JAY VINSKEY
WESTFIELD – The City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to approve a 20-year tax agreement with Westfield Solar LLC to construct a 12-acre solar farm at the former J.W. Cowles Construction site located at 219 Russellville Road.
City Advancement Officer Joe Mitchell presented details of the agreement, requested by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, that will give Westfield Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc., a $2,000 tax reduction for the first 10 years of the tax Agreement.
The council approved the agreement that will require Consolidated Edison to pay the city $8,000 a year for the solar farm equipment, which is taxed as personal property, for the first half of the agreement, and then pay $10,000 a year for the last 10 years of the agreement.
Mitchell said the agreement only applies to the solar equipment and that the property owner will continue to pay property taxes at the full rate for that property. The site includes a total of 37 acres.
Mitchell said that the site currently is unsuitable for use because of the presence of construction debris, including 56,000 tons of asphalt from roads, and that Westfield Solar will have to spend more than $300,000 to mitigate.
“This tax agreement is competitive and advantageous for the city because the site is currently an eyesore,” Mitchell said. “Westfield Solar will need to clean the site before the solar array is constructed.”
The project will be required to go before the Planning Board to petition for a special permit and before the Conservation Commission because of the wetlands on the property. The company has yet to file applications with those boards.
Principal Planner Jay Vinskey said the special permit is required because the property is over an aquifer and any development requires a special permit for water resource protection.
Conservation Coordinator Karen Leigh said that she walked the property with representatives of Consolidated Edison and determined that Westfield Solar will have to file with the Conservation Commission because of the number of wetlands which could be impacted.
“There are a number of small isolated wetlands that Wayne created when he was mining sand and dug down into the water table, then left, so we had a preliminary discussion about wetland replication to improve and consolidate wetlands on the property,” Leigh said.
“From a conservation point of view, this is good because we will get more wetlands on the property, but it will be up to the commission to make a final decision,” Leigh said.
Leigh said that the material currently on the site will be ground down and used to level the gourd where the company plans to construct solar farm.
