[Music] Good evening everyone. Today is June 26, 2025. The time is 6 p.m. and this is the Aushna planning report.
This meeting is being recorded for future viewing on the town's YouTube page uh on the cable channel, town's cable channel, and we are live via Zoom tonight. Can I get a motion to open the planning board meeting? Motion to open
the meeting. Second. All in favor? I. Uh we have a full board tonight. Can we introduce ourselves? Uh Victoria Albaro from Peter Ga member. Steve Bush, member. Mark Francois, chairman. Brian Damps, member. Rick Ellis, vice
chairman. Okay. Um, minutes. Uh, we were all sent the minutes from the June 10th meeting. Uh, everybody but Steve was in attendance. Did anybody have a chance to
look these over? Comments, questions, concerns? I make a motion to accept the minutes from June 10th. I have a motion. I'll second it. All in favor? I I thank you.
Next uh discussion. A request for a minor modification from 540R Main Street, Map 11, Lot 10. applicant TJA Solar Clean Energy, owner
Matteline and Richard Gabush, uh, Representative Asa Smith from Atlantic Design Engineering. The scope of the work is requesting the relocation of an equipment pad to the outer array area and the removal of the
interior access road. Anybody here from TJA Solar? Please introduce yourself. How you doing? My name is Ed Schwitzer. Um I'm actually with Catalyze. We own the project. Um TJ was the original applicant. Um and we've been working
with Atlantic on this change. I'm just going to share my screen. There we go. So we're here to discuss a 2.7 megawatt AC solar project uh as you said at 540R Main Street in a Kushnid. Um brief project overview.
Uh so just some sizing characteristics like I said 2.7 megawatts AC uh 2 megawatts 4 megawatt hour battery. Uh the project company is uh as you indicated TJA 540R Main Street Solar Kushnet LLC. Um down to the permitting
the special permit and the stormwater management per uh permit was approved uh back in 20 August of 2021. uh we met last year and extended it on 88. Um so it's valid through it's actually valid through 2026 now because
of the um omnibus um bill that that was passed uh earlier. Uh the wetland approvals from the conservation commission uh we confirmed that uh last week that they're still valid through June of next year. Uh the interconnection application was
submitted in 2018. The ISA was executed in 2023. We acquired the project from TJA in 2020 at the end of 2021 and the smart uh award was issued in 2023. Uh and as I said, the uh current request is
a dimminimous change to the site plan that involves uh removing a u the interior access road and shifting the equipment pad uh to align with the uh perimeter road. Uh, as far as the project and the path forward, um, the
conservation restrictions, so there's, uh, protected species of turtle on the site. We've been working with the state on all of the permitting, uh, required for that. We're hoping to have that closed out by the end of this year. Uh, we're continuing on with our MEPA approvals. Uh we want to that's part of
the reason why we're here tonight is to finalize or to get this site plan approved so we can finalize our engineering to then go and apply for MEA. Uh we're expecting to apply for the building permit early next year. Um we've you know all indications from
Eversource is that the line upgrades uh for interconnection should be complete uh in the first half of next year and we're expecting to hit COD on the project by the end of next year. Um, so what I have here is the originally approved site plan. In
the red uh rectangle there is the location of the uh access road that we're requesting to be removed. Uh, as you can see, there's three small equipment pads uh that will also be relocated. Um, and then this is the updated version. Sorry, it's the line
way's a little dark on that, but as you can see, we've removed the um interior road and we've consolidated the equipment pads and just moved them over to the east side of the site there. Um so that's why I'm here tonight is to, you know, request this change so we can
finalize our um site plan and our engineering and move forward with with me this year. Does this project have So you're eliminating the center access road, but does it have an access road all the way around? Yeah, you can see
the dark area just on the inside of the fence. It was required by, I believe, the fire department. So, uh, as one of the conditions of the original site plan, it's eliminating the road that was accessing the Exactly. in the middle. And it doesn't change the system size at all. It's just a more efficient way of
of using site and you know less less pvious service or impervious service sorry now if I remember correctly and correct me if I'm wrong there were issues with drainage at the front of this property
near the entrance way. Am I correct? Um, I don't think so because we had to we we had our storm water management plan approved by um this board back in 2021. We haven't deviated from that plan.
Oh, if I may, I got a question here. Now, are we changing the size? No size as originally. No, it's just a we're shifting some stuff around, right? the amount of the amount of megawatts generated from this from here. I see all the all the panels have all gone
basically perpendicular to the original one. The layout's different looking at if I'm looking at this correctly. Yeah, we went from a um fixed hill to a tracker. So you went from a fixed panel to a tracker. So the panels move. Yes.
Okay, just a little um but the overall system size megawatt AC is um consistent between the two. This one says 4.3, right? Yeah. Uh the 4.3 I think is DC and then
at AC it's 2.7. We've we've reduced the overall size um AC since the originally approved plan, but there's there's no difference in system size from what is here
and what is here. Physical size, correct? Generation size is different. It's been reduced. What's that? It's been reduced. It's been reduced. Yeah. Now, I know it's not with us, but I know had you had something with conservation.
Did you have like a a pond or a vernal pool or something in the middle of the site at one time? Did that get resolved or is that still No, all the wetlands are to the eastern part of the site um east of of the fence line. And then there's a a small conservation area.
It's that hatch down at the bottom. Gotcha. I thought there was something right in the middle, but again, that's not without them. And you've gotten approval from fire and police for this? Yeah, they they said
they were okay. Uh earlier this week or late last difference is a minor change. We reduced the uh looks like it's significantly reduced from 4.3 to 2.7. Both 4. What's the What did it get
reduced to? I'm sorry. I So I the 4.3 I think is DC and I'm giving No, going by AC. Yeah, I'm going by AC. So it So staying with just AC, did it get reduced or increased at all? No, it didn't get it. It was reduced. It was reduced.
Yeah. By how much? So the original um the original interconnection application was for five me 5 megawatts AC. Then that got reduced and then the what we're at now is 2.7. That's a significant change.
But the size of the array didn't change. We we opted to go with the trackers which require larger inner row spacing. So you have less panels. Yeah, panels. Gotcha. So we we've worked within the approved
footprint and it's just a matter of us trying to optimize kind of what our output is based on what the interconnection costs are which for this area are very high and versus you know what we can do with the site and this is what we came up with.
Now does that affect I don't know if you already had a glare study done. I know if the panels are stationary you get a glare study. Do you still do study when they're tracking? Uh, we have to get all of our FAA approvals. Yeah. Okay. Questions, gentlemen?
I mean, seems like a relatively minor change. I'll entertain a motion. We make a motion to approve the minor change as submitted to go with the reduction of the interior access road,
the relocation of the equipment to the side and the reduction in array output to 2.7 megawatt. AC. A second. AC.
I got a motion. I got a second. All in favor? I I I unanimous. Thank you. Thank you. Yep. You guys have a good night. All right. Move right along.
Public hearing. Continued site plan review and special permit of 211 middle road map 23 lot 29 29A 29B applicant Rewild Renewables LLC representative is B Thomas Inc.
Scope of the work is a proposed 6 megawatt solar photo volic development. Introduce yourself please. Good evening board. Zachary Farcus Rewild Renewables. With me Greg Samson and Dan Feny on the project team from Sullivan and Worcester
and Fields and Thomas um here talking about the 211 Mil Road solar project. Um been going on for quite some time. I know the board's up to speed and Victoria's up to speed, but for those watching, um the property is a 55 acre property off Middle Road. It's home to
the White Dairy Farm operations as well as some other industrial uses along the eastern portion of the site. The western and central portion of the site houses approximately a 30 acre field on which we have proposed about half of it being
utilized for a solar project. Um, we've been working on this project since March of 2018 where similar to many projects in the area, it's been delayed and delayed and delayed by the utilities study process. Um, that study process kind of broke toward the fall of 2024
and we saw that they were finally going to get through their studies and we kicked this project kind of into gear from an entitlement standpoint. We started with conservation commission and going through the ANRAD OAD process to lock in the wetland lines in May of 2024
and that kind of created our developable area and showed us where on the field we could set the array and where our setbacks setbacks had to be etc. Um, we submitted our notice of intent to conservation commission along with the application materials to planning board
in September of 2024. And as you guys are aware, we've gone through five rounds of peer review with Bill Madden and his team at GAF Engineering. um this board as well as conservation directed us to work with people um through this
whole process to really really engineer this project so that it was going to perform in the field exactly how we expected to perform on paper and in the reports. We talked at some of the early meetings about how some projects did not perform in the field as expected and we really went with the belt and suspenders
approach. It took a long time. There was a lot of tweaking, but um we really appreciate Bill Madden and his team's efforts to make sure um bylaws, storm water requirements, etc. were all met or exceeded. And um happy to say that we
did so. This board along with other awards in town, conservation commission and the board of health should have received on or about June 17th a clearance letter from Bill commenting that this final plan set you have in front of you. I believe it's dated June 9th um meets or exceeds all the all the
requirements um from not only a bylaw standpoint but a storm water standpoint. Um there were a number of plan changes that were very very um engineering heavy over the last 8 months, but there's a couple items I'll point as I see you
guys looking at the plan set. Um the first is the burm and fence um that we're using for screening was expand expanded very slightly at the northern portion. Bill Bill noted that there was a couple um folks at the very top of Rhonda Drive um on the new Bedford side of the property that might not have been
screened properly. So you'll see that Burm's been extended by a few yards. Um we also continued to increase our gravel road to meet fire standards. We ended up with a 20 foot road. Um pretty big site, right? A 20ft circular road around it
creates a lot of impervious surface. Um so every time we touch something, we had to go back through what is a four or 500page storm water report to rerun that. And that was really the cause of a lot of the the iterations we worked through with with uh Bill and GAF. Um so
we got there, you'll see the the main basin that's um just at the old golf course driving range area um was expanded by about 40% from the original drawing. Might be hard to catch with your eye right now, but that basin has really been designed to meet or exceed
ex exceed all the storm water standards that we need on site. Um, also the engineering team at Beiels and Thomas came up with a really interesting way to utilize the smaller area of class C soils on site. Um,
you'll see about midway through the site right here, we've got a series of 12-in depressions that spill over into each other to really slow the water, hold the water, and allow these city soils in this area to to take back some of that
ground water. the rest of the site is almost wholly class D does not do a good job taking water. So that's where we spent a lot of time on the basins. Um finally we had a storm water man that ran right through the field that
serviced uh the plumbing company that's just north of the white um dairy operations. We were originally going to build around that storm water um or excuse me that uh sewer main, but Bill really wanted us to move it so that we had full access to it and just in case
the owners needed to service it. So that um that sewer is going to be moved into the road. That sewer line will be moved into our access road. There'll be manhole covers. It'll be fully accessible at any time um should it need any servicing. There hasn't been anything, but you never know. So that
was a big change. Um and then as I said a number of small small items that were iterated on multiple times through the process through the eight months working through the five peer review letters. Um but I wanted to highlight those couple items just so you guys could see um you
know what the material changes were from that first iteration in September to this final iteration that's dated in June. Um those are the notes I have. Um, but ultimately we we told you guys that first meeting that we were going to do
everything we could to to engineer this pro this project to the best of our ability and I'm I'm pretty happy with how we came out and um it was a challenge to get through a lot of the peer review but I think it made for a better project and a project that takes into account all the stakeholders that we have here. So, I appreciate your
patience as we work as we work through it, but it's my hope that uh after any discussion with the board or the public, we can we can close this hearing and get moving toward construction. I'm looking at these infiltration cells that you've got on the left hand side
here, sir. So, they're just basically small basins basically and the panels are going in them as well. over them probably the better way to say it. But yeah, all we'll have is the the racking system that got erector set on there will just be a little bit longer. It's it looks like a lot visually when you
look at the plants, but um we're talking about 12 in and it's it's really just meant to really slow that water. They spill into each one depending on the level of storm that we get. But um you know, it was uh it was something Bill really pushed for. I think we were looking for to just let those soils
work. Um, but that system really helps just keep that water there as opposed to sheet flowing onto some of those D soils. You extended the burm. Um, remind the board and everybody else how big is the burm? It's an 8ft burm with a 10ft fence on
top and we uh extended it. It was originally just in line with that northern fence. And so we we only extended it a bit more. There's two properties up here um just on the north side of that culde-sac off Phillips Road that Bill was
concerned that they could kind of see just around that corner. So we pushed it up another couple yards. You have a 20 foot access for it all the way around. Not out of the graciousness of our heart. It's a lot. And that and that
amount of impervious surface was one of the main things that contributed to the, you know, our challenges on the storm water side. But what do you mean the fire? And you got you got an okay for the 10 foot high stockade fence. You got the
approval from Bill. Bill. Well, well, it finally comes down to Andy now to approve that fence. Is cuz it's got the engineer. We provided you guys with an engineering spec. We hired a structural engineer to
put together the spec. I think we talked about this the last time I was here. You know, anything could be engineered, right? Um, so he put together what he would do to build it. Um, so that was in there just to to give you guys a frame of reference, but yes, it'll all go to the building department. It'll have to,
you know, meet the structural standards, be stamped by a structural engineer, etc. But that um kind of standalone design that we put together is very simply likely what we'll what we'll go with. So, it's a dirt burm with a fence on top. There's no type of vegetative
screening at all. And there's a lot of grass back there. And so, um, this site, like many of the sites we do, gets a a pollinator seed mix that has, you know, a big variety of wild flowers and other kind of pollinating, um, native species.
So, we'll likely plant that on both sides. It'll be obviously mowed two, three times a year on the project side, but it won't be touched on that side. So, it will grow. It will grow quite quite quickly, quite high. Um, so no landscaping per se, but sometimes a line
of Charlie Brown Christmas trees right there might not be as visually appealing as just letting it kind of take. I agree. Big bird. How tall are the panels? Uh, they're about 9 ft at the um at the highest
point, the backside. So, we're well over there. The the reason why they're so much higher is we wanted to not only screen from the first floor windows, but from the second floor as well. Well, I I do know that bill is quite uh thorough.
If it's past 3GF, then like I guess he does quite a thorough job. And one thing I didn't mention in the kind of opening opening discussion is we were here last night in front of the conservation commission who has jurisdiction obviously over storm water as well as wetlands protection and they
approved the project last night. So, um, again, I know this board's focused on storm water as well generally, but, um, that board went through it in some detail with us and we we closed and approved last night. No, it's good to know. Thank you. Um, I is there a maintenance? You're
going to put a wood fence, stockade fence on the top. Is that that's the plan, right? Yeah, it's you know, I call it a maintenance program for that fence. I mean, they don't uh for some reason I don't see stockage fence last like they used to. You know, they good they um
you're putting in a I guess a quality something decent instead of you know the Home Depot stockate fence. It's you know it's only about that thick. Yeah, I'd say I'd say the simple answer is yes. Um but the more complicated answer is the bylaw requires me to screen this
property or this project. So, in the event if a portion of the fence did fail, you'd be able to see through it and we wouldn't be in compliance and so we'd have to repair it. Are there shies in place for anything regarding the fencer?
Um, there's going to be a condition of the project um to provide $75,000 for the period of 5 years. So, we hold it for 5 years um for the screening of the project. Any questions, gentlemen? So, the that
screening burm is 6 ft high and a 10t high fence on top of that. 8 and 10. I thought it was an 8 foot high. 8 and 10. Is that eight and 10? 8 and 10. That's a substantial screen. Yeah.
It is. I don't know if there's anybody out in Zoom that wants to talk [Music] and here in the audience I don't see anybody either
questions, comments, concerns. So, what do we vote to accept plans as submitted or what's the next process? So, you'd want to vote if there's no more public comment or or deliberation. You want to vote to close the public hearing and then you would want to make a motion if
you want to approve the project. There's nobody here. Can we get a vote to close the public hearing? Make a motion to close the public hearing. Second. All in favor? I Okay, we've been discussing. Do you have anything else to discuss?
[Music] Other than we got a U construction plan as well. Oh, there's a picture. I didn't even notice there's a picture of the fence on the very back page if anybody's curious,
which I didn't see originally. I'm going to make a motion and accept the plans as submitted and so and go to conditions. Yeah. And go to the conditions for the project. We've got to put those
together, right? Yeah. So, yeah, we I drafted a list of some conditions and then Bill had um like a special condition as well. I don't know if you want to go through them here or Yeah, it would be just so we know what they are.
The public knows what they are. Sure. Yep. Sure. The applicant has also um reviewed this draft as well. Um so standard conditions um the projects will be constructed to conform to the plans and documents
referenced in the documents reference section of this decision. Any substantial modifications to this decision or the approved documents reference must be submitted to the planning board for its determination as to whether the modification constitutes a minor or major modification. If the
board determines that the modification is minor in nature, it may approve the modification without holding a public hearing pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 48 section 11. If anyone has any questions, feel free to stop me as I keep going. The project shall be
constructed in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal permits and regulations and the approval of any other um town department or reviewing board committee. The project shall be construction in compliance with the town of a Kushnet Police and Fire Department standards and regulations and
the applicant shall be responsible for maintaining safe vehicular access to the site to the satisfaction of police and fire throughout all phases of the of the project. Throughout the construction period, the applicant shall maintain the existing travel way and the public right ofway servicing the site to a condition
equal to or better than the pre-existing conditions to the satisfaction of the department of public works or state agency having jurisdiction. Unless otherwise approved by the planning board, the hours of operation during construction shall be Monday through Friday 9 to 6, Saturday 9 to
5:00. for construction of the access road only. Work is limited to Monday through Friday 7:30 to 6:00, Saturday 9:00 to 5:00. Heavy equipment operation will be limited to Monday through Friday 7:30 to 5:00 p.m. and is not allowed on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays without
prior approval of the planning board. The applicant shall provide temporary construction signage on the public rightway servicing the site. Prior to construction, the owner shall schedule a pre-construction meeting with um a few town departments listed in here. Um at
the time of the pre-construction meeting, the contractor shall prepare and submit a schedule of operations, including the anticipated vehicle trip generation on the public rightway to the planning board in the various town departments referenced above. Prior to the issuance of building permit
and the start of construction, the applicant shall provide proof of recording of this decision to the planning board and the building department. This decision is not valid until it has been recorded at the registry of deeds. Victoria, can I pause? Yep. Can you just restate what the hours of operation were for the
construction? I thought I heard 9 to5 for Saturday. What about for Monday to Friday? For Monday through Friday, it's 7 7 to 6:00 p.m. Thank you. Sorry. No, it's okay. I might have misspoke. Sorry. Thank you. Thank you. Just wanted to make sure we No, absolutely. Yeah, feel
free to jump in. Um during construction, the applicant shall conduct daily cleanup of debris. A final asbuilt plan shall be submitted by the applicant after construction is complete. Issuance of a site plan approval by the planning board. Um shall neither be treated as nor deemed to be
approval by the board of health for a permit for the construction use of an individual sewage system, which is not necessary for this one, but it's a standard um condition. A duly authorized agent of the town shall have the right to enter upon the site to ensure continued compliance with the decision.
The applicant shall notify the planning board when the project is substantially complete. So a semi-final inspection of the completed site work can be scheduled. Substantial completion is a stage in the progress of the site work when in the opinion of the planning board is sufficiently complete in accordance with this decision so the
applicant can occupy or utilize the site for its intended use. The planning board reserves the option to require a bond or other shy value of the remaining work as a condition of substantial completion. The permit holder must notify the planning board of any intent to transfer
the permit and make arrangements for the transfer of the bonds or issuance of new bonds. Any failure to notify the planning board shall result in violation of the permit and the issuance of a cease and desist by the zoning enforcement officer. So those are all the standard conditions. Are there any questions about that?
Okay. So the rest are Yes, the rest are project specific. Um, prior to the start of construction, the applicant shall post a bond or shared amount in the form of an escrow agreement or other form acceptable to the town in the amount of $55,536
for the decommissioning of the solar array. And for the um replacement of the landscape screenings um and the fence, uh $75,000. the the applicant will post a bond um or for or other form of shity. We will hold
that for five years following the completion of work shown in the approved plans to the satisfaction of the planning board. Should the bonds uh detailed herein expire, the applicant shall be required to reestablish the bonds within a period of 30 days from
receiving the notice. Um and then the last one is actually related to the fencing. This was the suggestion of Bill from GAF that construction phase drawings specific to the fence post design specifications on the screening fence detail sheet C4.1 should be provided to the planning board
for review and approval prior to the issuance of building permit C4 four. [Music] So, we're going to use the one that's here. The one that's in the picture is truly just a snarky fence, but the one behind it over there in the picture,
this shows 6 in fence boards on on the plan. And when you say picture, you mean the back one on the back detail in the back is just a rendering. That detail was [Applause]
That was all the That was all of it. Yeah. Sure. Good job. Thank you. falls underneath anyways. Yeah. Now, does does do we have um Bill Man going out during construction
at all or I'm I'm not sure as far as as far as as what I put in here, there would be a semi-final inspection. I'm not sure what Concom is going to have done for like the storm water portion of it during the process of construction. Yeah. So I probably set the panels
probably. Yeah. Cuz all your Yeah. All your work will be done except for setting the panels, right? Yeah. Civil work will be started first before we start driving foundations and racks. We are required to have uh third-party inspections of all the erosion and
sedimentation controls under federal permit requirements. Okay. So that is a be the contractor we'll hire someone or the will hire some bills and Thomas to do the weekly inspections for that. Okay. All right. Thank you.
Anything else? No, I'm on my side. Great. We can you just repeat what the motion was to accept to accept the plans uh as submitted
uh with the and then with the conditions. Perfect. All right. We're good. So, did we vote? We got a motion. We got a second. Did we actually vote it? I don't think so. Okay. We got a motion. I got a second. Second. All in favor? I I
unanimous. Victoria, thank you very much. Oh, absolutely. Thank you. So my son Okay. Uh just finishing up here. Next on the agenda is other business.
Uh nothing else came in within the last 48 hours. Uh we have a town planner update on the master plan. Yes, just a a brief update. I just want to inform the board that um the master plan committee has reviewed
some draft goals and strategies um and made some comments back to Serpent um for them to revise. I will be sending those out to the board in case you guys have any comments on it, you know, as a board. Um, and then we will be having a public kind of public uh
engagement event on July 19th. It's a Saturday at Pope's Park. The time is to be determined. I believe there's a tournament or something going on there. So, we either want to kind of go right before or right after, just, you know, not to confuse with the excitement of what's going on there. Um, and that's
that's pretty much it on that end. So, we're getting pretty close. This should be wrapped up um by the end of the year. Do you just repeat the date, please? July 19th. It's a Saturday. It's held outside at P Park. Yes. Okay. Beautiful.
Our next meeting is Thursday, July 17th. Does anybody have any else they'd like to bring up, discuss? If not, I'll entertain a motion. make a motion to uh to adjourn the meeting.
Second. All in favor? I Good night. [Music] [Music]