 2025 MOVED BY Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Clark, to propose a law which will allow the Town Board to override the tax cap limit for the 2026 fiscal budget year. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - MOTION #25-070 – SET A PUBLIC HEARING FOR LOCAL LAW #2 OF 2025 MOVED BY Supervisor Scheffler, seconded by Councilperson Gamel, to set the Public Hearing for Local Law #2 of 2025 for Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at 8:00 PM. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - MOTION #25-071 – APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE SUPERVISOR TO SIGN THE 2025 RECORDS STORAGE AGREEMENTS FOR THE GROTON COMMUNITY COUNCIL AND THE GROTON RURAL CEMETERY. MOVED BY Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, to approve and authorize the Town Supervisor to sign both Community Council and Groton Rural Cemetery records storage agreements for 2025. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - Announcements: Supervisor Scheffler read the public notice from Tompkins County IDA, which will be arranging a tax pilot for the Yellow Barn Solar Project. This is scheduled for September 30, 2025, at 4:30 PM to be held at the Lansing Town Hall. The notice was then read: Yellow Barn Seller, for itself and/or on behalf of an entity or entities formed, or to be formed, to submit an application to the agency requesting the agency's assistance with a certain project consisting of, one, the acquisition by the agency of a leasehold interest, in all or a portion of certain parcels of real property comprised of approximately 512 acres located in the towns of Lansing and Groton, Tompkins County, New York, identified in Exhibit A attached here to, which it is to, the planning, design, construction, and operation of 160 megawatt solar electric generation system, including panel foundations, inverters, transformers, interconnect wiring, utility connection, site work, landscaping, fencing, security, and related improvements. And three, the acquisition of and installation in and around the land and improvements by the company of machinery, equipment, fixtures, and other items of tangible personal property. The agency will acquire title to or a leasehold interest in the facility, as well as an interest in the equipment, and lease the facility back to the company. The company will own and operate the facility during the term of the lease. At the end of the lease term, the company will purchase a facility from the agency. Or if the agency holds a leasehold interest, the leasehold interest will be terminated. Agency contemplates it will provide financial assistance to the company in the form of a sales and use tax exemption and mortgage recording tax exemption consistent with the policies of the agency and partial Town Board Minutes Page 3 September 23, 2025 real property tax abatement structured under an agreement or agreements between the company and the agency regarding payments and new real property taxes for the benefit of each municipality having taxing jurisdiction over the facility. Supervisor Scheffler encouraged everyone to attend this public hearing, ask a lot of questions, and ask about dollars and cents because that's not included here. Privilege of the Floor was offered, but no one wished to speak at that time. Public Hearing Site Plan Review- Groton Solar I and Groton Solar II The Town Clerk announced the publication date for the public notice in the Ithaca Journal, and a MOTION was made by Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Young, to open the public hearing for Groton Solar I and Groton Solar II site plan reviews for special permits. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - Barbara Siebe, 800 South Main St., I have two questions. We were at the last meeting, and there seemed to be a question regarding whether they were following the code. You would talk about a process of whether they're making changes, that they have to either reapply. I wasn't clear on what that was and whether we were following our own code. Do you guys want to answer? Clerk Cargian: I wish I had that in front of me. Yes, we have a new application. Barbara Siebe: So they are doing a new application? Clerk Cargian: It is a new application. The application, everything's online, our Engineer looked it over as well as our attorney. Barbara Siebe: Okay. And then another question that I had is that there seemed to be a situation in regards to some recommendations made, and that we wanted them to do them. Was that presented to the board that they approve it? And if they can meet those conditions later as the process goes forward. Or the question was is, well, it can't go forward until they meet those certain criteria that the board presented. There seemed to be a bit of a discussion on which way it should go. I mean, to me, it seems like, why would you make the recommendations that they had to do these things, that you would approve it beforehand, before they did those things? Or is something in place to assure that if you do approve, then who's going to monitor that they are doing those things? If you approve them and say they can do those things later in the process. That was one of the questions that I had. They can't get a building permit, until those things are addressed correct? Councilperson Klumpp: Right. You approve the plan with these conditions, and then before anything starts, those conditions have to be met, and those conditions would be reviewed by the code enforcement officer and the town engineer. And if it's a legal thing, the attorney. Barbara Siebe: Okay, so they can't start unless they meet the recommendations that we put forward? Clerk Cargian: But they did, actually. They have resubmitted all of these new engineered drawings, and Tim has looked at it, and they meet that information. It is also here on the table. Tim has verified that they've met the conditions that he's asked for so those are all taken care of. Barry Siebe, 800 South Main Street: Having been a part of this with you guys from the beginning with the first application, we've stood here and sat here and listened to Delaware Solar tell us there's Town Board Minutes Page 4 September 23, 2025 not going to be any motors. That obviously has changed. Delaware Solar told us we're in this till the end. We're going to build this, we're going to operate it, we're not going to transfer it, we're not going to sell it. Well, here we are with somebody new. We've put conditions on this thing. And I'm just not convinced that we're not going to see these guys back here with another nickel dime item. They're telling us they're putting in these inverters. They've done a noise study. All right, so are those inverters already here? Do we know they're here? Or are we going to hear from them in a couple of months that, Oh, you can't get them. We've got to put the old inverters in. And they're going to stand here in front of you guys. and plead their case about how they've spent all this money to get to a certain point, and now they can't do what they said they're going to do. We've already seen a couple of examples of not doing what they've told us they're going to do, or doing something different. The gentleman who is proposing to do this project, I gave him my card after the last meeting, and he said he was going to send me a site location where I could go and hear these inverters. Almost two weeks have gone by. I finally got an email Saturday night. Now, according to his e-mail, it was his office staff's fault or something. I'm in southern Pennsylvania on the road. So I got to get back here by Sunday and try and decide I'm going to be able to make a four-hour trip up near Rochester to listen to these inverters before tonight's meeting. I can't say that was on purpose, but it's just one of those other little things. Why wait two weeks, and I finally get an e-mail to give me the two weeks that I asked for, so I got time to plan a trip to go up there and listen to these things. I just have some real concerns with how this whole project's being kind of conducted. It doesn't seem like there's good faith, and I have concerns if this board moves forward and approves this project. Is there good faith down the road that they're going to do what they say they're going to do? Are they going to put the site barriers up so I don't have to look at the thing across the street from me? Is it really going to have sound barriers that I'm not going to hear it? Or am I going to get that steady hum from these things because they're not what these guys say that they are? So, I have several concerns about this project, not so much the project in and of itself, but quite frankly, who we're dealing with. I don't know that I trust a bunch of them, a bit, based on what we've seen and how they've done business since they started this process. Thank you David Bestis, 526 Peru Road: I'm probably a little bit behind on what's been going on, but I'm wondering, is this company going to be getting any kind of tax incentives to do this? I mean, are they getting any tax breaks to put this in? Or will they be paying any taxes to the Town of Groton or are we giving them a period of no taxes as an incentive to get them to build? Councilperson Gamel: We didn't give them a tax break. David Bestis: Would they be paying some kind of substantial taxes uh, for having this business that is a business on this property, I mean, would we see a tax? Supervisor Scheffler: According to what the assessment department assesses. David Bestis: Okay. The property across the street from me, I know, is part of the Owasco Lake Inlet, and I know that some of the people who have built across from us have had to do special requirements, putting in septic and so forth to build their houses. And I'm wondering how close this really is to the Owasco Inlet. And if there was any damage from hail or anything else, would any kind of chemicals leak into this protected area? I think that's a concern that some of us would have, that if other homeowners had to meet these special requirements, are these guys going to have to meet those requirements or not? You know, depending on how close they are to the actual inlet area. Then lastly, I'd like to ask that maybe with all these questions and concerns going on, I know, I think it's the town or Village of Homer is now looking into having a five-year moratorium on building solar farms in their area. I'm told there's more information about solar panels, how long they last, do they leak. Do they Town Board Minutes Page 5 September 23, 2025 make noise from these inverters and things like that? I'm wondering if the board would entertain a moratorium of some sort to give us time to look at more stuff, more research, and so forth. Thank you. Dan Carey, Lick Street Groton: From the very beginning, I've had concerns about this project. In terms of water runoff, I don't see any long-term proposal to limit the water runoff coming off the hillside, particularly on the north side. In terms of the noise, there's a tremendous amount of land down there that could yet be developed for solar right now. Barry's probably the closest resident for that noise that may occur. But if they extend the project in the future and build more, I think there'd be more people impacted by the noise from the inverters. I think this needs some serious thought as to whether this company does what they want to do, and then in a short time, a year or two, they sell to somebody else, and you have another company before you, asking for the same things to be done. I think this is happening in other communities, a better process going forward. Monica Carey, Lick Street: You've heard my concerns before. The stormwater retention ponds are a big concern for me. The other thing is that Delaware Solar was going to plant evergreen trees, so I don't have to look at these disgusting things. And the noise. The noise is going to bother me because it's right down behind my place, and I am not a fan of hearing this noise all the time. I’d like to see trees planted along that hedgerow, evergreens especially, to take down the noise level somewhat or some sort of barriers, so I don't have to listen to that noise all the time. My name is Logan Lincoln, and I live at 901 South Main Street. And I have just a few questions. Long term, is the benefit greater than the negative effects on the community? Do you think that the benefit is greater to Groton as a community? (waited for a response) Attorney Casullo: It's a public hearing. If you want, you can answer the questions, but you don't have to. Logan Lincoln: That's fair. I can move on to the next question. Supervisor Scheffler: We're here mostly to listen and then make a decision at some point. Councilperson Gamel: I'll be happy to tell you that, no, I do not. Logan Lincoln: Okay. I appreciate you saying that. Councilperson Gamel: I don't think we have the ability to do too much about it other than what trees to plant. It’s somebody's property, they have leased it to someone and provided they follow all the regulations…. I stated at the last meeting that long-term, we would have to plant trees and do alternate things to undo the doing of what this is going to create. I just think that it is not something that the Town of Groton, for the most part, is interested in. But I also don't think we have a lot of control and that the control comes from you guys at the polls in your state legislature, not your local. But that's just my opinion. Logan Lincoln: I appreciate your opinion so much. Thank you. If the state doesn't have to abide by the zoning laws, what is going to hold them accountable? Because the developer can move forward as far as the State not going by the zoning laws if they approve it. So where is the accountability? Supervisor Scheffler: My experience is the state does anything they want. Town Board Minutes Page 6 September 23, 2025 Councilperson Gamel: I agree, and that's the problem, because I love living in Groton, but you know, I grew up in Groton. The state can sometimes push it forward without zoning. Clerk Cargian: Well, in this instance, we have the zoning; the State doesn't. Are you confusing this with the other project happening in West Groton? Logan Lincoln: Maybe. If that's not the case, that would make me feel a little bit better as far as accountability, because the state's not going to come in to make sure that everything's being done. Clerk Cargian: Under 25 MG, the town has local authority. Councilperson Gamel: Two different ones. There is one on the west border that we don’t have any say over, which is 160 Megawatts. A few years back, we voted not to have that, and Andrew Cuomo decided that wasn't good enough for him and took that out of our hands. So, we have no control over that. Logan Lincoln: Got it. But in this case, that's not the fact, because it's underneath that liability. Based on similar projects, the company suspects there will be no significant impact on property values. But in two years, how can we guarantee that when the project's done? I know my property taxes are a lot, so I'm just wondering how this affects the American Dream? We're just trying to make it as young people here in the Groton community. Supervisor Scheffler: There are no real numbers on how they affect property values, other than most people feel that they're driving down. You can check with the assessment department on that. Logan Lincoln: Currently, though, because we're talking, the project won't be done until midway through at least 2026; there is no guarantee in that aspect, correct? Clerk Cargian: They would be able to tell from other projects that already exist in the county. Logan Lincoln: It said that they're trying to partner locally with both labor and electrician units to make sure that we're using local people to the highest extent possible. Does anyone know who the local people are that we're using? Because I haven't seen any names listed. I have asked in the past for them to define local, Syracuse or Rochester and I don't get an answer. It said union electricians as well. I would just feel better if it was people within that community getting something from a bad situation. Do we have any control over that as far as the community? Supervisor Scheffler: They'll probably be using union labor. I don't believe we have a say. I mean, they must be certified. Logan Lincoln: I appreciate all the correspondence. Thank you, guys. Monica Carey: One other thing I forgot is the glare, because these panels are going to be moving all the time. What kind of glare am I going to be getting on my place, seeing that they're going to be right down behind me? Or for anybody else that's close by. How much glare are we going to get off these panels when they're moving? And how often do they move? How often do these motors run? Councilperson Gamel: I assume they track the angle of the sun from sunrise to sunset. It will move fairly slowly. Town Board Minutes Page 7 September 23, 2025 Giarmo Metz: I live in Danby, but I am here representing Cooperative Extension, and I just wanted to make myself available. There are a lot of legitimate concerns about the project. I've also heard some sort of misinformation about solar in general. I just wanted to say, Don and I have had correspondence, but if folks here have questions about the glare, the leaching of panels, the toxicity, or the water runoff. Those kinds of things are legitimate concerns, and there are some things that research shows are not something to worry about. So, I make myself available at Cooperative Extension. This is sort of what I do to help municipalities mitigate this process. Frank Satterly 712 South Main St.: I'm not really all that familiar with the project. I am happy that we got a notice that there was a public hearing. All I can say is, I hope they're straightened out because I'm telling you, go to Willow Glen and take a look behind that cemetery. It's one of the worst-looking things I've ever seen in my life. I just hope that you can take precautions so that the people in the neighborhood don't see the glare, they don't hear the noise, and we don't want to hear it. Bad enough with the traffic. Thank you. Gregg Beldock, Charlotte, Vermont: We've had a date every other Tuesday night for about a month and a half. I understand the concerns of people, as another fellow just said. Some of them are justified, some are not. Solar panels don't leach anything, but we've heard all the stories. We're going to do a good job. I'm sorry that there were misrepresentations by the company who came before me. They must have had a lot of misrepresentations because they ended up buying 40 projects that they couldn't get to the finish line with. Maybe that's part of the reason they couldn't get to the finish line. You guys have my address, you got my telephone number. We have our own construction crews. We are good at what we do. I go to some towns, just came from a meeting in Nantucket last night, Plattsburgh the week before, they were very pro-solar. Some towns are not so pro-solar, but they all want screening, and they all want sound deprecation. We're providing screening, we're providing for stormwater control, and vertically providing sound mitigation, hope the landscaping is as you like it. If it isn't, you know how to reach me. Trees can be planted. As far as not getting back to members of the community, I may not look like it, but I run a big company. I got back as soon as I could. It was a text, not an e- mail, by the way. And my door's always open. And I intend to own this thing for a while. I don't know how long I’ll be around, but as long as it's around, I’ll be an owner. Yeah, we have other partners and financial partners, the largest infrastructure company in the world. Apollo is our partner. And we're going to do as good a job as we can. We came here with a permit for a project that I thought was a mess. It was too big, it moved too much dirt, it was crummy technology, so I tried to improve it. I hope you find that we improve it. I can tell you this, of all the towns that I deal with, and I don't get involved at this level very often, the most efficient person we've dealt with is right there. That's something good to say. With everyone who wished to speak having been heard, a MOTION was made by Councilperson Klumpp to close the public hearing, seconded by Councilperson Gamel. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - A discussion between the Attorney for the Town and the Attorney for the applicant took place as to whether another SEQR review was necessary. The Attorney for the Town was in contact with the Supervisor, who had concerns about glare and noise. The Attorney for the applicant stated that the previous negative declaration for the projects was sufficient, and it was his opinion that the board would be acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner to review the SQRA again, as the changes to the project were not that significant, and the footprint of the project was smaller. Councilperson Klumpp disagreed, stating it is a significant change as the new permits have introduced noise and glare in Town Board Minutes Page 8 September 23, 2025 directions that weren't in the previous project. With solar farms, glare and noise are two important characteristics. The engineer for the Town, Mr. Buhl, was contacted by phone and answered the questions about glare and noise stating that “they switched the inverters which make the noise a different type and moved them back up farther away from the receptors. I think the noise issue is documented in the decibel readings and were below what the ambient noise would be from traffic, et cetera. In terms of the glare issue, they are facing south, but I don't think the receptors are going to be able to be seen from the roads to impact any drivers or anything. I don't know about most of the residents that are down below where the glare would be actually shining based on the angle of the sun. I did spend a lot of time looking at that because I didn't think it was significant. But I can, if you want me to take another look at it.” Supervisor Scheffler added he thought the company had said that if there was a problem, you said most of the houses or residences were below the solar panels, so that wouldn't be an issue, but if there was any that were having a concern, the company would address that directly. Mr. Buhl responded that there might be sporadic glare on the hillside residents that could be impacted. But he did a scan of things and didn't see anybody in particular that might be. Most of them were southern, down on Rt 38 and down lower on South Main. He didn’t think they would be affected by it at all. The Attorney for the Town advised the board that the safest thing to do, because there was a new application and a new public hearing, and the DEC is also saying that it would be a good idea to reaffirm the negative declaration, would be for the board to vote through and initial and reaffirm or not, the negative declaration. Clerk Cargian received an email from the Village of Groton declining the invitation to be co-agents for SEQR. With that understanding, a motion was made to declare lead agency for the State Environmental Quality Review. MOTION #25-072 – THE TOWN OF GROTON DECLARES ITSELF LEAD AGENCY FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF A SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION FOR NY GROTON I LLC, SUBMITTED BY BULLROCK. MOVED BY Councilperson Gamel, to declare the Town of Groton as the lead agency for the environmental assessment review of NY Groton I LLC (Large Scale Energy) submitted by Bullrock, seconded by Councilperson Klumpp, Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - The Attorney for the Town read through all of the Part 2 Environmental Quality Review questions from the previous Delaware River Solar project. The Town Board changed the answer to question 15 for impact on Noise, Order, and Light from NO to a YES, and using information from the engineer, determined there would be a small impact to the sub-questions “a” through “e”. MOTION #25-073 – THE TOWN OF GROTON REAFFIRMS THE NEGATIVE DECLARATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE SPECIAL PERMIT REVIEW OF NY GROTON I LLC SUBMITTED BY BULLROCK, MOVED BY Councilperson Klumpp, seconded by Councilperson Clark, upon the board’s findings during the previous and current Environmental Assessment review, the Town of Groton reaffirms a Negative Declaration for NY Groton I LLC on South Main St. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - MOTION #25-074 – THE TOWN OF GROTON DECLARES ITSELF LEAD AGENCY FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF A SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION FOR NY GROTON II LLC, SUBMITTED BY BULLROCK. Town Board Minutes Page 9 September 23, 2025 MOVED BY Councilperson Gamel, seconded by Councilperson Young, to declare the Town of Groton as the lead agency for the Environmental Assessment review of NY Groton II LLC (Large Scale Energy, submitted by Bullrock. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - Following the previous procedure, the Town Board reviewed the questions for NY GROTON II LLC, where they also changed the impacts to Noise, Odor, and Light to Yes and found the sub-questions “a” through “e” to also be a small impact. MOTION #25-075 – THE TOWN OF GROTON REAFFIRMS THE NEGATIVE DECLARATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION OF NY GROTON II LLC, SUBMITTED BY BULLROCK Councilperson Klumpp made a MOTION that the Town of Groton reaffirms a Negative Declaration for the NY Groton II LLC site plan on South Main St. and was seconded by Councilperson Gamel. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - The Supervisor asked the Town Board if they were comfortable with making a decision. Councilperson Young addressed Mr. Besties request for a moratorium by explaining, “We did do that when Delaware Solar was the owner of this particular solar project. We did have a moratorium in effect for...six months, I believe it was. No, then we did an extension for another three months. So it was almost a year since we did a moratorium. In that time, we updated our land use agreement. We had a subcommittee that looked at, that met and looked at all of the negatives, positives, all of the things that were in the land use agreement that they felt needed to be updated. So, I just want to state that we did do our due diligence there, and we don't take this lightly. We want to be good stewards of our community, and knowing that some of the things that you may hear as far as the impact, then it doesn't have an impact on certain things, such as the habitat, whether it be animals or plants. You know, of course, we did have somebody come in and give us the map of endangered species, the species as far as the natural lands, things like that. We have taken all of that into account. So please don't think that we're taking this lightly. This has been a long process. This has been over how many? Two years? Three years. The Attorney for the Town added that Councilperson Young’s point is well taken. He has not been here for a lot of these meetings, but just spoke to council and thought it was important, before the board voted, that we acknowledge receiving Tim Buell's letter of today and after reading the last paragraph, get some acknowledgement that this is going to be followed. “To summarize, the most recent submittal by the applicant has addressed my remaining major concerns, and speaking with the project engineering team members, the more minor outstanding issues will be taken care of in the final building permit documents. It is my recommendation that great care should be taken to follow the New York State DEC stormwater guidance requirements for this project, especially during the construction and grading operations. The town should also require direct copies of the regular weekly site inspection reports made by an independent certified inspection service retained by the developer. It is important for the town and the code officer to be kept current as to the conditions at that site so that the immediate corrective measures can be taken to protect adjacent downstream property owners if necessary.” Attorney Casullo asked the board if that was acceptable and indicated that this is now on the record that Tim's final analysis should include those items, and the applicant counsel just indicated that that will be filed. Town Board Minutes Page 10 September 23, 2025 Councilperson Klumpp: As Mr. Beldock was saying, he has been here quite often, and he has heard the concerns that the town has. He certainly heard our concerns, and hopefully, he understands we are a small community that cares about each other and our neighbors, our land, and that they consider that as they look towards the future of this project. In response to the public’s question about having issues with potential chemicals leaching into the ground, Councilperson Gamel stated that in the application, the solar panel to be used in this project has been through a TCLB lab test. During the test, the panels are broken, baked, scratched, and water tested. He agreed down the road, we don’t know what is really going to happen, but the panels passed this lab test, and the board has done everything they could think of, and the developers have addressed everything that they have been asked to do. The Attorney Casullo complimented the board on the work done and stated that he goes to many municipal meetings, and this board was one of the first to do a moratorium and solar analysis before any other town. Councilperson Young described the balance that the board has to have to make sure the community is protected, but that landowners also have rights, and that is a very fine line. Supervisor Scheffler asked for confirmation of somebody’s work that if a stray glare comes up and it’s bothering someone or the noise is higher (in decibels) than expected, that it will be addressed and it will be taken care of with trees or shielding or changing equipment or whatever needs to be done. Mr. Beldock: We'll do everything we can to minimize the effect of the project and to live to the letter of what we do. Clerk Cargian asked if the developer would be providing a decision agreement similar to what Delaware River Solar provided, which had specific mitigation information for the previous project, such as the type of trees and an escrow for landscaping. The Attorney for the Town offered to read the documents, but as the board was familiar with them, they negotiated with the council for the applicant that they would follow the decision agreements for both projects, what was asked for in Mr. Buhl’s letter as well as anything else that has come up in the most recent application. The board asked about the decommissioning agreement, which was a separate document already signed. Noise and glare concerns would be added to the decision agreement so that it is on record. Councilperson Gamel added that he felt there are much better places for solar panels than on agricultural fields and woodlots. “Cutting a single tree down to put up green energy is the biggest oxymoron that he has heard of.” He asked developers to discuss it with Walmart, Lowe’s, and every building in NY City as there are better places. “Just because we are out in the country, doesn’t mean we don’t love what we have here.” Councilperson Klumpp added that there are much better places for solar panels than agricultural land and forest. The other problem he has seen is that these projects are subsidized at the state level as well as the federal level. The majority of solar panels are purchased from foreign countries, which means our tax dollars are going to another country that has no desire to see that we are successful. He voted no on the first project but is voting for this one because it is a better plan. It still is not an ideal situation for the community for those two items, of tax subsidies and not using impervious areas all over the State in Democrat run cities that voted for our Green New Deal, which is a much better place than farmland. Mr. Beldock: The issue of politics I won't address right now. We're going to build this project with domestic content. We'll surpass the domestic content percentage. I'm an investor, and there are only Town Board Minutes Page 11 September 23, 2025 two American-made solar companies. I moved one from Canada to Minnesota, and our modules come from Helene in Minnesota. Our steel comes from Texas; you should feel a little better about it. Councilperson Gamel: I feel a little better about it. Councilperson Klumpp: I do. I feel better about it, too. But like many products that say they're made in the USA, are they actually made in the USA, or are they just, the parts come here and... Mr. Beldock: We have a manufacturing facility in Mountain Iron, Minnesota. We have two facilities in Minnesota. We're making our modules there. And our steel is literally rolled steel from just outside of Waco. It falls on deaf ears with most other renewable developers, but it's my story. Councilperson Klumpp: That's a good story. It's important. Supervisor Scheffler asked if development companies already know what the board and public are going to ask for, and why they don’t simply put those mitigation designs into the application and save time. Mr. Beldock replied that they had been truthful from the beginning. The plan sent to Tim Buhl in June was the same plan the board was looking at. When he met with Fran in June, the noise study was included. When asked how he felt this project would be a benefit to Groton, he answered that i t saves farmland by giving farmers an additional income in order to remain farming. With all questions and comments having been answered and submitted, the board moved to vote. MOTION #25-076 – APPROVE THE SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION FOR NY GROTON I LLC, SUBMITTED BY BULLROCK Councilperson Gamel made a MOTION to approve the special permit application site plan for NY Groton I LLC, and was seconded by Councilperson Klumpp. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - MOTION #25-077 – APPROVE THE SPECIAL PERMIT APPLICATION FOR NY GROTON II LLC, SUBMITTED BY BULLROCK Councilperson Gamel made a MOTION to approve the special permit application site plan for NY Groton I LLC, and was seconded by Councilperson Young. Ayes - Clark, Young, Klumpp, Gamel, Scheffler Motion Passed Nays - Privilege of the floor was offered, with no one wishing to speak, and there being no further business, Councilperson Gamel moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilperson Young at 9:30 PM. The Motion was Unanimous. Robin Cargian, RMC Groton Town Clerk