Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Whenever you're ready.

All right. Call us being order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. [clears throat] Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [clears throat] Okay. Our last meeting was on October 20th. All right. So, at the uh our previous meeting uh October 20th, uh we had a presentation from Wingdale Solar and um we had a motion to uh uh declare the uh planning board as lead agency uh which uh we approved. And then uh we had new business for the Denko subdivision, excuse me. And then we have resolution recommending the release of a performance guarantee for Sherman Hill Road to family and resolution recommending release of forance guarantee of LWF LLC Farm Pond. Uh both those passed and I journ the meeting. A [clears throat] motion to uh uh accept the minutes. Motion made by

so moved member Palmer. Second by member Raman. Discussion. Seeing no discussion. All those in favor say I. I. I. Any post say no. Okay. That motion passes 60 with one absence. Ryan. Excuse me. Who motioned? Was member Palmer seconded by member Roman. [clears throat] Okay. Uh next new business uh 207 Dual Hall Road channel stabilization. voting. All right.

Good evening. Evan Pton with Insight Engineering surveying landscape architecture. Um, uh, okay. Plan set or the

uh, yeah, I think the planet would be good. Uh so the project sites about 45 acres on the north side of the intersection of Birds Hill Road and Dual Hollow Road. Um it's currently developed as a single family residence. Uh all development is located in the southern corner of the site. Um the rest of the site's mainly woods and meadow with uh wetlands and a stream that runs through. Um so the there's an existing covert which goes under dual hall road and discharges onto our site. Um over the years that runoff has caused an eroded channel through the site. Um the runoff is conveyed through the site from that southern corner and goes north to the dual hollow brook. Um,

is this a laser pointer? Laser pointer. It's okay. You can keep going. Okay. So, from the southern po. So, the southern point going north. Yep. It was there. Oh, is this it? Oh, thank you. So, you're saying from here north? Correct. Where you're pointing is the proposed new stabilized channel. Um it's reputed that that's actually the location where the channel previously was and has just filled in with sediment over time. Um and with that sediment buildup has diverted the runoff to create a new eroded channel that's closer to the existing residence.

Oh, I see. Okay. So there's a I can see now in this one, page one, there's a channel that goes like this towards the towards the house. Yeah. And what you're proposing is then on page two. [clears throat] Okay. So rather than going over there for it to go like that. Correct. Yep. Just a new larger stabilized channel um that's got a constant grade and pitch to it. Um and also is further away from the house.

Um during larger storm events, they've had issues with flooding of their lawn area. Um and also when they there was a previous rehabilitation project on that existing roaded channel a few years back when they had tried to restabilize that channel they excavated and placed all the fill on the upstream side of the channel. So on the house side. Mhm. So now what that does is all the runoff from the lawn which is pitched towards the channel doesn't make it into the channel because there's a burm in front of it.

So we would regrade that's what all those PTD with the arrows are is just to pitch to drain regrade the lawn and allow it to sheet flow into the new stabilized channel. Okay. Um, so obviously we received the memos. Um, there's a couple things we'd want to address tonight or just discuss in the memos. Um, we'd look [clears throat] for a waiver of doing a full property survey. Um, and then also look for a waiver of a doing a full EAF. Um, we consider this project to be um an environmental enhancement project because we're getting rid of a a channel that's eroded and causing further sediment deposit into the downstream wetland. Um, and creating a new stabilized channel. Um, and then if the board would like, we'd also like to schedule a sitewalk Okay. So, [snorts] the um the property is 45.15 acres which includes this acreage on the southern southeastern part. Okay. [snorts] What's the proposed area of disturbance?

Uh I think 0.9 acres. 0.9. Yep. Okay. All right. Uh just for the uh um public's [clears throat] edification, this is in the southeast corner of the town of Do. So that's the town of Dover, town of Pauling line there. And then that's this obviously the state line. So that's a different property. There we go. Um [clears throat] okay, I don't have any other questions at this time. And we'll go through the members of the board and then we'll go through the consultants. So um member Sedor comments questions. Okay. Member Palmer. I have nothing. Member Williams.

No questions. Okay. Roman. No. Vano. No. Okay. Uh seeing this is I guess primarily I'd say an engineering project, let's start with our engineer and then we'll work our way through the rest of our consultants. Okay. The we need the exact boundary of the wetland. Yep. So, or you you need to do a JD. Yeah, we're going to start the JD process with the DEC. Okay. So, either through this 90 days or through the consulting.

Sorry, just give me a second. So, if you want to pull up BRF. Yep. Just uh just wanted to pull up uh Burger Engineering's memo. Okay. So, anything further than uh engineer not a work that they need to that was the work they needed to do. Okay. How how do you feel about the request to wave the survey? Um we're okay with that because it's so far in inside the property that cuz you use tax maps which are not accurate.

Yeah. But you're so far inside the property that you're outside the inaccuracy. That makes sense. Sure. Okay. Um, [clears throat] right. So, if they're off by 10 ft, they're only affecting themselves is what you're saying, right? It's understood. Okay. Um, right. Uh, could you I just got a text from the media clerk. Could you please move the microphone closer to you? They can't hear you. Okay. That might be true of everybody. No, they text me. Okay. All right. So, nothing further then. Great.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, we'll bring up the U from AKRF. [snorts] Somehow it started on the bottom of page four. Interesting. Okay. Yeah, it's mostly um there's procedural a lot of procedural considerations with this one. Um the first four comments are really talking about how um they they applied for erosion sediment control only but per the code um it qualifies as a major project um because it exceeds 10,000 ft in area. Okay. um which also triggers a need for the full EAF for the code

um and site plan review because of its disturbance being over 5,000 square feet um any within any one-year period which is what number comment number four is getting at. So we think that the application should be resubmitted with site plan indicated is in addition to erosion control. Um the proper fees should be paid for that as well. Um and it has to go through a full site plan review process, but they can request waiverss to certain pieces of that. Sounds like they've already requested a waiver of the survey um where and the plan that they've showed would be the quote unquote site plan that you'll be looking at.

Sure. Um, the question about the EAF being waved, I'm not sure that's possible if it's because it seems like it's a it's part of the major project checklist. We'll ask the attorney next. I mean, we we could look into that further, but I think um it's part of the major versus minor project distinction. It's not really a site plan

process uh waiver [snorts] thing. So we can get into that another time but um so that's what number one through four is getting at. Um just procedurally we have to treat this as a site plan. [snorts] Uh number five was just deferring comments to the engineer because this is an engineering project. Um the seeker section comment six. Um this is an unlisted action based on what it is. Um but again the code says that you need to submit the full EF rather than the short um due to it being a major project. So, um it's not going to change the type of project this is. It still would be unlisted, but the code requires that you fill out the full form. Um number seven, this is also in a CA or critical environmental area. It's a dual hollow area. Um again, that shouldn't change the way that this is typed for Seeker. It can still be unlisted. um with the DEC being in charge of those critical environmental areas or having some, you know, a lot of say on those um in addition to the wetland issue, they're going to get a chance to look at this anyway. So, we'll see what they have to say. But a [snorts] project like this, I don't think, um as long as they're not within 100 ft of a wetland and they don't need a permit, you know, special review by DUC, it isn't like the applicant indicated, more of an enhancement project to correct an issue. Um, so I don't see a major concern there with this being in the CA. It's not that type of project.

Um, done correctly, it should improve water quality downstream is the idea. Yeah. And they're, you know, again, I'll defer to the Joe's office, but they're proposing, you know, the check dams and all sorts of controls to make sure that it's done properly and it's going to sustain for a while. So, okay.

Um, yeah. So, number eight goes into the wetlands. Again, um, we have the same comments. Um technically, yeah, if you if you scroll down, there's a screenshot of the map from DEC's website. Yeah. So, per the new regulations from this year, um theformational wetland layer does show a big pink area just north of where this work is proposed. That's not to say that that's all wetland, but the new process requires that you consult with DEC to see a if you have state regulated wetlands on your site and then b are they within 100 ft. So the first process is to either just do a parcel JD. It's called parcel jurisdictional determination which you submit a tax the tax parcel info to DC. You wait 3 months for them just to tell you, yeah, you have wetlands here.

The other option is you can go out and delineate with a professional the wetland area and submit that to DC as part of the same process, but you have a delineation that they can look at and they can come out and meet you on site and they can verify if things are happening within 100 ft or not. Right. So, I think it sounds like you're going to do the consultant version of that or you're going to just first see if they if they're regulated. Either one is up to you. Yeah, we'll look into it and we'll let you know. And you can you can even see on this image that the the current um you know line that the water takes. And so you're proposing to so you're not proposing any disturbance in what would be this pink blobish area. It's close. It's hard to say. It's close. Yeah.

Close. Okay. And that's again that'sformational. It's not exact their disturbance area goes pretty, you know, up that way west of the house. Mhm. So the question is within 100 ft of a state regulated way or not. So presuming the the line of that pinkish blob is correct. We're saying within 100t of that line. We're not saying that line. We're saying within 100 feet of that line. Yes. It would require a permitting process. So you you're going within 100 feet of that line. Yeah. The way it's drawn on there. Yeah. Okay. All right. But it's likely that that is not packed. Yeah. Sure. I'm just Okay. So, it's like you said, it's possible. Yeah. Okay. Since it's so close, we want DC to look at this. So, that's the

and [snorts] the law requires it anyway. So, okay. Um and then the N number nine is just another flag from the E uh the EAF mapper and the same website where the wetlands are are shown. This is an Indiana bat potential area. So um what we usually do about that is if there's tree felling required it's done in the proper window proposing tree felling and if that's it was there may be some there may be okay so that's a note on the site plan that tree clearing can't take place unless it's within the the uh winter hibernation period and since we're going through a site plan that can be a condition if we get there

um referrals uh number 10 Um, this does require the county referral. It's within 500 ft of a farm operation within the A district. So, it has to go to the county per GML239M. Um, since it's a site plan in addition to ESC, um, we should wait to get that revised application, I think, before we send that referral to the county so they know what the town is actually looking at. If we send them what we have now, they're just going to say, "Oh, erosion control. We don't have anything to say." They won't have anything.

That's not the full picture. Sure. So, we'll get that back and we can do that referral. Um, referral to the town highway department, too, just because the covert goes under a town road currently and they're proposing some work up against the road. Um, might want to see what they have to say about the project. So, that referral can happen.

And then the DEC referral as part of a seeker coordinated review um is recommended as well. So for tonight we just had recommendations to discuss these comments applicability of site plan review and the wetland issues. Um defer the referral to the county. You might want to do the referral to the highway super now because there's enough information to do that. I think um and we can defer the seeker circulation until we have the part one full form which is required. And if there's a site visit that seems interested to the folks on the board, we can schedule that, too. Okay. Thank you, Planner Warner. Attorney.

Hi. So, um, Mr. Warner's comments were very comprehensive. I don't have too much to add except that I don't think it's appropriate to wave the EAF. In this case, it's sort of like an application. So, it's just part of the application materials, right? Um, there might be certain information requested in the plans that you might not be able to provide, but I think you do have to provide the form itself with as much information as you can. Yeah, there'll be a lot of NA. Well, that's what we kind of figures. I don't know if you'd get really any more information. No, but but might as well follow the code. Okay. Yeah, the code requires it though. Mhm.

Okay. And then I I think for the most part it's too early to do to take any of these steps until we have the site plan application and you have your response on the wetlands. Okay. All right. We could uh schedule sitewalk.

Yes. Um I believe the engineer burgers um memo discussed u uh the um uh so uh escrow um so we can discuss that. Anything further? Um planner warner discussed different referrals. You believe that's premature legally? and the highway superintendent. I mean, you could you could send it to the highway, but I wouldn't send it to the county or to any involved agencies. Okay.

All right. [snorts] Uh let's just get some of the Okay. Um uh so I'll have a motion to uh uh to uh uh for to refer this application to the uh highway superintendent uh for um his uh thoughts and um opinions. Motion made by member Vano, seconded by member Sedor. Discussion. Okay, seeing no discussion, all those in favor of the motion say I. I. I. Any post say no. Uh that passes 601 absence. Uh do [clears throat] make sense that we then invite him to the uh sitewalk. I would say

yeah. Um okay. Uh let's take care of the motion for the escrow. What um what do the consultants feel that the escrow should be for this? uh for engineering $1,000 for the escrow. Anything additional for there's going to be an additional escrow because it's site plan, right? When they when they revise the application for initial escrow, I think that's going to be okay for us. Okay. Yeah. follow.

I mean, I would just triple the 1,000 so that each of the consultants can there's sufficient money for everyone. All right. Uh, all right. So, I got a motion uh to set escrow at $3,000. Motion made by member Williams, second by member Palmer. Discussion. See no discussion. All those in favor of the motion say I. I. That passes 60 with one absence. All right. Uh let's look at uh calendar.

Um just to be clear on the escrow, the escrow in the memo that's referring to construction inspections, correct? That's a separate escrow than site plan review. Yes. Okay. And is that [clears throat] 3,000 on top of the escrow that was already paid? That's increased total 3,000. Yeah, it was increased to 3,000. Okay. Increased to 3,000. Okay. Uh [clears throat] [snorts] uh do you or your client have any dates you want to throw out and then we'll see what works?

Whatever works for the board. Okay, sounds good. Um, does this Saturday work for me? Okay, remember work. It'll be at work. Remember Williams? Okay. Available. Available. Available. Available. Okay. Uh, Felton's [clears throat] 7 a.m. for Joe. 7 a.m. Yeah. 7 a.m. for the town engineer. He loves uh getting out there nice and early. I'm down with Joe. All right. So, 8:00 a.m. 8 a.m. Okay. Either Joe or I'll be there. Okay.

Um I have to see there's a Okay. Maybe you or or planner block. Yeah. Okay. We'll coordinate. I mean, I don't think this one unless you Okay. So, uh need a Just make sure I got this right. I think if Joe is there, it's most critical. Well, that's why I said kind of from the start, it's mainly an engineering Yeah.

project. Um, all right. All right. So, I need a motion to uh [clears throat and cough] uh to have a sitewalk uh 207 Dual Road for members of the uh planning board, our consultants, and the town of uh Doh Highway Superintendent um for Saturday, November 22nd at 8 a.m. Uh motion made by So moved. Palmer, second by Roman. Discussion. Seeing no discussion, all those in favor say I. I

I post say no. Uh I guess you know if it uh any members [snorts] feel critical that they should also come out to the sidewalk uh rather than just rely on what everybody else says at the next meeting. I'm sure we can arrange something. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. All right. So that passes a 6 uh with one absence. It's got to be below zero and snowing. [laughter]

Um [clears throat] all right. Let me just make sure I get this in my calendar for All right. Uh do anything else then to discuss with this application? Any members of the planning board have any comments or questions based on what our uh consultants have said? Nothing further. All right. Anything procedural? Michelle going to contact uh the highway super. Do you want me to I guess you could. That makes the most sense. Thank you.

You said so it'll be you or engineer burger. That'll be you or Planner Block and Okay, great. Um Hey. Uh was there anything further this evening? No, we're all set. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Have a good night. Okay. So, let's see. Don't need this calendar anymore. Don't need this. Don't need that. Might need that. I guess I'll go to [snorts]

Okay. So, next item on the agenda is Wingdale Solar. Um, so just for um for everyone um how we do these public hearings is um the uh the applicant or their consultants come to the podium. they uh address the board and the public. Uh just a kind of a refresher about what their project uh is, what it's about. Um we then may have some comments, questions, consultant may have some comments, questions, and then again we might have some comments and questions. Uh and then I'm going to go over uh what um you know a public hearing entails. There's some some rules and then um and then we'll open the public hearing. So, uh, with that, uh, I'll need a representative from Wingdale Solar to come to the podium. Evening. Good evening, chairman, members of the board. Uh, my name is Tom Saunders. I work for RAC or Rick Energy. Um, as the applicant for Wingale Solar, um, let me just log in here. As just a very quick refresher, Wingdale Solar is a 4.29 29 megawatt photovoltaic solar generating facility that we're proposing um in in Wingale. Um it occupies about 16 acres of land. Um and I have a quick uh presentation I was hoping to to give. Um great. Thank you, Ryan. Um chairman. Um

Chairman Cine. Um

okay. So, we gave a a version of this presentation to the town board um some years ago when the new solar bylaw was being discussed um and I've made a few changes to it. I've updated it primarily to reflect um the reality on the ground today. So, I wanted to go through, if you could go to the next slide, please um the key points outlined in the solar law as it is. Um and this is for tier three or four facilities. uh Wingdale Solar as a proposed tier 3 facility. Um and the minimum acreage of a parcel for tier 3 facility as the board knows is 50 acres. Um tier three or four community solar energy systems shall be set back at least 300 ft from all property lines. Um no component of any community solar energy system may be located within 150 ft of any roadway. There's also um the maximum of uh 35% of the parcel shall be occupied uh by the entirety of any community solar energy system. The clearing of additional lands to accommodate a community solar energy system may not be permitted uh provided the percentage of the nuclear land on any lot um does not exceed 50% of the existing woodlands on that solar lot total. Um and lastly, there are some provisions about avoiding critical environmental areas. So um this sort of stems from a discussion we had uh at a at a previous meeting. I wanted to sort of show how um what that looks like on the ground um from that side and then also sort of from the developers perspective. So if you go to the next slide. So if we apply all those provisions,

50 acre minimum, 300 foot setback, 35% max law coverage, less than 50% tree clearing and avoiding critical environmental areas. And that's the last that's the figure here um showing where those environmental areas are. We already get down to 112 parcels that could possibly host a tier 3 solar system. And the way we got down to that is we said, okay, 15 acres is really kind of the minimum that you'd ever see a tier three proposal proposed on. So we're using that as a number that says you apply all these things to every parcel in do and this is everything that's left that's got a 15 acre chunk available. If you go to the next slide, just to be clear, the all the gray shapes are those parcels.

Yes, thank you. Yeah, the gray red is the critical environmental areas. Yeah, that's right. Based on what you have up here, when you did this, did you include adjacent vacant parcels that could be combined or is this just parcels 15, right? Cuz there could be two 10acre parcels that each other that could work. Uh this is just looking at individual parcels. Um so it's this plus

potentially. Yeah. So um on the next slide we have uh one other consideration that's not specifically called out in the bylaw is the DEC or NWI wetlands. Typically, we avoid those um at all costs. So, if you overlay that, you lose a handful of parcels there. And then, [clears throat] if you can go to the next slide, um we get into some of the considerations that developers typically um take into account when they're citing uh solar sites such as this. And the main one and where most of us start is always interconnection availability. So for tier three solar system, we're connecting to nice eggs distribution grid. So it's the power lines that are attached to your house. Um and there's only so much of that infrastructure in do. You overlay that onto the map and you're left with this. So this is 13 parcels left. Um we've put the ownership of each one up there, but it's a little hard to see. Um so you know, right there basically we're we're whittling down here. Um, and another thing we've included in here, so you're probably wondering why why I go from 107 to 13. One is the um, nice egg three-phase power lines. And then up in the middle there, you have to consider slope. So typically for any solar system that's going to use modern racking, 15% grade is about the steepest you can go on. Um, that's even probably a little generous cuz when you get up to steep slopes, you have to start talking about cutting, filling, that kind of thing. And then sort of from a cost perspective, things become infeasible pretty quickly. But we we did 15 just to kind of show um what's left. So when we take all those parcels we saw earlier in gray, look at all the slope on the parcels. Um these are the ones that are left with access to nice three-phase power with a chunk of land that's 15 acres that doesn't have an average of 15% slope. Um there's sort of one step further that

we typically go. Access to power lines is great, but not all power lines are created equal. Not all of them have the capacity to actually interconnect a system of a megawatt between 1 and 5 megawatts. So if you go to the next slide here, um we've eliminated sort of the northern section of town. Um as it sits right now, there's no capacity on those lines. You can look at the nice eggs hosting capacity map. um that portion on that map is lit up red which basically means the power lines are there but there's no additional capacity for injection of power at them. Um so we typically wouldn't sight there um at at this scale like if someone wanted to do solar on their rooftop they

That's right. Yeah. Typically if you have a residential system that's like we're talking about like maybe the 5,000k kilowatt range um at at the top end. So usually um you're okay with that. Um those systems also can be interconnected to one and two-phase lines as well. And obviously that's not represented here because once you get to this size you got to have three-phase lines. Um okay. So just want to make that clear that it was Yeah.

Yeah. And then further considerations uh other than hosting capacity is ownership. There was a parcel up on the previous slide that's owned by the town of Dover. We're usually not going to site on a parcel like that. Um so we take that out. And then you know what's the current land use of the remaining parcels? Um, off the top of my head, I do not know, but you know, one of them is a mining company that we did reach out to um, previously and they had no interest. So, the ownership and the current use comes into play. Um, if you go to the next slide, please. This is where we put the slope map back in.

So, everything in red is over 20. I think everyone here knows do is a a hilly place. Um, so when we zoom in on these parcels that are left and we look at the slope that's there, [clears throat] from our perspective, none of these parcels would be suitable because they're all broken up with with these pretty dramatic slopes. Um, the shapes are very irregular. So, none of these parcels would likely be candidates for a tier three system if we were proposing it or if any other developer in the country were u looking for a project in this area. Um so I wanted to just show that and and sort of you know illustrate that um one it's unlikely that you'll ever see a tier three proposal again as the current law is written. um tier four proposal which is I think you know it off the top of my head I don't know the language exactly but you're getting at sort of a a um a grid scale we call sometimes like transmission interconnected project um as the law is written there could never be one of those projects cited in this town um because of all the considerations above the slope

um and the access to interconnection. So um just wanted to sort of walk through that um because I know there were some questions on that. The next part is I wanted to just walk through a few key figures from our visual impact analysis that we submitted um originally back in I believe July um because we want to talk about the um the visual impacts and the viewsheds um related to the project specifically. So you know enough of the generalities um if you can go to the next slide please. Um so these are and we have these up here on the on the poster board as well. Um this is part of what we do for for every um project we propose. We take lines of sight um from various locations and analyze you know both the topography and the vegetation that's present. So as you can see um you know in this particular one there's from state route 22 there's no view because of the topography predominantly but also the vegetation um and from the east side as well there's there's quite a bit of vegetation in there as well. Um you can skip to the next slide. Go to another viewshed which is slightly further down. Again looking at the topography and the existing trees. Um you know based on the line of sight analysis the solar panels shouldn't be visible from either the west or the east. Um even after the minor clearing we're proposing on the site to make room for the system. Um there's one more slide if you want to go to the um the north south view shed as well. So, particularly down from the school to the south, given the topography, there's there's no chance that they would ever have a line of sight to this from down there. Um, one thing I do want to point out is in the discussions that we've been having, um, in the northeastern parts of this project, which is where we're closest to residences, obviously, um, I think we've said it before, but we

want to make sure we state for the record publicly. Um, we intend to leave the vegetation that exists there. And from our survey work that we've done, that vegetation seems to be quite thick and quite adequate for effective visual screening. However, um the leaves are off now. So, we're happy to get out there, make sure that there's no view shed when the leaves are off. And if there are, we're happy to discuss additional screening. And in the next uh submission we give this board, we will include um additional screening on those in those areas to make sure that there's there's no viewshed to the system. Um, so that's kind of all I have for the the presentation part. Um, just kind of in general, we've talked a bit about the um, you know, the um, the impact on community character. Um, as the board is well aware, taking into account any special permit. Um you know the the considerations that are taken into account are the scale of the proposed project, the possible impact of the proposed project on the function nearby farm operation, um the tradition of freedom of land use, uh where such use does not interfere with or diminish the value of adjoining property. And then furthermore, there's environmental and of course there's the list of the major project considerations specifically which you're all aware of and it's it's in the it's in the bylaw. Um and then from the environmental performance standards, you know, a solar project of this size and scope doesn't emit light, doesn't emit smoke, dust, electromagnetic interference, fire hazards, liquids, solid wastes, you know, we kind of hit all those marks. Um and there's no impact on traffic and there's um so you know for those reasons we feel as though the system as proposed uh with how well it is screened naturally and and our commitment to augmenting that screening um fits these criteria well. So [snorts] um with that I will hand it over to I forgot to do introductions. I'm sorry. Uh Kristen Pratt who works for Young Summer. She is

our um attorney [clears throat] on the project. And real quick before she comes up, uh we have Brendan Duffy who's our environmental peritting specialist with us and Kate Spiritis who's our um engineer on the project. So I'll pass it over to Kristen now. Thank you. Thank you. Hi everyone. I'm Kristen Pratt from Young Summer. I'm just here today to just talk a little bit more just to build a little bit on what Tom mentioned about the special use permit and also an issue that I know has probably been at the top of everyone's mind which is this is the first solar project you've seen post2024 amendments to the town zoning law.

So I just wanted to sort of talk about the fact that we also need some area variances for this as well. I recognize that's a ZBA issue but still it's one project and so I'm sure that's something that you're interested in hearing about. So just to start out, I know that probably the question everyone has is, you know, why should we approve this project given that we amended the zoning law, we have these substantial setbacks. What is it that we should be looking for? And those are all very fair questions. And of course, anytime you are granting variances, you're granting something that's outside the scope of what you have in your existing law. So it needs to be looked at very carefully. I recognize that. Even county planning recognized that in their comments, um, which we appreciate. So kind of to start out with a little bit of history is the project's been in the works for a number of years. I know that you all are aware of that. So back when it was first presented, it was compliant with the zoning law at the time and then there was a moratorium and then there was a new law which is been in effect since 2024. So while it was compliant initially given, you know, the setbacks, I'm going to say the setbacks, there's an area of variance as well. It's under two acres though. um you know it just doesn't allow enough space on the property to even configure it in a different way to sort of avoid those setbacks just because they are 300 ft and that's all the way around so front sides and rear. So it was originally a compliant project and also just to build a little bit more um given that capacity is what it is and as far as we know isn't changing anytime soon. if this project is approved, it doesn't mean that there's capacity to host numerous other projects of this size or larger because as it stands right now, that's just not a possibility. So, I just didn't want that to be, you know, when you look at granting an approval and granting variances, I know that's at the top of everyone's mind is, okay, does that mean there's going to be one everywhere? The answer is no. At least that's just not possible right now. Um, and also another benefit to this project specifically is just that it's been cited to be shielded from view. So, if

you look at it, I know it's an irregularly shaped lot, but it's not, you know, right on the roadway. It's shielded. There's an access road to it. It's not right on the road. I know you've probably seen and I've seen projects that are right on the road. This is not one of those. Um, another issue is just without granting the area variances, the ZBA. Um, if the CBA doesn't do that, the town can't further its goals of providing clean energy consistent with the CLCPA and also the town's goals as a climate smart community. Um, some of those goals written into the comprehensive plan is to improve resilience to climate change by using renewable energy resources. And this project does just that. It furthers the New York goals, which we've done a great job of furthering the solar goals, but we still have a ways to go with renewables in general and just relying on clean energy. Um the comprehensive plan that was most recently updated in 2022 also calls for you know renewable provisions to encourage green infrastructure. This project does just that. Um just to provide a little bit of context too when it comes to the zoning code as it currently stands. This is a permissible use in the zoning district. So um yes there's area varianc is being requested but it is a permissible use. Um there's numerous other uses that could be permitted via special use permit too that you know from a community impact standpoint and environmental impact standpoint in our you know opinion would be much more substantial for the community and for the environment. So some of those other uses that could be permitted with special use permit would include multifamily dwellings, residential care facilities, camps, country ins and conference centers, bed and breakfast, kennels, recreational businesses, veterinary hospitals, and there's a few more. So this one, you know, while I know that the view is at the top of everyone's mind, solar is generally low profile. It's not doesn't have a substantial height. it doesn't have the same impact that a lot of these other uses would have on traffic and things of

that nature. Um the scale is also, you know, it's a rather minor scale. Doesn't emit any noise, dust, odors, traffic, and it won't overload water, sewer. It just won't be connected. It'll be remotely monitored and just routine maintenance being done. So, turning a little bit to just the variance question in general, we talked a little bit about that. Um, currently there's a 50 acre minimum. This lot is 48.28. So there is a little bit of an area variance request and also there's a request based on the side and the rear setbacks. So currently the code requires 300 all the way around. There's also some less substantial setbacks for perimeter fencing. So those go you know almost hand inand because the project will be situated then there will be some perimeter fencing. So there's a setback from the system as well as the fencing. Um, and just given the shape of the parcel, the size of the parcel, it would present really significant challenges to being a economical project if the 300 foot setback were, you know, followed on the parcel. Um, it's over 300 ft from the nearest residence and also we already went over some of the kind of the highlights from the visual impact analyses that have been completed. There's been two versions of that that have been submitted. Um, and just turning a little bit to the public utility standard because I know that, you know, we submitted a narrative to the ZBA that kind of did a brief overview of, you know, what is this standard? Why does it apply? And I know there was a letter that came in. I mean, I'll go over it briefly. We didn't put in another letter in response. I just I didn't want to keep doing, you know, paper back and forth, but I'm happy to answer any questions that there are on that. But essentially what we are relying on is in New York State town law as well as the town of Dover zoning code there's a standard procedure for granting use variances and area variances. So the use variance luckily

is not at issue here because this is a permissible use. But there is the same standard that applies when you're looking at a utility or an essential service. And what that standard is is that the the application is required to render safe and adequate service and that there are compelling reasons economic or otherwise for granting the variance. So that is called the Rosenberg standard or the public utility standard and it got its name from a 1993 case that was not the first case. The first case actually came from 1978 and that was the KAD case. KAD wanted to build a cooling tower. The use was prohibited and the height was prohibited. So they needed a use variance as well as an area variance. So what the court said in that case was given that we need to encourage public utility use and we need to ensure that the use can happen without being overly restrictive is we're going to still say you need a variance but it's not the same stringent variance that you'll need for a use variance or an area variance. And then that was followed again by the court of appeals for a second time in the Rosenberg decision. So since KED and since Rosenberg, this standard has been applied to solar, wind, telecommunications, and then your standard rateback utilities. So you know, I know there's also been a little bit of back and forth on this topic, but I can tell you that, you know, I I've done this for a long time. I have a lot of municipal clients and I always advise on the Rosenberg standard. So it's not something that I'm just arguing. That's a new it's nothing new and it's nothing that I feel uncomfortable about at all. And there are no cases saying that it should not apply. And in fact, the Freepoint decision is from the third department and that was just decided in December of 2024. And that was an applicant almost identical to the applicant that you have here where the ZBA denied a use variance and then that was overturned. um then it went to the third department and the third department said you have

to issue the use variance because they met the less stringent standard for a use variance in that case. So I know that that's not necessarily for this board but I just wanted to give a bit of an overview because it's one application reviewed as a whole. I know that there needs to be a ZBA approval as well as an approval from this board. Both have just rationary review. So if there's any questions I won't go on and on about that. I mean there's there's a lot to it and I know that there's been you know some I know there's been some I guess I would call it distinguishing of the cases that [clears throat] I cited but there are no other cases saying that these don't apply and all of those cases are you know they're 100% you know followed in all of those realms whether it's wind solar or um we're even seeing them with battery energy storage. So, I just wanted to share that standard and I'm happy to answer any questions if the board has any questions.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, anyone else from your team looking to present? Um, [clears throat] um, no, thank you.

Okay. All right. So, um, as I stated, we're going to go through the normal process that we have or we're going to have comments and questions. So, someone should be standing at the podium. Um and then uh we'll turn over to our consultants back to ourselves and then we'll go to the public hearing. So um oh so just because um you know there's quite a few people here who this might be the first time that they are um witnessing the planning board meeting with regard to this project. I just want to go through uh a few things that you know the answer to and I know the answer to and everybody on the planning board knows the answer to but just to make it clear to the public. So um

you need to have a minimum of 50 acres. Correct. You have a minimum of 50 acres. We do not. Okay. Um the setbacks are 300 ft in the local law that can be reduced by the planning board by 25% or 225 ft. Uh, are you meeting those setbacks at 225 ft? Um, in some dimensions, yes. Um, off the top of my head, I believe two of the step back lot lines meet that and, uh, five do not. Okay. All right. Uh, four do not. Sorry. Fine. All right. Uh, so as it stands right now, this planning board cannot approve your project. Yes or no? Uh, yes.

Okay. We cannot. Okay. Thank you. Um so just want that to be clear that um the purpose of tonight is not about approving the project or really [clears throat] even moving further on the project itself. Tonight is about uh a secret determination. The planning board is a lead agency under secret and whether um this planning board should have a uh positive or negative declaration under secret. Okay. I'll leave it to our attorney to explain that in a little bit about positive negative declaration under SRA. Uh we're going to go through um all the different criteria. Um but just for you know members of the public, this is not about approving or not approving this project. This is about determining whether there'd be a positive or negative declaration of SRA. So we'll get to that in a bit. Um I've spoken enough for now. I'll see if any members of the planning board want to speak. Uh, member Vano,

not at this time. Um, I actually have one question. I thought it was very interesting the map that you showed with I think it was 117 parcels at first and then how you eliminated several of them for various reasons. So that you've narrowed it down to the point where in the town of Dover there really are not a lot of places. then your attorney spoke to the fact that if this gets approved and it goes forward, it doesn't mean that we're going to have projects like this all over town because there just aren't that many sites. But my question is, you showed us a map of Dover and potential sites. Why do in the first place?

I think because we're talking about a project in Dover here. I mean, we I mean, what I'm saying is why did Rick Energy choose Dover as opposed to looking at any other town in the state or other states? We look at lots of other towns in in several other states. Um, we chose this project because we did an analysis like that and the way the bylaw was written at the time, we identified a site that was compliant and could host an energy project and then when we got a response back from the utility, they said, "Yes, you have uh capacity to to interconnect that project." Then you know like as Kristen said it's necessary to provide you know uh safe and reliable service.

So you've done similar analysis in other municipalities and you felt that do was the best one for you to start with here or one of multiple. Yeah I can't speak to other specific municipalities we've done similar analyses in but um we we site energy we site solar projects just like this um all over New York State. So, this is one of many for your company. Yes, sure. Yeah. Okay. Thank you.

Yep. Okay. Um, so just to be clear, you chose this site because [clears throat] of just various reasons like you've stated and then the zoning changed which didn't allow so under the new zoning. It's not allowed, but you you're sticking with it and you're going to go to the ZBA to get variances. Correct. I think [snorts] we we chose the project again like as you said under the previous zoning bylaw

um and it was compliant and then under the current zoning bylaw to allowed use. However, the setbacks have changed dramatically. Um when the law changed, we had an application before the town active. I believe we had submitted an application prior to the bylaw changing. Um and that application came with that um Caesar that coordinated energy electrical system interconnection review from the utility that we we have to stick with right um because we've signed that agreement with the utility. You submit an application and then you pause your application once you realize that the town of Dover was pursuing solar zoning law.

We did pause. Yes. Yeah. Okay. And then they the town board implemented that zoning law and you you said, "Okay, well, we're gonna still try and move forward. We're gonna have to get variances because we're not in compliance." Correct. Okay. Thank you. Just wanted to clarif 100. I'm just trying to get a we're trying to get a sense of the scope. New York. Yeah. I mean, I'm not I can't speak to New York, but I know that I have over 30 that I've been working on. 30 through Rick.

Yes, exactly. And some are not in the works yet, you know. So, kind of a preliminary review. And I know that we don't have all of them in New York. There's probably there's I don't have a number, but I It's not It's not one and it's not a thousand. No, it's not one. It's it's something like in the 40s, 50s. Yeah. We have active projects and we we you know we're still actively citing projects in New York and so you know we still have early stage projects that are getting brought up to this stage and so on so forth. Yeah. Thank you member at [clears throat] this time. Okay. Uh I I just we've established Palmer if you could just a little closer to my I'm sorry.

Yeah. Thank you. We we've established that the parcel is not large enough under our current zoning. Correct. Correct. Okay. I'm going to give you a football analogy. If you're running down the sideline and your right pinky toe hits the sideline and the referee sees it, play's dead. If you're 10 ft out of bounds, play's still dead. That's all I have to say. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Member Palmer. Member Williams. Okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um let's start with uh Attorney Paulo. Okay.

All right. Um so as was stated, this is uh going to be a public hearing regarding uh SRA and uh positive negative declaration. So if you could just give us a few minutes of your legal expertise with regard to SECRA and the planning board making a determination. Sure. Positive or negative.

We'll do a a brief SEC overview. So the state environmental quality review act SECRA um requires that every single decision of the planning board be evaluated for its impact on the environment. Um in SEC environment has been defined broadly. It includes traditional environmental resources, water, wetlands, bats, turtles. Uh but it has also included uh more broad cultural resources. So historic resources, community character. Um so environment is is a big word um for this. You mean like it's a all-encompassing word? All-encompassing. Yes. Not a not a big word. Okay.

Yeah. [laughter] It's also a lot of It might be a big word, but Okay. No, it's it's all it envelops a lot of things, right? Yeah. It it doesn't just look at wetlands or or soils.

So, for this application, um you know, uh many many months ago when this first came in, you decided to do what's called a coordinated review. Um that means that every agency that might be responsible for issuing a permit or an approval for this project um everyone is relying on the do planning board to conduct the environmental review. So here that means that the town zoning board of appeals, the state DEEC, uh, NAERTA, Department of Transportation, all of these agencies are waiting for planning board to complete its review and they can't even move forward saying yay or nay until the planning board completes its review.

So you are required to move forward in this process. You can't just stop and say, you know, we're not interested. You have to go through the environmental review. And just further on that point for everyone, um so as part of the basically the beginning of the process, we put it out there saying this application is in front of us. We'd like to be the lead agency under SRA and any of those agencies could have said no wait, we want to be the lead agency under SRA and then there could have been then there was you know there would be a determination as to who would be the lead agency in no agency including the New York State DEC said wait we want to do this in terms of being lead agency. So because 30 days I believe

passed by default we're the lead agency. At the previous meeting we just declared that we were the lead agency. Just make it perfectly crystal clear that we were the lead agency. So right. Thank you. Please continue.

Now that you are the formal lead agency, you're required to evaluate this project for potential significant environmental impacts. Um, if after you review it, you determine that it's not likely to result in any significant environmental impacts, you issue what's called a negative declaration, uh, which means the environmental review part is over. The other agencies get to do their evaluation and you can move forward with, you know, the review of the project itself. Um, if you determine that there are potentially significant impacts likely to result from the project, uh, you can issue what's called a positive declaration, which means that we go to the next level of environmental review, which involves preparation of environmental impact statement, additional public hearings, public scoping sessions. Um, and again, the other agencies uh have to wait until you finish that next layer of environmental review. So, where we are tonight um is that you are asking the public for input on potentially significant environmental impacts. So, you're looking for their opinion. Um, sometimes, you know, as board members, you know a lot, but you don't know everything and and you're looking for the neighbors to let you know that there might be, you know, some endangered species or some uh grading issue or something that you can't see on the map uh that you should be considering.

Or they could, and I'm not saying this is the case, but they you might they might you might hear the applicant say for any project, "Oh, no one's going to be able to see this." And you might say, "Wait, that's my house and I can see it right now." like so that's why we have this process

right and and I do just want to caution the public that um the planning board's role is to look at broad communitywide impacts so while it's useful to know when as you know it will be visible from any one person's house that in and of itself is not necessarily a significant impact because you know as neighbors we're always going to see the adjacent neighbors property. So uh it's useful information but when it starts applying to a broad portion of the community then it it can rise to the level of significant right okay

okay so um we do anticipate that after you make your significance determination whatever it ends up being you will set schedule another public hearing on the site plan application itself. Okay, thank you very much. Uh, planner wear.

Yeah, I think that was a good summary. Um, so far we so the applicant has prepared the part one of the full EAF because this is a type one action. U, we've had some comments on specific technical analyses that they still have to respond to. They've noted that they're going to respond. They're going to look into some more visual um impacts with the leaves off. Um, we want to hear from the public obviously. So I think at a future meeting we can begin going through the part two that you have up here um once we have more information and we can go through each topic um to discuss significance of the impacts potential. Yes.

Large, small, moderate. So yes and I guess to be clear I um we're not going to be um formally [snorts] going through the part two this evening. I have it here as a reference. Um and I was going to after the consults are done just hit each point for the edification of the public as to these are the things that this is looking for. Um but we're not going to be

I think as soon this attorney said as you said chairman earlier um because [clears throat] you're the lead agency and you have to issue an environmental finding on this before any other involved agency including the ZBA can act. um you're using this public hearing as a as a way to um look at the seeker process. So yeah, thank you. So I'll be listening in. Okay. Thank you. Planner engineer. Anything to add? As far as engineering, it's pretty much going to be later on. Sure.

With the site plan, the special use permit, we don't see any immediate environmental issues.

Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, so I'm just gonna have a few more things. Haven't heard from consultants though. Does anybody have any further comments, questions, anything? Okay. So, um, like I stated, um, we're going to open this public hearing. Um, there's a, uh, signup sheet. Please sign up if you haven't signed up yet. And again, this is not about really you think this is a great idea. This is a terrible idea. It's about is there an impact on land? Is there an impact on geological features? Is there impacts on surface water? Is there impact on groundwater? Is there impact on flooding? Impact on air, impact on plants and animals, impact on agricultural resources, impact on aesthetic resources, impact on historical and archae archaeological resources, impact on open space and recreation, impact on critical environmental areas, [clears throat] impact on transportation, impact on energy, impact on noise, odor, light, impact on human health. uh and then consistency with community plans and then consistency with community character. Okay, so those are the areas that we as the planning board as a lead agency for this project are to consider after this public hearing, after we close the public hearing, after we go through this document. Um if we believe that there is no or a small impact may occur across the board then the state law requires us to declare this as a negative declaration. Um if there's moderate to large impacts and again depending on what those may be then that may result in it being a positive declaration under secret pollar correct.

Yeah I mean there's some nuance if it's moderate to large but it can be mitigated right but yes that is the the general rule. Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh, did you have anything further to add? Uh, no. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Now, on to uh the public hearing. If someone could just please pass up the uh signup sheet, please. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

It makes I blame the person who designed this bench, but that's me. I designed this bench. So, it was to protect the judge from ruffians, I guess. Um, all right. So, um, there are some rules to a public hearing in the town of Dover. Um, I'm not going to read through every single bit of this as much as everyone loves to hear my voice over and over again for the planning board, but uh just a real the real important points are uh there's a a threeminut time limit. I will have a timer. I'll let you know when there's a minute to go. Um if you're finishing up a point and the timer goes off at 3 minutes, it's I not going to cut you off, but uh we want to give everybody an opportunity to speak. Um and uh you know no hats um uh and you know obviously gerine to uh this this proceeding it's not about anything other than uh the secret determination for Wendale Solar. So um any members of the planning board or uh Secretary Emlin anything you want to add?

Oh yes I'm sorry. No clapping. just it really messes with the audio system and there are a couple people who have uh very sensitive hearing with [clears throat] um respect to um hearing aids. Hearing aids. Thank you. And it does really throw them off. Um so uh [clears throat] I think okay with that being said um I'll need a motion to uh open the public hearing uh for Wingale Solar and a secret determination. Um motion made by so moved member Palmer, seconded by member Roman. [clears throat] Okay. Uh discussion. Okay. Seeing no discussion, all those in favor of opening this public hearing say I.

I. I. Any say no. [clears throat]

Okay. This public hearing is now open. Uh as I stated earlier, uh there is a signup sheet. Uh we're going to go through the uh names of the people who have signed up. So uh please come to the podium. Um and uh you will have uh 3 minutes. And uh first we have uh Ed friend. [clears throat] Hi, my name is Ed Friend. Um I live at 123 Robin Lane in Dover Plains. In my recent journey running for town board, there were two things that stood out amongst the people that I had conversations with. One, we're not going to discuss because it's not but we all know it's a supermarket. Number two, um what what what's relevant to this discussion is that the people of this town want to maintain the character of this town. I got that a lot. I heard that a lot in my talking to people. And uh but they also realize that we need to grow and uh we need jobs in this town. That's a thing that's not really other than the construction. Once the construction's done, there's no jobs associated with this project. Um I think that the town did an excellent job in making this law. They took the time, they took the made the moratorum and uh so they could come up with a zoning plan for uh power infrastructure utilities that would uh protect and advance the quality of life of the residents and protect the natural assets of our town. Now, one thing that gets me here is it just seems that uh the way the law is written that they are asking for a lot. It's um you know seven I think it's

seven zoning variations. Um and the uh the problem is that uh I think that going forward what does this mean to the town? I mean we're not talking about necessarily public utility projects. Anybody could come in here if they get this very if they get all the variations they want and say hey you did it for these guys. You got to do it for us. And it kind of ties your hands up a little bit, I would I would guess. Um, by the way, I am very much in favor of renewable energy. If I could have a solar panel on my house, I would have one, but unfortunately my lease says no. So, but uh I just think that uh the town has did come up with a good law to deal with the uh the things that uh can be built here and can't be built here. and the reasons and uh I just like to uh think that uh that law meets the uh needs of both the energy companies and the residents of Dover because we got to remember the people of Dover need to have a say in this. I'd like to thank everybody for coming out tonight, too. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Um, next we have uh John Dor Chick. Dorchek. Come to the podium and you'll have three minutes.

Good evening. Good evening. Uh, my name is John Doric. My wife and I live at 23 High View Drive in Wingdale. We are here tonight to discuss the proposed Wingdale Solar Project. With all the available vacant land in the surrounding area, why would you sandwich a large project of this sort in a residential area near two schools and churches? I understand installation will require blasting and other construction work which we will have to endure, not to mention the effects to our schools located nearby. This project will lower our property values, upset the local wildlife, and be an eyesore we will have to live with. We have we already have two monstrosities on Route 22 that we are forced to live with and like the proposed project, the local residents will receive no benefit from them. [snorts] Why should we be forced to make sacrifices that will benefit others and not our local citizens? The zoning board exists to protect us from overreaching or dangerous chances to our changes to our town. I hope you will remember this when making your decisions. Thank you for your time.

Okay. Thank you, sir. Right. Uh next we have uh Paula Oaks. [clears throat] Um, hi.

Good evening, members of the board and neighbors. I stand before you today not against renewable energy, but against placing an industrial scale solar farm between our homes and two schools. This location is wrong um for so many reasons and approving it would put our children, our community, and our environment at risk. Um, I'm glad that you were able to host this meeting tonight. I did find out a lot of information that I wasn't aware of. I wasn't sure if it was, you know, this was the first I heard of it this past week. I live on High View Drive. Um, so I had a lot of questions. I thought there was going to be high voltage infrastructure. I didn't know where it was going to be all connected into, if they were going to be running more power lines. Um, so I had a whole slew of things I was going to say about the dangers I thought that would bring to the children of the schools as well as my neighbors and I. Um, but for that, I think you covered it. You said something about a three-phase line and being able to have some kind of house hookup. So, I wasn't sure how that works. I don't know if I can speak directly and ask that question.

No, it's you can't, but it's just it's No, there's no they're not proposing. Sorry. They're not going any new uh any new power lines except from the power lines at at Route 55 up to their into their project. So, there would be though tension wires then that we would see those as well from that area. That would be my question. I'm not sure what you mean by tension wire. So the big huge power lines that run parallel to Cricut Hill all the way down to No, no, no, no. So the these would connect into the uh power lines along Route 55. Okay. Yeah. That are existing there. Okay. So there would be Yes. Okay. Yes. Okay. Yes. So there's not going to be huge new tension wires that are connecting into that. It would be regular

poles. Okay. Um so that covers that. But I also I'm sorry.

No, Go ahead. Go ahead. Um, there would be no benefits to the residents, which I know my neighbor just covered. The solar farm will not power our homes. It feeds electricity into the grid, not directly to us. Our electric bills will not go down. Utilities uh utilities set rates based on infrastructure costs, not proximity to generation sites. Meanwhile, we will bear the burden of construction noise, traffic hazards, and potential emergency response costs. Um, environmental and wildlife disruption. and clearing land for panels destroys the habitat for local species. We have lots of deer in our neighborhood, bear, foxes, coyote, woodchucks, birds, pollinators, and the list goes on. Um, fencing is going to create barriers for wildlife movement, fragmenting ecosystem, so they're not going to be able to carry the path that they normally do. Storm water runoff and soil erosion could affect school grounds and nearby homes. Um, it's not a green solution when it harms the very environment that we live in. Um, I have concerns about traffic and safety. In other words, when they start building all this construction is going to bring heavy trucks, equipment through residential roads, all the school zones, increasing accident risk. I don't know. They said that the panels are not going to be high. I wasn't sure if there would be glare from um distracting drivers, school bus drivers, creating hazards for parents and buses during drop off time because Wingale Elementary School is right at the top of that hill. Not sure how that affects it. Um and then just you know the neighborhood impact the large solar arrays of possible transmission towers which now you cleared that up um would permanently change the character of our community. Property values often decline near industrial scale energy projects reducing family inequity and tax revenue for schools. So

please uh finish your point. I'm sorry. So I just want to say I support I support clean energy but not at the expense of our children's safety, neighborhood integrity and the community trust. I believe this project offers zero benefit to the residents and introduces unnecessary risks. I urge you to vote no on this proposal and work with us to find safer, smarter alternatives and plus the fact that it's not the 50 acres that they need. That was an eye openener. I didn't know about that earlier tonight. So, thank you. Thank you. Um before we go to the next person, just I guess want to clarify something. the uh it's proposed to be four something megawatts five megawatts just real quick [clears throat] 4 Yeah. Yeah. 4.29.

4.29. Okay.

So just to give a sense of scale like if you um so if you have a if you have a um you know a reasonably sized house in the town of Dover and you put solar on your roof you you'll have like 8 10 12 kilowatts. Um this is you know obviously a lot bigger. This is in the the the megawatt range low, you know, 4.29. Um the Cricut Valley Energy um you know uh natural gas power plant is a thousand megawatts. So like there just scales here. There's a house that's scaled up to a field scaled up to you know natural gas power plant. So just this is you know obviously a lot more than a house but far less than Cricut Valley Energy. That's why like they needed to put in transmission lines. There's no need to put in transmission lines here. So that's just want to I guess make a point of clarification for everyone. Um thank you. Uh next we have Rod uh Smith. [snorts]

Hat hat. Yes.

Good evening Mr. Smith. If you could uh please remove your hat before beginning. Better. Uh, you like it all? Thank you. What would you like? You have three minutes. Thank you.

Rod Smith, uh, 34 High View Drive, Wingdale, New York. Uh, I have a couple questions. I'm assuming you people asked them how come they wanted I heard her ask or somebody asked how come they wanted to build it here. Well, I checked them online and seems like New York State's pretty popular with them. probably 80% of their projects are there in New York State. They've got one in Georgia. Why do they want to build it here? Is it we have better sun here? Nobody can answer that. Okay.

I was going to say a few funny things, but That's fine. You have 2 minutes and 12 seconds,

but I can I have three minutes. Well, you had 3 minutes and and we're going. Okay. I hope they're going to use a lot of fertilizer because these seems these things seems to go up pretty quick. We got one air just north of the or south of the school. Is that same company? No. Oh, we they just like us. We're good here. Okay. Let me see what else. I had something else. Oh, I know. Uh they seem to take our electricity. It is our electricity once it's on our property. How come they if we were to lose electricity, do they supply any of that back? [snorts] I I I'm not sure how to answer your question. I'm sorry. Uh it's it would the energy would feed into the transmission system just like

goes into the storage solar panels on their house. So once they have it, it's theirs. Goes into the supposedly. Yeah. It doesn't go into a special system. It goes into the energy system for everyone. Yes. Try. Okay. Let me see. There was one other thing. And I'm dumber in a box of rocks, so I forgot them. You're doing great. Luckily, Paul, my neighbor, knows all about me, so I'll leave it at that. All right. And I hope we get good flowers out of these. pan. Oh, I know what it was. Yes. I talked with the electric company. I was on jury duty with one of the managers from electric company. Okay.

He said solar panels and I know I read that what it said online that they're all recyclable, but that I can't believe that's true cuz he said they were bad. Solar panels are bad for our system. So, I would assume if you're going to let something like this go, you have all this investigated one way or the other. Uh, that is the purpose of this. Let me just pause this. You have 10 seconds to go. Well, I can't answer. So, but you do bring up you rais a good point that they the we could ask the uh applicants that at the sunset of this project if it's approved built 30 years from now, 25 years from 20 to 40 years.

Yes. Can it be can it be recycled? That's a very valid and interesting question to ask. Well, online it says most of it is recyclable, but it didn't go through everything, so I can't answer you that. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Thank you for your time. All right. Uh, next, uh, Haley Harelson. [clears throat] Don't pick on me. Evening. Hi, Haley Haroldson, 54 Old State Route 22 in Wingdale. You have three minutes.

I have a bachelor's degree in environmental science. What they proposed, they did their job. They checked everything off. It got to this point, but Duchess County is the county of land conservancy. And solar panel panels, while they're green to some extent, are not perfect. and you're cutting down trees and clearing land and it's a wash at that point that like our community is so beautiful. Why would we want to destroy that? So, I just ask that you lean heavily on community character because that's why that's why I bought our house and chose to live here. So, thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Right. Uh, next is uh Frank De Jesus.

Hello. And you have three minutes.

Um, Frank De Jesus, 28 High View Drive. Um, I guess one of the big questions that popped up in my mind, albeit that at least discussed in the presentation that we've seen so far, um, risk factors for such a project as this are considered minimal. Um, if there were some unforeseen environmental impacts or damages, who would cover that? Um, you know, I mean, I also think of that and then I do think about environmental impact. I live on the east side of High View Drive and I think about the sun setting on the west for all of my neighbors on High View Drive. And I mean, you're putting a big giant array of mirrors. So, I feel like that's going to have some sort of like light interference, you know? It's uh what do you call that? Uh, night pollution. Okay. Glare

for Yeah, but for the glare. But I mean, I don't know. It might just change what I see out of my front door and what my neighbors across the street see out of their back windows. Not just one,

at least seven. Um, but the other thing too, touching upon the young lady's um, remarks about the environment and the animals and the wildlife that we see. I mean, I see it all. I feel like Snow White in my backyard and everything but a canary lands on my finger. I mean, I see bobcats, I see bears, I see foxes, I see deer grazing freely. Um, and it is truly beautiful to see that. And I feel lucky to have that in my backyard. And I also chose to move here for that same reason. Um, and I would hate something to damage that and take it away. Um the other thing too, just logistically, if somehow this even manages to get any further than this meeting,

um who's going to be working there? Where are these people going to be from? Are they going to be local residents of Dover? You know, I mean, like that would be my thing. It's like this is a solar farm system. Other ideas for potential nuisances of different construction ideas were spoken about, but some of those things would bring work to the community and make something for the people of Dover Plains. That's it. Thank you. Uh, next is uh Steve uh

Kosar. Thank you. Good evening. Um, good evening. You have three minutes.

My name is Steve Kosar. I own a home with my wife Sue on 11 High View Drive. And we've lived there and paid taxes here since the house was built in 1986. And we moved up here because of the character of this town. Um, the location has been stated between the elementary school and the Aster school and um, the two neighborhoods. It was stated how Dover is hilly. Well, one of them's called High View Drive and the other one's called Hillside Avenue. You're not going to hide this um site from all these houses. And there is 6,762 solar panels that are 12 to 15 ft high when they're installed. And there's certainly going to be a visual impact. There's there's fencing that is going to be seen. Um, I would like to know what the JH Ketchum host feels about the fire safety, about having all these so close to these residential houses and the schools. Um, there is a noise from these this many of these so close to these homes that's going to be heard, I'm sure, in the in the homes that are near it. Um, there's there's concern about leeching of chemicals or anything from damaged panels into the acqu aquifer that's there and into the wells that we have. Um they're going to cut down, I believe it said, at least 380 trees or more. Um and there are several endangered or near endangered species in this site. Um it's also it's been they said it's going to decrease property values which I I agree and I just I object to this project and I feel that it is not a site that suited for something like this to be put into. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, next we have Sue Kosar.

Good evening. My name is Sue Kosar. I also live on High View Drive. And I just want to summarize. The applicant is constructing a 4.2 megawatt tier 3 utility scale solar farm on 16.5 acres within a 48.2 2 acre parcel between the school, our our um street, High View Drive, and near the churches overlooked by Hillside. Also, um the project does have 14 inverters and two transformers, which as you know have fans, and they do have noise. I counted on the overlay site overlay plan. There's 51 rows of variance varying sizes. Um there's 6,762 of these panels. That's quite quite a large amount. I do affect I do see an effect um in this environment because it is over um a principal aquifer. I strongly recommend that the use and site plan be denied on the basis that is completely in incompatible with the environment and character of the existing neighborhood and it does not promote the health, safety and welfare of the community. Alternative sites may exist in other towns that have substations nearby that are more feasible and suitable for the development of this project or like the our attorney asked about combined parcels. Um, it is in this town's best interest to deny this project and preserve the existing zoning laws. The lot area variance and setbacks are substantial. The zoning laws were established by the town to protect the area. As far as character, the neighborhood is peaceful with with scenic views. The project would create an undesirable change to the character of the neighborhood. Cutting 13 acres of trees, including 380 trees with a half a foot diameter or

larger, is intrusive and disruptive to the landscape and the environment. As far as health, the potential for contamination exists from corrosive metals used in fencing and toxins from panels damaged by wind and weather and degradation over time. This project is over an aquifer. We have wellwater and a low risk is still a risk we're not willing to take. Noise levels of 50 to 65 dibels from fans from the inverters and transformers are an annoyance that is unacceptable. Noise sensitivity varies among individuals, but 65 dibels background noise is annoying. This noise level is expected to be higher during the estimated construction period of a half a year according to the applicant. As far as safety, I believe there is a fire risk that is completely underestimated by the applicant. Solar fires are difficult to put out and they spew toxic smoke into the air. We have no fire hydrants. Um, as far as well-being, um, this project devalues our property despite the applicants claim that the property near fuller solar farms do not lose value. Studies exist for rural areas that show a negative impact on homes within a half a mile um, depreciating 1.5 to 3.6%. This is not acceptable. This project is also has a negative visual impact on the landscape. The per um I request that the planning board deny this application. I encourage the board to consider the local concerns of the residents and to vote against this project. And I will say that I am against uh this clean energy because is it really clean when creating the panels requires energy and the disposal of non-bioded panels in our landfills is anything but clean. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. Uh, next we have uh Luden Aiden Dante.

Hi, good evening. Uh, pretty much I neighbor the five high view drive. Um my question is um why is construction and the panel and the closing the the school the element is a radiation for the kid I know accept right because all the town move the school right I I we stay the care for the kid

thank you okay thank Uh, next we have um Amanda Lusk Manfolk. Give me one. Good evening. Good evening.

So, my name is Amy. Most of you know me as Amy. Um, I have the most unfortunate position of being front and center involuntarily for this. Um, where the house is set. Um, if this were to go through, um, we would probably be the most impacted on our street for these variances if you guys decide to grant them, which I don't think that you should do because think about the precedent that would set. Somebody said it before I stood tonight. Um, I think we have to be really careful with that type of thing. We are a rural town. I remember my husband and I moved up here about 12 years ago and one of the things that we really loved about Wingdale [clears throat] and Dover was your open spaces was the community feel. Um it was really disheartening and saddening to see the other power structures that have been put into our town. Um, I feel that Dover carries more than its fair share of the electric and power source burden. Um, compared to other towns in our state, in our county, it sounds to me like they have other options outside of Dover that are feasible. Um, there are quite a few concerns that I just thought of the other night when I was talking with my husband. Number one being the proximity to our schools. You know, we've got the littles down there. I've got two littles in that school that I'm very concerned about what impact it might have on them. Um, I'm also on the downhill slope of this thing. So, if something does go wrong up on that hill, is there going to be a groundwater problem? How am I going to know about it? Is my water suddenly going to become undrinkable and I don't know [clears throat] and I'm giving that to my kids? How am I going to know if something's wrong up there? Um, you know, just something to think about.

There's the property value impact for sure that we all see. Um I know I'm like I said, I'm going to have a front row view to this thing. Most of the trees are dead.

Um there there's not great screening back there. I see it all the time. Um you know, screening that size of a project is going to be a huge undertaking. I don't think it's going to be able to happen to be honest just given where it sits on top of a hill. Um then there's the environmental impact. Um, you know, like somebody else said, it is kind of like being in a Disney movie. All the animals come through. It's a heavily traffked zone. Um, we see all kinds of different animals come through. Uh, there's also milkweed up there. I noticed that the monarch butterflies and that type of thing often have nests up there cuz my kids sometimes venture up that way. Um, but yeah, there's just there's a lot of things to consider. I think that there's definitely benefits to the solar energy, but in this case, there's a lot of things that could go very wrong. So, I clearly object and I hope that you guys decide to vote to maintain the law and not grant these variants because I think your hands, like someone else said, will be tied in the future for when more people come forward and say, "Well, how about me?" Thank you.

Thank you. Uh, next we have Ruben uh Ferrer.

Hi, my name is Ruben Fan. I live at 55 High View Drive. Um being a member of the JH Ketchum host company, I can say that it would it is a concern for me uh regarding the uh the fire implications. God forbid anything might happen. Um [clears throat] solar panels are very uh dangerous and you can't put them out with water. Uh it would take a uh a big undertaking. Also the uh the visual impact is a uh something that is concerning of me. Um, [clears throat and cough] excuse me. Um, the, uh, property value concerns is another, uh, issue, uh, for the town as itself. Um, it's property value would go down. I decided to move up here with my wife and now newborn. Uh, because of the character of this town. Um, driving through, uh, the fall, you see the the leaves, everything is beautiful. when when [clears throat] you notice that in that area whether they say that they're going to uh put fencing or anything, it's just it will be an eyes saw and take away from the character of the town. uh the wildlife and habitat distribution uh disruption construction is going to uh cause and will dep uh displace animals and fragment habitats uh because of the panels. Birds, the hawks that I see um flying around can and will be able to fly into the uh into the panels uh which is something called the lake effect. uh the noise during the construction, the construction, the heavy trucks going in and out of the town, uh being in a construction background myself years ago, those trucks will cause damage to our roads. Are they going to repair that? If this project does go through,

uh then the one of the biggest uh concerns of my uh which someone had mentioned before is the de decommissioning. Uh most leases are for 25 to 40 years, but uh after that then what is there going to be funding for them to uh remove the panels or they're just going to leave it and then we have uh unused panels on this land uh the EMF uh from the inverter stations and transmission lines. Even though they claim that it's a low EMF, it still transmits and can uh possibly cause issues, especially to the children at the school. Uh being a new member of the town and I have a little one myself, I'm look forward to her growing up in the town and I I'm scared for what might happen as she is in the school and anything might, you know, anything can happen. uh taxes. What are they what can happen? Uh not what can happen, but what does it do to help us I guess in taxes? Is it uh going to lower our energy bill? Uh do we get the energy from that or or is it only to people with solar panels or they're supplying that energy to a different town or something like that? So I mean Okay.

Thank you. Thank you. Uh next we have uh Tong Noin. Yes.

Good evening. Hello. You have three minutes. My name is Tongwin. I live in 67 High Drive Windale. I live the death house for over 40 years. And I I would like to say a lot of things my issue and concern but all my neighbor pretty much address you know all those problems. I got one thing to say that uh I do not support building a solar energy farm in our house and that's all. I thank you for your consideration. Okay. Thank Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Uh we have exhausted the list but is there any member of the public who wish to speak at this public hearing? Please come to the podium at this time. Okay. So, you know, when approaching the podium, uh, we as a planning board have, uh, three options as we usually do. We could, uh, close this public hearing. We can keep this public hearing open. We can close it and, uh, allow for written comments. I'm looking for input from members of the board. [clears throat] I suggest we leave it open for written public comment. Okay. I agree with that. I agree.

Okay. All right. Um see today is uh November 17th, Monday. Uh next week then is Thanksgiving. All right. So then uh All right. Just with uh thanks the Thanksgiving holiday being next week, um uh I'll entertain a motion to um keep this uh public hearing open for written comment only until uh Monday, December 1st at noon. Uh public comments uh need to be submitted to the planning board secretary, Miss Vanmillan. So moved. Motion made by um member Palmer, seconded by member Vano. Um discussion.

Okay. Uh seeing no discussion, all those in favor of the motion say I. I.

I. Uh any oppose? Say no. Okay. Uh that motion passes 6 with one absence. All right. So um for anyone who spoke this evening, um you you do not need to uh submit uh anything in writing. You are welcome to uh submit um what you like in writing. My um suggestion to you would be to um go to um you know online to let me find it again sorry to uh the New York State DEC website. Um again this is a public uh hearing on the potential impacts for Wingdale Solar. Uh you want to find the part two document. It'll be a 10-page PDF that will look like this. and uh because this is what we will be considering at some point uh in the future as in our role as lead agency under SRA. Um so again if it's something that's not really part of this document it might you might feel very strongly about it [clears throat] whether you're in favor of the project or not it's just not something we can consider as part of this part of the process. So, um, okay. So, comments to you by Monday, December 1st at noon. Um, all right. Uh, did the applicant have anything further this evening?

There's a number. I guess what we were just chatting about briefly. I I think Yeah, just go to the podium. Speak in the microphone. So, Sure.

Thank you. No, I mean I I took some pretty detailed notes just about all the public comments. I know there were a lot of um you know application materials that have been submitted. So with some of the you know the comments and questions were in the application materials. I do recognize that there's quite a few of them. Um decommissioning for example, yes, there will be decommissioning and there has been a plan in place that has been submitted for review and that would include all decommissioning. So removal, you know, of everything from the site and there is financial security that's required. um the town has it's 125% with an annual escalator in there and that's you know that's pretty typical that's you know that's something that you know most applicants know needs to happen um so I just I just wanted to sort of reiterate that and I know all of the application materials are available so if there's other questions about you know decommissioning um the visual impact analysis as well has you know some simulations as well as these are just diagrams showing um line of sight as well as the the areas that were studied, but then there's al also on the ground visual simulations too. And so I think is there anything else that you wanted to cover? There's a few other things too, but I think we can

Yeah, this is not going to be the end of all this obviously. Yeah, we'll respond to writing as well. And I think um another resource that we're willing to provide is we'll set up a website for this particular project so people can just go to it and see the materials that we have um because I think there's a lot of questions because people haven't seen it and and I think that um that's important. And so we'll set something up in the coming weeks um with some with some visual aids so people can kind of begin to understand really what it looks like on and just you I'm sure you would do this but just you know for the official record anything you put on your website please obviously submit to the planning secretary so there's no confusion as to well it's on their website but we never got it or

Yeah, of course. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, uh, Chairman Cine, you did receive an email from Charles Quimby and also from, um, oh, the woman who owns the 8 acres below. I forgot to Route 22. Yes. Okay. All right. Well, that'll be part of the written record. Yes, it's part of the record.

All right. Uh, thank you. All right. Uh, thank you everyone. Um, our meeting is not quite over yet, but if you'd like to stay, you're welcome to stay. If you'd like to leave, if you could leave now. Thank you. But obviously, you can say it's a public meeting, so I just Everybody gets up and it's tough to hear for a minute.

Thank you. Okay,

thank you. All right. So, next on the agenda is the appointment of consultants and uh the meeting schedule for 2026. So, I'll bring that up on the screen. Um all right. All right. Resolution pointing secretary to the planning board res pursuant to section 271 uh subsection two of the town law. The planning board is authorized to employ experts, clerks, and a secretary and provide for such other expenses as may be necessary and proper. Now therefore be resolved to the planning board over uh does hereby appoint Marilyn Vanmillan as secretary of planning board for the year. I'm going to go with 2026. [laughter]

It does say 2026 on our paperwork. Oh, no. It's right in here. I fixed it. Okay. [laughter] That was the original PDF. I can't change it. So, no, it's online. You should see it a few years [laughter] uh for the year 2026. He'll be alive in I'm saying. So, motion made by Sedor, seconded by member Palmer. Discussion. Any discussion? All those in favor of resolution appointing secretary planning board for the year 2026 say I. Oh, sorry. Resolution. Secretary, please call the role. Member Williams. Hi. Member Milano. Hi. Member Sedor. Hi. Member Roman. Hi. Member Palmer.

Hi. Chairman Cine. I. This. Resolution adopted 60 with one absence.

All right. Uh resolution appointing attorneys to the planning board pursuant to section 271 subsection 2 of the town law. The planning board is here. I authorized to employ experts, clerks, and the secretary and to provide for such other expenses as may be necessary and proper and therefore be resolved that the planning board of the town of Dover uh does hereby appoint Shaw and Polado LLP LLP Victoria L. Palado Esquire [laughter] the one LLP as attorneys of the planning board for the year 2026 who authorizes the chair to execute the retainer agreement on file with the pling board secretary. This resolution is being offered by someone member Volano, second by member Palmer. Discussion. I'm glad everyone's gone so no one can see what's going on here. [laughter]

We're still here. You know what's funny? Um, normally Marilyn proves my resolutions, but you didn't send them to me to look at so I could check. Usually I can blame each other later. I [laughter] usually put the dock up. For some reason, they're the PDFs this time. All right. So, the resolution, as I stated with one LLP, one LLP for the discussion Seeing no further discussion, resolution appointing attorneys to the playing board of secretary, please call a role. Uh, member Williams, hi. Member Lano, I. Member Sedor, I. Member Roman, I. Member Palmer, I. Chairman Cine. [cough]

Resolution is adopted 6 with one absence. Resolution appointing a planning consultant to the planning board. As pursuant to section 271 subsection two of the town law, the planning board authorized to employ experts, clerks, and secretary provides for such other expenses as may be necessary and proper now therefore be resolved that the planning board of the town of Dober does hereby appoint AKRF Inc. as planners to the planning board for the year 2026 subject to the terms and conditions of AKRF's contract with the town of Dover. This resolution is being offered by So moved member Palmer, seconded by member Williams. Discussion. Seeing no discussion, uh, resolution appointing a planning board consultant to the planning board. Secretary, please call the role.

Member Williams. Hi. Member Volano. Hi. Member Sudor. Hi. Member Roman. Hi. Member Palmer. I. Chairman Cine. I. Resolution adopted 6 with one absence. Resolution appointing engineer to the planning board where pursuant to section 271 subsection two of the town law. The planning board is authorized to employ experts, clerks, and a secretary to and to provide for other such other expenses as may be necessary property and now therefore be resolved. The planning board of the town of Dober does hereby appoint Burger Engineering and surveying Joseph Berger LSP as engineers to the planning board for the year 2026 and authorizes the chair to execute the retainer agreement on file with the planning board secretary. This resolution being offered by move member Sedor second by

second member Palmer. Discussion. Seeing no discussion, those supporting engineer to the planning board. Secretary, please call the role. Member Williams. Hi. Member Volano. Hi. Member Sudor. Hi. Member Roman. Hi. Member Palmer. I. Chairman Cine. I. Resolution Z upon adopted 6 with one absence.

All right. Next, um we have our uh schedule with the deadlines uh for uh the year 2026. Let me check. Yes. 2026. And um as what usually happens, we have um a first meeting in January and February, but no second meetings. Um the plan if there is uh business before the planning board would then be to have two meetings a month for March, April, May, June, July, and August. Uh then no meeting on on Labor Day, but a meeting the third uh Monday of the month. Um two meetings in October. Uh no meeting the day before election day. [snorts] So uh meeting the third Monday of November and then two meetings in December. Uh the deadlines for all of these um uh meetings is uh 19 days uh prior at noon. Do the secretary. Does anybody have any questions, comments?

All right. So, um, I'll need a, uh, I'll need a a motion to, uh, Brian, the only correction I'm going to have to make on that is the, uh, the town is not now gone to doy.gov. Yes. Yes. Yes. So, I will make that correction, right? So, it should be land use at dony.gov.gov. Right. It us certain and then it'll it just rolls over, but I got to get someone to fix that. Okay. Thank you. the reminder. That's actually true for everybody. You'll have to by what? When do they have to get their emails? Oh, it's already You'll still get your emails. Yeah. But until when? It'll No, it'll still It's already working.

Yeah. If you go to us, it'll go automatically to go. I thought we had to Yeah. drop it at some point. Okay. All right. Um, so with that correction, any further comments, questions? I'll need a motion to um uh accept the uh meeting schedule and uh deadlines for the planning board for the year 2026. Motion made by member Palmer. Again, any further discussion? No further discussion. All those in favor say I. I.

I. Say no. Okay, that motion passes 60 with one absence. There we go. All right. So, um it is November 17th. The deadline for the December 1st meeting was November 12th. We

received nothing. Um so there will not be a meeting on on December 1st. Um but public comments will be coming in I imagine up until 11:50 [snorts] something on Monday December 1st for Windale Solar. So um none of none none of that will obviously affect whether we have a meeting or not that night. We do not. The next then deadline is um November 26 which is next Wednesday at noon. Um, have we received anything in the last 5 days that um, I think it would probably make sense that we have a meeting with respect to Wingdale Solar and that we receive these comments and two weeks later we have a meeting.

Yeah, potentially. Yeah. Um, we may want the applicant to respond to the comments. True. Okay. So, we might have a meeting on December 15th. I mean there's still another nine days for someone to meet. Yeah. I mean they indicated they had plans to do some additional visual stuff and they want to reply to the comments. So So they might submit something by November 26th and then necessitates the meeting December 15th but not a lot of time. Some other project might Okay. So as of right now no meeting December 1st. Okay. And possible meeting on December 15th. Walks around 22. Sorry. sitewalk on and the sitewalk is uh

Saturday this Saturday 8 a.m. uh at the site uh if you can make it great and I get like I said you know if anybody's truly interested in going you just couldn't happen to go that time you know I'm sure the applicant andor their consultant would be amanable to meeting up with you individually uh and then we'll just discuss that at the meeting on December 15th. I don't think it necessitates having a meeting on December 1st. All right. Uh any further business before the planning board? No. No. Okay. The only thing um the town is changing over are uh the software that we use for the agenda. Oh, okay. And that's changing as of December 1st.

I see. Okay. So, if there's any type of a fluke that we're not ready, it will be up. It'll probably put up on uh the news portion. Okay. Okay. All right. That's good heads up. Um, yeah. I'd like to just say something since uh December 1st is cancelled and December 15th sounds like it's a maybe. Yeah. Um Oh, right. Sure.

Yeah. Um, so I just wanted to thank my fellow members of the board and the consultants for everything that you do. I don't know if you're all aware that I have um decided to resign my position. So December will be the end of my service as a board member and I really appreciate having had the opportunity to be on this board for the last seven and a half years. Uh so I thank you all very much for your continued service and partnership in being of service to the town of Dober. Thank you for your service. Thank you. Thank you.

So I uh thank you again for your service. Uh, I'm hopeful that we'll have a meeting in December 15th so I can thank you again. [laughter] And um, all right. Uh, anyone else have any news? Okay, with that I'll make a motion to adjurnn. Seconded by second. Member Sedor. All those in favor of German say I. I. I. We'rejourn.