City Council approves agreement with US Solar

TORRINGTON — While municipal landfill properties usually cost a community money to maintain, this week the city agreed to lease theirs for about $30,000 a year.

Following a public hearing before the City Council’s regular meeting, members approved a proposal to enter into an agreement to lease the 15-acre former landfill to US Solar, a Minnesota-based company that is expanding its reach into the northeast.

The vote allows Mayor Elinor Carbone to sign a letter of intent for the lease agreement, and allows US Solar to move forward with its application to the Connecticut Siting Council.

US Solar presented its plans to the council two weeks ago. The company’s new markets manager, Peter Schmitt, gave a short presentation on the project this week during the council public hearing .

No one from the public spoke or wrote any comments during the public hearing.

With oversight by the CT Siting Council, US Solar is required to hold public hearings and get an agreement from the City Council and Carbone and provide all the local approvals before applying to the council.

Another company, Verogy, approached the council earlier this summer, proposing to use property on East Pearl Road for a solar panel array. During a meeting in June, council members asked Verogy to consider other sites. Some members were concerned about the location of Verogy’s project, which would be across the street from a farm and in a residential area.

“My understanding is that solar providers were asking the city to sign an energy contract, but we’re not asking for that,” Schmitt said during Monday’s meeting. “We are simply asking to lease the land for 20 years. We’ll provide a maintenance team to oversee it. We’re the long-term operator and owner of the project. A developer will often bring a project to a property, and it will change hands over time. We own and operate our projects for the longterm. That’s our business model.”

Once US Solar is finished with the leased property, Schmitt said, it is obligated to restore the site. US Solar uses a pollinatorfriendly approach to its sites, planting wildflowers that attract insects and birds.

“We build a long-term, quality project,” Schmitt said. “When we’re done, we restore the land underneath. The soil will be improved. We have to work with the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and we have a lot of strong, national allies to bring in more pollinator-friendly projects like this one. That’s a little bit about why you should be signing with us.”

Along with the environmental benefits, Torrington will be paid $2,000 per acre for leasing the 15-acre landfill, or about $30,000 annually, plus about $8,000 in property taxes each year.

The company also offers, without obligation, Schmitt said, a shared clean energy program, which allows anyone living in the area of the project to benefit with a reduced energy bill. “It’s a pretty cool program,” he said. “People are solicited once a year in April or May, and they can sign up then.”

Because the siting council can take between six and 12 months to decide on a solar energy application, Schmitt indicated that time was a factor in their application.

“I know there’s a lot of information, but we wanted to get the lease signed by Tuesday. We have most of our application elements

ready to submit to Eversource and the DEEP, and this last step is the option to lease,” he said. “We’ll handle all the permits. The city will just need to sign and occasional form.”

During the council meeting, Carbone asked for comments. Public Works Director Raymond Drew said he thought US Solar’s plan was a good one. “If we could turn the landfill into a revenue driver instead of a cost, we want to do that,” he said.

The council voted unanimously to approve the letter of intent to enter into the agreement with US Solar.