BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — A solar developer wants to lease the town’s capped landfill at the end of Reynolds Road and the town board is considering the request.

The board discussed leasing the property at its meeting March 14.

Town Supervisor Ann Carvill said Town Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Murray was approached by CVE (Changing Visions of Energy) North America about leasing the landfill property to construct a large scale solar array.

The lot is about 160 acres and sits east of Norwood. Presumably not all of the site could be used for solar arrays due to some wetlands at the site, leaving over 70 for installation of solar panels. Town officials have wanted to site a solar facility at the landfill parcel since at least 2018 and have courted a developer or two who had designs on the spot over the years.

Murray said the company plans to rebuild the substation on Lawrence Avenue to enable it to handle another 8 or 9 megawatts to tie the site into the grid.

The landfill on Reynolds Road was closed in 1986 and the fill itself was capped and sealed according to environmental regulations.

“The problem with the cap is, the cap is still under DEC orders,” said Frank Cappello, town attorney.

Murray said the company, like many other commercial solar firms, would use ballasts in the installation to avoid puncturing the liner. Ballast blocks of concrete would be placed on top of the capped landfill and the solar arrays attached to those.

The lease could bring $60,000 to $70,000 annually to the town, said Town Attorney Frank Cappello.

The town will provide a Request for Proposal to the company for the lease. Following an agreement, a resolution will be developed for the board to officially vote on at a future date.

For more information on CVE visit https://www.cvenorthamerica.com/ .