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MILLBURY, Mass. - The Millbury Planning Board has approved a Site Plan Review Permit and Stormwater Management Permit for the Solar Farm Project located on McGrath Rd.
Victus Solar Company is headed up by President Gus Abalo, and their plan is now approved with extensive conditions, although most of them are mere formality.
The McGrath farm sits on 60 acres on top of a hill at the end of McGrath Road. The plan is put a photovollaic solar panel array on 24 of those acres. Each array is an aluminum frame that sits 3-4 feet off the ground. Once the panels are in place, Abalo has said, the total height of the panels would be about 8 of 9 feet.
The land is already about 50 to 60 percent cleared, and clearing the remaining land and construction would only take about three months once the spring thaw occurs.
The site will generate approximately 6 megawatts of electricity, and the developers have been in talks with National Grid to improve approximately seven miles of lines in the area.
The conditions according to Town Planner Laurie Connors and documents provided specify some needed emergency shutdown procedures to the Emergency Management Director and to the Millbury Fire Department as well as a schematic of shutting down the solar photovoltaic cells has to be on-site at the facility as well. And only FR3 or other biodegradable cooling liquid shall be used in the inverter transformers.
Hours of operation during the construction phase are limited to 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Friday and 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday.
What exactly "doesn't smell right", that a company in FL wants to expand its business? Dig a little deeper how?
Its a privately owned and operated company, they are putting solar arrays up in places where they aren't plentiful and offering to power 700 homes in the area cheaper than the alternative. And doing it using a piece of land that is vacant....where are the negatives?