Facility removal and site restoration
The owner of the solar energy system shall provide for decommissioning of the system, removal of the system components, and restoration of the site upon cessation of operation of the system.
A. The owner of the system shall remove the system and all associated structures and components and restore the site in conformity with the restoration plan approved by the planning board within ninety (90) days of the day the system ceases operation.
B. The applicant shall submit a decommissioning plan with the preliminary plan application for major land development project approval. The decommissioning plan shall include a detailed description of existing site conditions in narrative form, a proposal for site restoration in narrative form, and a detailed estimate of the cost of removal of the system and restoration of the site. The site plan shall show existing conditions as well as proposed development.
(Ord. dated 5-21-24)
C. The administrative officer shall refer the applicant's decommissioning plan to one of the town’s consulting professionals for review and comment. The owner shall be responsible for the cost of the review.
(Ord. dated 5-21-24)
1. The applicant shall make an initial project review fee payment of five hundred dollars ($500) when the land development project application is submitted. Project review fees shall be deposited in a separate interest-bearing account maintained by the finance director. When seventy-five percent (75%) of the initial payment has been spent, the administrative officer may require the applicant to submit additional funds, based on an estimate of the entire cost of the review.
(Ord. dated 5-21-24)
2. When the planning board receives an invoice from a professional for review services rendered, the board shall review the invoice, approve payment if appropriate, and forward the invoice to the finance director.
3. The applicant may ask the administrative officer to refer the review to a different professional if the professional to whom the administrative officer first refers the application is in a position to benefit financially from approval or disapproval of the application; if the professional is not qualified to undertake the review and render an opinion; or if the professional has had a business relationship with the applicant during the previous eighteen months.
(Ord. dated 5-21-24)
4. At any time while the application is pending, the applicant may ask the administrative officer for an accounting of his or her account balance, including fees paid and payments made on invoices.
5. Within twenty-one (21) days after the approved major land development project is recorded in the land evidence records, the administrative officer shall arrange with the finance director to return any unspent balance in an applicant's account, together with any interest earned, to the applicant.
(Ord. 5-21-24)
D. Before a building permit is issued, the owner shall submit the financial guarantee to the finance director in cash or in the form of a surety bond or other secured instrument to insure that funds are available to decommission and remove the solar energy production equipment and restore the site if the owner of the system is unable or unwilling to do so.
1. The financial guarantee shall be payable to the town. The planning board shall determine the amount and the term of the guarantee. The finance director shall approve the form and duration of the guarantee.
2. The town shall have the right to require re-evaluation of the amount of the financial guarantee at least twice during the life of the solar energy system to verify that sufficient funds will be available for removal of the equipment and restoration of the site. At the request of the town planner administrative officer or the finance director of finance, the owner of the solar energy system shall submit a detailed estimate of the cost of removal of the system and restoration of the site. The town planner administrative officer shall refer the applicant's cost estimate to one of the town’s consulting professionals for review and comment. The owner shall be responsible for the cost of the review, and the provisions of Subsection C, above, shall apply to the review. After review of the applicant's estimate and the consultant's comments, the planning board shall have the authority to require an increase in the amount of the financial guarantee if an increase is warranted. The planning board's determination shall be recorded in the land evidence records.
(Ord. dated 5-21-24)
3. Each major land development project approval recorded in the land evidence records shall include, as a condition of approval, the following language: “The Town shall have the right to require re-evaluation of the amount of the financial guarantee at least twice during the life of the solar energy system as provided by Sec. 18.34.030(D) of the code of ordinances, as amended.”
(Ord. dated 7-25-17; Ord. dated 10-15-19; Ord. dated 5-21-24)