PLAINFIELD — At a special Town Meeting Wednesday night, the Select Board opted to take no action on a warrant article that would have placed a temporary moratorium on special permit applications for solar array and battery storage units.
The item, Article 3 on the warrant, drew some 30 residents to Town Hall in anticipation of a vote. The other two articles related to the Fire Department easily passed.
Select Board member Judith Cole told residents that there would not be a vote on the mortarium article because it would not have been legally binding.
“For a moratorium, it would have to wait until annual Town meeting, because that is construed to be an amendment to the zoning bylaw,” said Cole, who is also on the Planning Board. “And zoning bylaws have to be approved at annual Town Meeting, and they have to be approved by the attorney general.
“So that would be a much longer process,” she said.
The moratorium was proposed by the Planning Board last month to curb several applications that have been sent to the town in recent weeks. But since no moratorium has been implemented, town officials must review applications under state law, said Cole.
Under the current framework of local and state laws, applicants are entitled to a public hearing within 60 days, and after that the town has 90 days to make a decision on those applications.
“So there could be other applications that come in before our annual Town Meeting that we would have to decide on,” said Cole.
Before the meeting was adjourned, a resident requested a show of hands to gauge public input regardless of whether the vote for a moratorium was legally binding or not. Cole denied the request.
To address a wider scope of questions, Cole proposed having an inter-departmental meeting sometime between Nov. 12 and Dec. 25.
Christmas is significant in the context of the current solar array application that was filed by Lowell-based New Leaf Solar since it is approximately 90 days since their public hearing in September. The project proposes to develop a 23-acre solar array and deforest 30 acres at 66 North Union St.
“I think what we need to do is have a collective meeting of the Conservation Commission, the Board of Health and the Planning Board between now and Christmas,” said Cole.
Articles 1 and 2
The meeting began seven minutes late to wait for Town Clerk Ruth Osgood. Since there was no moderator for the meeting, resident Ed Morann stepped up and was sworn in by Osgood as a temporary moderator for the night. It was a matter of minutes after that that Articles 1 and 2 passed.
Article 1 on the ballot transferred ownership of the town’s decommissioned, more than 30-year-old fire truck to the Plainfield Volunteer Firefighters Association.
Fire Chief Rob Shearer was present to explain the transfer.
“Our plan is to sell the vehicle. The reason that we purchased a new vehicle as a town was to get out from under all the costly repairs of this older truck that is no longer reliable for us,” he said. “We would like to sell it and put the proceeds toward something that the fire department needs.”
Among the ideas for needs, he said, include an 800-megahertz radio communication system which will be mandated by the state in the next year or two.
“This is very expensive communications technology. One portable radio costs about $4,800 and once they decommission the old VHF system, we will no longer able to communicate,” said Shearer. “So we would like to use some of the money to go towards that to prepare for when the state makes that change , so that we don’t have to come to the town and ask for thousands and thousands of dollars of radios.”
The passing of article Article 2 approved the payment of $2,268 from the town’s fiscal year 2026 budget that was used for fire hose and ladder testing in June.