SOUTHAMPTON — More than 50 residents crammed into a Town Hall meeting room Monday night to sound off on a proposed solar array and battery energy storage system on farmland off Pleasant Street — the latest in a number of solar developments being floated in communities throughout the region in recent months.
The Conservation Commission heard public comments from roughly 25 residents, ranging from those firmly against the project to others who sought answers to clarifying questions. From those comments, several main concerns were discussed: safety of the wetlands and turtle habitats, safety of the Barnes Aquifer and overall impacts from solar batteries.
According to the project narrative, BlueWave Solar of Boston, under the name Manhan River LLC, is applying for a 5.49-megawatt solar array and battery system. Specifically, the system will be a direct current, single-axis agrivoltaic array.
The proposed development location at 53 and 43 Pleasant St. consists of three parcels of land that amount to approximately 129 acres. The land is currently hay and corn farmland with gravel and dirt roads. Plans show the project site would encompass 40 acres. Two of the three parcels are owned by the Bashista Family Irrevocable Trust and one is owned by Stephen Bashista.
“It’s dual purpose,” said Mike Zhe, BlueWave’s senior project director. “That’s why we call it, dual-use, where it’s solar generation and farming co-located in the proposed array field.”
Southampton resident Jonathan Jay, in comments echoed by others at Monday’s meeting, asked for more general information about the project, specifically about the relationship between the owner and developer.
“I have no opinion yet,” Jay said about the project in an interview with the Gazette after the meeting. “I think what’s most important is to just get all the facts out because very often, in different types of development projects … a lot of stuff doesn’t come out and people are surprised later on.”
Based in Boston, BlueWave has been undertaking solar projects since 2010 and currently has 56 solar projects in the Northeast. Zhe said in an interview with the Gazette that BlueWave has already permitted another solar facility location in Southampton. The Worthington Planning Board is also currently reviewing the organization’s application to install 7,462 ground-mounted agrivoltaic panels in an open field at 190 Ridge Road in Worthington.
The Jan. 5 meeting and public hearing was specifically meant to discuss wetland delineation and issues under the Conservation Commission’s jurisdiction, though many questions were asked that fell out of that jurisdiction, including where the stored energy would go, how the Barnes Aquifer would be affected and other general information.
Zhe was joined by Nick Granata, an engineering consultant for Weston and Sampson firm of Connecticut, to answer questions from the public.
Zhe said the project is being proposed with the Bashista family and there will be nearly 10,000 solar array panels. For agrivoltaic arrays, he explained these panels follow and face the sun during the day. Because of that, Granata explained water runoff does not accumulate in one area since they rotate.
The project will include two separate lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries that Zhe said are about the size of a parking space. Each will have an outdoor solar energy storage pad that is about 100 by 50 feet in size. Zhe said LFP batteries are industry standard right now and the technology complies with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and state standards.
Zhe explained that the agrivoltaic arrays are commonly used for farming and agricultural fields, since they allow for crops to grow and for trucks to drive around them.
In an interview with the Gazette, Zhe said energy from the panels will go toward the Eversource Grid and then the batteries will store energy that can be released when needed.
Wetland conflicts
The meeting opened with Southampton Conservation Agent George Russell and Conservation Commission members discussing the proposal. Russell said after a site visit he requested amendments due to bordering wetlands.
Based on maps presented to him, the bordering vegetated wetlands on the maps were not shown fully. The Conservation Commission is still waiting for these amendments.
Additionally, after state review, Russell said the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recommends a peer review to delineate the wetlands line and hydric soil lines, and several commission members agreed to a future peer review. Results from these reviews could change the scope of the project, they said.
Russell said to his knowledge the Conservation Commission has not had a peer review done before but the Planning Board does it all the time.
Resident Kaitlin Rooks raised concern over potential impacts to the aquifer, wetlands and turtle habitats in the incident of a battery fire, along with what hazard-mitigation plans would take effect in such a scenario. Additionally, she worried in the event of a battery fire, how would this impact the health of firefighters.
“I wonder where that does come into the process,” Rooks said at the meeting. “Because of the fact that it is so close to turtle habitat and to the aquifer and to the Manhan River, there have been multiple battery fires at battery storage locations and the implications of those fires are still being studied.”
The wetland and soil delineations shown in the proposal were completed by Fleetwood Environmental Solutions in July of 2023 and there was another delineation in September 2025, assessing how close construction would be to the Tripple Brook and Manhan River.
Within the property, there are smaller sections of turtle habitats that need to be evaluated by the state’s Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. The program is finishing a final review of potential impacts on the turtle habitats and will be given to the commission when completed. However, Russell explained that review is separate from the peer review, which will only delineate wetlands and soil lines.
It was undetermined when a peer review would be formally asked for.
A representative of Fleetwood Environmental Solutions said at the meeting that the only natural resource area that will be encroached upon under current plans is a 7-square-foot riverfront area, but the Conservation Commission has the authority to decide if it is safe or not.
Conservation Commission Chair Evan Huff and Russell both clarified that many of the questions about the aquifer are a concern for the Zoning Board of Appeals since it is not considered wetlands, but moving forward, those are good questions to ask. Other things like battery safety and property boundaries should be brought to the board.
“Anything going on the aquifers or over the aquifers needs to be looked at …” Huff said at the meeting. “I live in this town too and I drink from that water too.”
A similar proposed solar array and BESS system in Westfield was also discussed. That plan was ultimately shot down after resident pushback. That system was also proposed to be over the Barnes Aquifer, which supplies water to Southampton, Westfield, Easthampton and Holyoke.
“I personally love solar, my biggest concern is the safety profile of the batteries,” said Southampton resident Bruce Bowman at the meeting.
Bill Barcomb, who lives on Pleasant Street, said in an interview with the Gazette after the meeting, he still has an open mind to the project but he wants more information. Barcomb, similar to several other residents, said the Bashistas are good neighbors and just want more clarification about the project.
Resident Jeff Brodeur, who lives on Pleasant Street, said he believes that only abutters to the 53 Pleasant St. property were notified about the project, not abutters to 43 Pleasant St. In an interview with the Gazette, Brodeur said overall, he is against the project.
The Conservation Commission’s next meeting will be on Feb. 2.