After a hearing split between meetings over several months, Rochester’s Conservation Commission Tuesday endorsed the Notice of Intent for work within wetlands to construct a floating and ground-mounted solar array at 53 Dexter Lane.
The project, whose hearing attracted the attendance of multiple concerned abutters over that time, was approved quietly Tuesday with no public resistance after project consultant Sarah Stern of Beals and Thomas Engineering updated the commission on her firm’s responses to comments from the town peer review engineer and the Planning Board. She said both are satisfied with changes made in response to that input. The height of the panels is being reduced by two feet and monitoring protocols are being increased.
She acknowledged there had been concern from a Planning Board member about the solar panels’ “lake effect,” i.e. the problem that birds will mistake the dark panels for water and kill or injure themselves diving into them. Member Matthew Bache noted that since these panels cover less than 50-percent of the water surface, the Dexter Lane array will not cause that problem, and the other commission members agreed. Another Beals and Thomas representative noted the “Lake Effect” occurs with desert arrays where dark panels are surrounded by white sand. That effect won’t happen on Dexter Lane, he said.
The meeting began with a continuance. The commission continued to its November meeting its hearing on the request for a negative Determination of Applicability for a proposal at 756 Snipatuit Road to relocate a drainpipe that currently runs under the house and level a backyard within the 100-foot buffer zone of a vegetated wetland.
From there it moved quickly to approvals. The commission issued a Certificate of Compliance with the Order of Conditions for the roadway work to complete the second and final phase of the Connet Woods housing development. It then granted a Certificate of Compliance with the Order of Conditions for the work to complete the solar array project at 109 Neck Road. Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly endorsed both motions after her own inspections of the sites. “Everything looks done,” she said of the Connet Woods project.
The commission then granted a Certificate of Compliance with the Order of Conditions for the construction of a garage within 100 feet of wetlands at 148 Braley Hill Road, and it approved an abbreviated Notice of Resource Delineation at 0 Walnut Plain Road.
Before the latter approval, Walnut Plain Road abutter Pam Souza raised concern about what construction there will do to her water table. Acting Chair Mike Gifford explained no specific construction project has been proposed yet. This approval was simply to agree with where the wetland lines are located.
Lastly, the commission continued to November its Notice of Intent hearing on the construction of a single-family home within the 200-foot riparian zone to a perennial stream at 0 Robinson Road.
The next Conservation Commission meeting will be November 4 at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Michael J. DeCicco