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Date: 6/27/2022
HADLEY – The Hadley Planning Board unanimously approved a site plan approval Special Permit and Solar Special Permit after reviewing Joe Czajkowski’s application to construct an agrivoltaic, dual-use, ground-mounted solar energy system made of 1,116 solar panels that allow for the land under and around the solar array to remain in agricultural production.
The board voted 4-0 with one abstention from William Dwyer due to a conflict of interest.
The project is set to cover roughly two acres of land within Czajkowski’s farm, located in North Hadley off Shattuck Road. It is located approximately 750 feet east of the road and will not be fenced to allow unfettered access for Czajkowski and his equipment to continue working the land. The panels are also taller than average which is also designed to help the dual-use project.
At a public hearing for the project on June 7, Hyperion Systems manager Jake Marley explained that the project is part of the Massachusetts solar program called the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target Program (SMART). SMART is a statewide initiative to incentivize solar developments in Massachusetts. The SMART Program’s estimated life of the solar field is 20 years, after which Czajkowski will have two optional five-year extensions.
“They’ve set a standard for any single access tracker, which is what this type of solar installation would be called,” Marley said. “By using that type of single-access tracker versus a fixed tilt, we’ll be able to increase the amount of energy that’s produced on a smaller footprint.”
The motion’s supplementary conditions included that no signage other than emergency notifications is proposed, no outdoor lighting fixtures, shipping containers or temporary or permanent storing structures.
The motion also included a provision that Czajkowski would provide surety either through an escrow account, bond or otherwise to cover the cost of removal in the event that the town must remove the system. The payment of $33,075 was calculated by multiplying the estimated cost, agreed on by both parties, by a 1.5 to account for the Massachusetts Prevailing Wage.
“Mr. Czajkowski, there’s a lot of people interested in seeing this project,” Planning Board Chair Jim Maksimoski said. “We have a town department head meeting once a month and I mentioned it, we actually had the meeting the day after our last public hearing on you two weeks ago and people were really interested in this when I mentioned it, I said, ‘We’ve got kind of a state of the art project coming up in town,’ and even Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is interested in this. Good luck.”
Czajkowski said, “I’d like to see it work, too. I think it’s a good spot for it.”