Groton community speaks its mind at town board meeting

The regular monthly Groton Town Board (GTB) meeting on Sept. 10 brought many more community members than usual to its audience, as two public forums — one on Local Law #5 for 2024 Changes to Dog Control Law, and the other on the Delaware River Solar Application (DRSA) for the installation of solar panels on privately owned land on upper South Main Street — gave individuals an opportunity to speak to the GTB about their thoughts or concerns.  

The meeting began with business as usual with various reports, including some very good news from Robin Cargian, town clerk, regarding a $15,000 grant from NYSERDA that was awarded due to the required number of town residents installing heat pumps to qualify for the grant. The funds may be used for a future project promoting energy efficiencies.

No one from the audience spoke about Local Law #5, which was passed unanimously by the board, but some significant changes to section 16 of the law, pertaining to increases in penalties for convictions of violations to the law, were noted. A first infraction will be subject to a $40 penalty, a second infraction $80, and a violation of three or more times shall be punishable by a fine of $160 or imprisonment for not more than 15 days, or both. The entire law is available at Dog Licenses & Control (townofgrotonny.org).

Groton resident Barry Siebe, 800 S. Main St., was the first to speak during the DRSA public forum, stating his concern that, “It is hard to see where things are on the site plan. The pictures are not clear. I don’t know where the site screen would be, but it will directly affect me and my property.”

Dan Carey, a longtime Groton dairy farmer, expressed great concern and urged the GTB to reject this or any solar installations on tillable farmland.

“Foremost for agricultural producers is the loss of prime farmland,” Carey said. “The New York State Office of Renewable Energy has identified classes of soil which are exempt from solar construction. In my opinion, any soil which a farmer is growing crops on should be exempt from solar construction. People have to eat, whether it is fruit or vegetable land or crop land for growing crops to feed to animals that produce meat or milk. This clashes with the rights of that particular landowner, who should have complete control of their property, but those landowners could be facing penalties for converting farmland to solar. Also, solar companies are offering high rental rates that entice landowners to invest in solar rather than try to grow corn and soybeans.”

Carey also cited his concerns about visual impacts and noise, reflections from panels and that increased lighting may decrease property values and lead to less investment in the community, as well as human health risks from leaking or breakage of panels from severe weather events due to the heavy metal content in the panels that are classified as hazardous waste.

“Habitat degradation by land clearing can create enormous challenges in terms of soil loss through erosion,” Carey also stated. “Exposing soil which has been overgrown with trees for many generations can pose significant challenges for adjacent landowners and residents. Trees which have been growing and harvested for lumber or firewood are being destroyed, but New York state Gov. [Kathy] Hochul has proposed planting 25 million new trees by the year 2033. Why don’t we suspend destroying forest lands in the name of solar? Wildlife habitats are also affected by these actions and quite often create collateral issues by their displacement. All this investment of green taxpayer dollars for solar could be used to upgrade a very fragile national electric grid instead.”

Margo Martin, superintendent of the Groton Central School District and Groton resident, spoke next in support of Carey, as she stated that, “This is not an argument against solar power, but I am against taking farmland for it. The current political agenda is creating a problem of food scarcity.”

Monica Carey stepped up to express her concern regarding water runoff and how that might affect the neighborhood.

“I have great concerns about radiation and about fires from lithium batteries,” said Steve Breeds of 213 Spring St. “I also don’t think we should be taxing our fire personnel if these things happen. There’s just too much going on. The board needs to look into this a lot harder before making its decision!”

Mollie Messenger, one of the representatives of Delaware River Solar, stated that the proposed solar arrays do not have lithium batteries and hook into the existing power grid.

“So, if a power outage occurs, it won’t work,” said Peter Bennedy of 319 Barrows St. “It doesn’t sound like there are any benefits to the town, so why are we doing it, and why isn’t it a public vote?”

David Swanson, 786 Champlin Rd., asked, “If this isn’t government funded, then where is the money coming from?”

Board member Crystal Youngs emphasized that the GTB “can’t tell landowners what to do.” Board member Rick Gamel added that the GTB is not able to vote on whether or not the project can proceed.

“Essentially, we can’t say `no’ to this project,” Gamel said, “but we can vote on the SEQR [State Environmental Quality Review] of it, and if that does not meet with expectations, we would not approve it.”

Town attorney Fran Casullo mentioned that the Groton town engineer, Tim Buhl, would be meeting  for the first time with Delaware River Solar’s engineer the day after the Sept. 10 GBT meeting. Casullo also mentioned that the project would not be able to begin until 60 days after the GTB were to approve the project’s application, and that the board would not resolve whether or not the application is complete until Oct. 8.

The next monthly GBT meeting will be held on Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m., but there is no public hearing portion scheduled.  

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at 607-227-4922. 

In brief:

Groton Community Band

The Groton Community Band started its second fall season at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11. Rehearsals take place in the Groton Jr./Sr. High School band room every Wednesday from 6 to 7 p.m. 

All ages and levels are still welcome. There are no fees — the band is sponsored by the 21st Century Grant — and no auditions. It is a great place to have some fun, make new friends and make music, even if all you can do is get a few notes in. So, dust off those instruments and show up!

Groton Community Choir

Groton Community Choir director, Ginny Casey, is sounding the call for interested singers to participate in the 74th season of this popular choir group. Rehearsals will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, and will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. every Tuesday thereafter at the Groton Assembly of God church building, 701 S. Main St.

Minimum age for choir members is 14, and Casey is calling for all former members, as well as anyone new, to come out and be a part of this musical tradition. It is not necessary for members to reside in Groton; all who love to sing with others are welcome. The main performances will be held Dec. 6 through 8, so being available those days is necessary.

What happened to Ish?

Joy Foster’s pet African spurred tortoise, Ishkibble (Ish), did ride aboard the classic 1985 blue Chevrolet truck sponsored by Zach Street Designs in the Groton Olde Home Days parade, but for those who were looking for Ish at the end of the parade and missed him, it is because the truck had a belt break in front of the First National Bank of Groton! Foster sent word that a redemption ride in the parade is planned for next year!