PELHAM — A proposed 4.4-megawatt solar installation off Tower Road that would require clearing 34 acres of privately owned woodland next to Cadwell State Forest to accommodate 7.7 acres of panels is drawing both support and opposition.
At the first public hearing on the proposal from PureSky Energy Tuesday, Christine Crispin of Bray Court asked whether the power provided by the project will go to Boston or to data centers, if Pelham residents will get a break on their utility bills and why already paved areas aren’t being looked at instead of a forest.
“What’s wrong with doing it where cars are going to be parked and you can generate the same level of electricity?” Crispin said, adding that the $70,000 or so estimate for revenues to the town is barely enough to pay a teacher’s salary and benefits.
Bill Pula of Arnold Road, though, said that the solar arrays would make up only an “infinitesimal” portion of the existing ecosystem, which includes both the Cadwell Forest and the significant lands that protect the Quabbin Reservoir.
“I think it’s the perfect project, that’s all I’m going to say,” Pula said.
They were among around 75 people who filled the gymnasium at Pelham Elementary School as the Planning Board began a formal hearing on the project being proposed under the town’s Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Electric Installation bylaw.
Sean Reardon, vice president of Tetra Tech, the Marlborough consultant designing the solar array, said this is a particularly good project because of how far removed it is. The site is 2,000 feet from Packardville Road, where the nearest homes are located, and because power lines run through it, there is no need to develop new infrastructure for connections.
“These are projects that overwhelmingly benefit communities, and have very few impacts,” Reardon said.
The site, owned by W.D. Cowls Inc., is also outside the wetland buffer zone, needs a minor regrading of just 3 acres and existing Native stone piles will be mostly preserved, Reardon said. At the suggestion of Fire Chief Dennis Nazzaro, a 20,000-gallon storage tank will be installed on-site that can be used for fire protection.
On its website, PureSky describes the project as “designed to generate clean, locally produced energy.” Once up and running, likely in late 2028, the project would provide the equivalent power for 642 homes annually, or 865 gas-powered cars in a year.
Planning Board Chairman James Bradbury told those in attendance that no decision would be made and members are awaiting input from a peer reviewer and the town attorney. The board can approve or deny waivers being sought and, if the project is approved, can set conditions that protect the welfare and safety of residents.
The proximity to the Cadwell Forest was referenced by several speakers, including those affiliated with the University of Massachusetts.
Pine Tree Circle resident Ashley Keiser, an assistant professor at the Stockbridge School at UMass, said the carbon trade-offs need to be evaluated, and while she’s a huge proponent of renewable energy, forestland is being cut down.
A similar concern came from Malcolm Itter, an assistant professor of environmental conservation at UMass, who said the 1,200-acre teaching forest, where the state’s climate mitigation goals are studied and future forest steward professionals are trained, will be impacted by the 7.7 acres of panels.
Carving out a solar project, he said, will affect researchers’ work in understanding the ecosystem. “This is basically having large-scale impacts on forest conservation,” Itter said.
Planning Board members had limited questions, mostly centered on whether Tower Road is a public way and can provide the necessary frontage, as well as whether an “easement of necessity” that exists to cross the Cadwell Forest will also allow the developer to get onto the property.
Rick Kilbourne, a PureSky representative, said the company is working on affirming that easement can be used.
Two residents who co-chair the town’s Energy Committee both spoke in favor of the project, though the committee hasn’t yet taken a position.
John Larsen of South Valley Road, who has also been on a committee studying the town’s finances, said the project should be seen as both a revenue source and a way to address the climate crisis. “Saying no to this is saying no to solving the problem,” Larsen said.
Tony Rogers of North Valley Road said the town would see a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the project that is bigger than the loss of sequestration from the trees being cut down. “I am convinced we need this project,” Rogers said.
But Pelham has a unique place in the region, with reservoirs for Amherst’s water supply and land for protecting the Quabbin Reservoir, said former Planning Board Chairwoman Judith Eiseman, and people should understand possible impacts on this watershed, even if this project is preferable to ones PureSky previously proposed.
And like others, Eiseman pointed to the site as being near the research forest.
“The educational value of what is being studied there should not be underestimated,” Eiseman said.
The concept of protecting the habitat was also addressed by Lesa Lessard Pearson, a Belchertown Select Board member, who said the Pelham forests keep water healthy and air clean “and nature doesn’t recognize (town) boundaries.” Lessard Pearson said better alternatives could exist.
“As neighbors, we share these natural resources and a responsibility to protect them for future generations,” Lessard Pearson said.
Michael Lipinski of Amherst was at the meeting to note that PureSky had proposed a large-scale project in close proximity to his and other homes and wanted to offer support to Pelham residents with concerns.
Dan McCullough, a member of the town’s Cemetery Commission, observed that the solar arrays would be put up near the Ruben Allen Cemetery, a place where some residents go for solitude and quiet reflection.
The hearing is expected to continue Dec. 8, likely at 6:30 p.m. at the school gymnasium.
