Petition signatures against massive solar array in rural CT town top 1,100
Residents looking to block an expansion
of a huge solar array on East Windsor farmland got a boost Wednesday
when the town’s legislative delegation put out a bipartisan statement slamming
the proposal as damaging and unwelcome.
“The people in the town have spoken clearly and loudly at all levels,” state Sen. Saud Anwar said at the Legislative Office Building. “Our message is clear: Reject this expansion … do not allow our community in East Windsor to be overlooked again.”
Anwar, a Democrat, along with Democratic Rep. Jaime Foster and Republican Rep. Carol Hall issued a call for the Connecticut Siting Council to reject a request from Desri Holdings L.P. to approve more than 150 additional acres in East Windsor for solar arrays.
Residents and town leaders argue that East Windsor and a few
other sparsely populated towns with large quantities of farmland are being
forced to carry most of the weight of renewable energy for the state and
beyond.
“Achievement of the state’s renewable energy goals should be
the responsibility of the entire state, not just a few rural towns,” Town
Attorney Robert DeCrescenzo wrote last month on behalf of selectmen.
If the state approves the expansion, East Windsor would end
up with a total of more than 1,100 acres consumed for solar energy. Much of the
expansion would be near residential areas, which would harm existing owners’
ability to enjoy their homes, he wrote.
More than 1,100 people have signed
an online petition against the project, warning “Our town’s rural
identity, scenic views, and peaceful neighborhoods are incompatible with
large-scale solar development. The proposed expansion would industrialize
beloved green space and diminish property values.”
Solar panels in a field in East Windsor. (Don Stacom/The
Hartford Courant)
Desri, a New York-based renewable energy company, contends
the expansion will provide
“cost effective, stably priced, renewable energy to Connecticut, Massachusetts
and Rhode Island customers,” saying it would deliver power to high-demand
centers including Hartford, Providence and western Massachusetts.
The company has approval for a 120-megawatt project, and is
asking the Siting Council to approve an additional 30 megawatts.
“Upon completion, the expansion will deliver affordable,
renewable energy to customers in Connecticut – producing enough clean energy to
power approximately 4,500 homes in central Connecticut and beyond,” the company says.
Desri advertises that it has solar and wind projects across
22 states generating enough power for nearly 2 million homes.
“Our commitment to a sustainable future is reflected in our
ongoing engagement with the East Windsor community throughout all stages of the
project,” according to Desri’s
webpage.
But residents and the state delegation disagree.
“We along with our first selectman, Jason Bowsza, stand
united to deliver a clear message to the Siting Council that our community will
not be ignored. The Gravel Pit Solar Project must be stopped,” Anwar said. “I
have yet to come across any person who is in favor of this expansion, not a
single one.”
The expansion wouldn’t include only farmland; part of the
area is forest, and Desri plans to clear 46 acres of trees.
Neighbors say that’s not acceptable.
“I moved here for the open space, the farms, and the peace
of rural living — not to live beside a fenced-off industrial solar array. What
was once a quiet, natural landscape is now a stark, lifeless installation of
metal and wire. The wildlife is gone. The view is gone. The quality of life is
gone,” resident Dominic Pascucci wrote in a letter to the Siting Council, which
is scheduled to take up Desri’s project on Thursday.
“Meanwhile, my property value will most likely drop, yet I’m
still expected to pay the same inflated property taxes based on a prior
assessment—one that no longer reflects the reality of what’s next door. In
essence, I’m being penalized for someone else’s profit,” he wrote. “To make
matters worse, the energy generated by this massive project doesn’t even serve
our community—it’s sold out of state. Those of us living in the shadow of this
development get none of the benefit and all of the burden.”
Homeowner Christina Dahl said this week that hundreds of
residents are frustrated.
“I guess you can say we are now officially a power
plant/utility and no longer a town,” she said. “We need our state leaders to
realize we as a town should not have to carry the load for renewal energy in
the state.”
Waterbury's North Side Firehouse renovation project estimated to cost $5.5 million
WATERBURY — City officials estimate that a full renovation
of Fire Station 1 on North Main Street will cost $5.5 million.
The city administration is asking the Board of Aldermen to
approve an additional $6.7 million in city bonding to pay for the North Side
Firehouse project, upgrades to several other firehouses, and preliminary costs
related to the replacement
of Fire Station 5 on East Main, including property acquisition.
The bonding request and a second one for $6
million for funding renovations to the city-owned One Exchange Place
building will be subjects of two public hearings before Monday's Board
of Aldermen meeting set for 5:44 p.m. and 5:51 p.m. Aldermen could approve the
bond issues at the regular meeting to follow. It will take 11 affirmative votes
to approve each one.
Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. reminded the Board of Aldermen
that Fire Station 1 is the next up in the ongoing program to update the city's
nine firehouses when he submitted the $6.7 million bonding request at its May 5
meeting.
In 2021, the Board of Aldermen approved an initial $1.3
million bond authorization for the fire station upgrades. The city
administration reported that since then it was determined Fire Station 1
requires substantial renovations.
The scope of work for the planned $5.5 million renovation of
Fire Station 1 includes structural repairs, interior renovations, including
living quarters on the second floor, and necessary upgrades to meet safety and
operational standards. The existing firehouse at 1979 North Main St. was
constructed in 1968.
The city accepted requests for proposals from contractors
for the Fire Station 1 project from March 28 to April 29.
The additional $1.3 million of the requested $6.7 million
bond authorization will pay for replacement of the bay doors at Fire Station 10
at 26 Field St. and Fire Station 11 at 740 Highland Ave., kitchen renovations
for Fire Station 4 at 823 Baldwin St., and roof repairs for Fire Station 6 at
431 Willow St.
It will also provide preliminary funding for preparations
for the replacement of Fire Station 5, including property acquisition,
relocation and demolition.
Fire Station 5 at 1956 East Main St. was built in 1927, and
it is not only antiquated and worn down, but also considered functionally
obsolete, according to city officials. It is considered too small to adequately
serve the fire safety needs of East End neighborhoods.
The firehouse can only accommodate a single fire engine, and
the single exit and entrance is at the congested intersection on East Main
Street and Southmayd Road. City officials have also said the existing station
is too confined to meet the personnel needs of the firefighters assigned there.
The Board of Aldermen voted Feb. 24 to authorize the city
administration to acquire the Las Delicias Bakery & Restaurant property at
1980 East Main St. through a negotiated sale or eminent domain for the
planned replacement of Fire Station 5 next door. It is a small 0.21-acre
property with a three-story building constructed in 1926 that consists of
commercial and retail space on the first floor where the bakery is housed and
apartments on the upper two floors. The city last valued the property at
$404,700.
The acquisition of the Las Delicias property would allow for
the construction of a larger firehouse that could accommodate two modern fire
engines, and it would also provide a second means of ingress and egress on
Brookdale Lane, which will allow fire trucks to pull out of the entrance
fronting East Main Steet and loop back on Brooksdale Lane to return
through the rear entrance.