Trenton Extends Commercial Solar Moratorium
Option to prohibit commercial solar will be May 19
TRENTON—In a quick meeting, the Trenton Select Board, Tuesday night, voted to extend the town’s moratorium on medium- and large-scale solar farms for another 180 days or until the town passes another solar ordinance. Chair Fred Ehrlenbach opposed. A moratorium is a pause for that sort of development within the town.
A recent referendum (one of two options) failed a special town meeting vote last week (111 no to 29 yes). That represents a 13% voter turnout for registered Trenton voters for a ballot vote that had only one question.
The second option will be on the ballot on May 19. There will also be a public hearing on it prior to that vote. That meeting is not yet scheduled.
The current moratorium is scheduled to end its 180 days on March 29.
There are three solar farms in process already under the town’s existing ordinance. Their combined land use is approximately 60 acres.
The original moratorium came after a developer proposed creating a 70-megawatt solar farm near the town’s industrial park. Approximately 300 acres of land would have been cleared. The Maryland-based company also discussed a potential tax increment financing (TIF) agreement for the project. TIFs enable a town or city to keep property tax revenue outside the state’s revenue sharing formula used for state’s education funding. The town can then use that money for credit enhancements with the property owner instead. It’s a kind of tax break meant to incentivize development.
It’s not the first moratorium Trenton has had as it has tried to regulate solar energy projects. An earlier moratorium occurred in 2020. That moratorium allowed the town to create regulations that define projects as small, medium, or large.
At a Trenton Select Board meeting on Tuesday, January 21, after months of work, a joint committee of the town’s planning board, one member of the town’s select board, and five community members, presented the select board with two different variations of a proposed change to the town’s land use ordinances concerning future solar projects.
The potential ordinance change voted down on March 10 would have permitted commercial solar projects in certain commercial districts up to 20 acres. Those districts are the business park and gateway commercial zones.
FIRE TRUCK
In other news, the town’s fire truck is out of state and repairs are scheduled to occur in April. The fire chief and chiefs from other towns met with the Maine Forest Service, March 17, and learned that according to state law, when there are massive fire events that require costly measures (such as state intervention and mutual aid from other town’s), the state will only reimburse a town after the town itself has expended one-quarter or 1% of its total valuation.
“It doesn’t mean anything unless we have a fire,” Steven Heckman, the fire chief, said. “That’s a lot of money.”
For a town like Mount Desert, Chief Heckman said, that’s a mighty burden, but it also is for Trenton.
At the same time, he said, “It usually takes 2-3 years for the state to reimburse you.”
OTHER BUSINESS
The board also discussed the dedication of the town report, unanimously appointed Lisa Winger to the planning board, and changed the town’s office hours though Town Administrator Carol Walsh only learned of the suggested changes that day. She did not object.
“If they are in trouble, they can call me down here and I’ll come in from home,“ Walsh said. “I don’t like to do it, but I do it.”
Changes will begin May 1 and the office will be open earlier.
Walsh also expressed concerns about a current lack of candidates for the school board, which has two openings.
The town’s annual report will be dedicated to John Whetstone who has volunteered for the town for years. That volunteering has included being on the planning board and assisting with the town’s video/audio system for meetings. The town also will recognize Glory, the adorable Maltipoo that called Walsh her human. Glory was also the town office’s mascot. She died this past year.
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NOTE:
We’ve updated the below story that went out yesterday to include a statement by Cara Ryan. Ryan has told us that people are still not seeing it. That statement is at the bottom of the story.
And in full, we’ve included it here.
“I'd like to say, for the record, that I know the difference between public debate about town issues and Appeals Board work. In the latter, we have to deal with facts and the LUO, nothing else. I wasn't trying to hide my public statements about cruise ships--my only mistake was not making a point of insisting on a conflict review at a special preliminary meeting,” Ryan said. “It's the board's job to determine whether members have a conflict or appearance of conflict or even bias sufficient to disqualify them from participation. I hope in the future we can prevent this kind of weaponization of our ethics ordinance.”
SECOND NOTE:
We will have a separate story about the monarch pledge later this week.
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