By Mike Pettinella
For Video News Service
The Stafford Town Board on Monday night ruled that there will be no exceptions to the escrow requirements spelled out in the municipality’s solar law.
The board, during its monthly meeting at the Town Court building, responded to information provided by Town Attorney David M. DiMatteo as it pertains to an application from Robert and Michelle Wood of 8244 Batavia Stafford Townline Rd.
Link to meeting below:
GENESEE COUNTY/Stafford Town Board Meeting/July 8, 2024 – Video News Service
More than two years ago, the Woods contracted with a solar energy company to place two side-by-side 5-megawatt ground mounted systems on 60 acres of their property.
DiMatteo said the project now is being handled by another firm, Catalyze, and that he has received two $150,000 checks to fulfill the escrow conditions in the town’s 18-page solar law document.
“We have them (checks) in our possession in the amount of $150,000 per project, which is a total of $300,000,” DiMatteo said. “And your law says you always have to have $300,000 in escrow. That very statement makes it almost inconsistent because … the minute you draw the first payment from it, you suspend the project because they’ve gone below the escrow.”
The attorney said an escrow account is needed to take care of expenses related to the solar siting, such as engineering and legal fees.
The Town of Stafford’s solar law features many stipulations, including setback distances, zoning (allowed only in Industrial zones) and a real property value protection plan.
DiMatteo proposed a replenishment plan that would kick in once some escrow funds were used.
“You’ve got $300,000. Once it went below $250,000, we’d sit and talk again, and say, look, you’ve got to replenish the account or we’re done,” he said, adding that the board is concerned about being stuck for unpaid bills. “To me, it seems like … if we never got below the $250,000 or $200,000, we would be fine.”
Settling the escrow issue is “step one,” DiMatteo said. “Without that, the application is not complete.”
According to 8-4.6 of the town’s solar law, the escrow account must be funded during the life of the Solar Energy Facilities by the applicant/owner/operator, and expended funds must be replenished within 30 calendar days of being sent written notification (and explanation) of the withdrawals.
DiMatteo said he expects talks with attorneys for the solar company will continue.
Discussion of the solar project prompted town resident Sandra Swanson, who has done extensive research on solar energy, to speak up.
“As they consider this, if more people come out like this (to town board meetings), we have a better chance of saving our town from being hit by a great deal of electrical energy radiation going through the ground,” Swanson said.
“The science is that radiation, the electrical energy, runs through wherever it goes underground, and it comes and hits the path of least resistance and comes up probably mostly in people’s homes near the pipes. And I might just say where the pipes are in your house. They’re in the bathroom … and they’re in the kitchen.
“The point is someone’s standing in front of the sink and using the copper and being if you touch the copper pipes or the whatever pipes you have, that’s going to bring you that electromagnetic energy.”
She said two books documenting her research can be found at the Town Hall.