BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI North Country This Week
MASSENA — Massena town officials have agreed to lower the amount of a mandatory deposit for a solar project after Town Attorney Eric Gustafson suggested such a hefty deposit was not necessary. Ongrid Solar Inverter
The solar array will be placed at 508 Roosevelt Rd. at a projected cost of $20 million.
According to Gustafson, under town law the company developing the array is required to deposit 1% of the project cost with the town prior to advancing the project for review.
The deposit is held for legal and engineering expenses so the town “does not bear the burden of expenses that are involved with a major project like that,” Gustafson said.
The move to reduce the deposit came after project representatives spoke to Gustafson about reducing the deposit.
Gustafson said there should not be any issues reducing the deposit since the company building the array would likely only pay $15,000 to $20,000 for a project review through the county.
A $200,000 deposit for the project would be excessive, he said.
When originally written, officials had no idea just how expensive reviews would be or what they would entail specifically, Gustafson said.
“So, getting $200,000 really is far beyond what is really needed. Even if you wanted to add a substantial cushion to what’s typical and asked for a $50,000 deposit, it would be more than adequate to cover what’s going to be needed,” he said.
Local law also allows the town to require additional deposits from builders if the initial deposit is not sufficient to cover review and engineering expenses.
“I told the developer I would bring that to the attention of the board and give you my opinion on it and see what you wanted to do. In my opinion it is a little too high, $200,000 out of pocket,” Gustafson said.
“If we want solar development in the town, that’s the kind of thing we want to encourage rather than discourage. We should take a look at that,” he continued.
Gustafson suggested an initial $50,000 deposit to cover review expenses would be sufficient and recommended a provision that would require the developer to pay more if the deposit was not sufficient for some reason.
Gustafson also clarified what expenses the deposit can cover, which includes legal, engineering fees, as well as town expenses.
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