HORTONVILLE — What may be Sullivan County's first commercial solar array not tied to a governmental entity could be operational by this summer.

On Wednesday, after determining the project will not have any significant adverse impacts, the Delaware Planning Board unanimously approved Delaware River Solar's (DRS') application to construct a two-megawatt array on 10 acres just north of Callicoon.

It will be designed to generate electricity to be fed into NYSEG's grid and purchased both locally and regionally.

Though it's colloquially known as the “Baer Road” project, the proposed array was moved last year from its original location along Baer Road to one closer to Lahm Road, in order to resolve neighbors' concerns.

It will now be “minimally visible to the general public,” according to the town's state-required environmental review.

DRS also agreed to a request from neighbors to route all construction traffic down Lahm Road instead of Baer, to never make the array any bigger in footprint (size), to plant only indigenous species of trees and shrubs as a buffer, to use green products to clean the panels and to not employ herbicides.

A question remains, however, on how those stipulations will be monitored and adhered to, as not all of them are town-required.

Delaware Building Inspector Jim McElroy told the Democrat the “Neighbors' Agreement” was included with the official town resolution “for informational purposes only” (as stated in the resolution itself) and is a matter between the neighbors and DRS.

One of those neighbors, Mike Palumbo, called that “unacceptable.”

“Considering the town asked for such a letter to be sent for just that reason, why it is not part of the resolution is suspect,” he told the Democrat. “The whole purpose of this list was to have it add to the unspecific laws in place that the town board purposely left for the planning board to get right. It needs to be there to have the applicant agree and the town enforce these stipulations.”

DRS did agree to honor the neighbors' stipulations in perpetuity - whether it remains the owner/operator or not - but it did not agree to every request.

CEO Rich Winter, who has a Callicoon home, rejected calls for a green or black fence to screen the array, contending that the location is already “well-screened by existing vegetation, proposed vegetation and topography.”

He also agreed to bury transmission lines where possible but argued that, in addition to pre-existing overhead wires, there will be a need to have aboveground lines on a rock slope near Route 97.

“I think the applicant's done a good job in responding to the concerns raised by the neighbors in this case,” assessed Town Planner Tom Shepstone, who guided the planning board in its review of the project.

Winter said after the meeting that he hopes to begin construction within the next two to three months.

“I'm guessing we'll be producing power in July,” he predicted.

In the meantime, DRS will return to the Delaware Planning Board in March for a second commercial solar array off Hospital Road in Hortonville, which continues to generate heated opposition from neighbors.

Planning Board Chairman Terry Zieres isn't sure when the board might vote on that project, noting DRS still has more information to provide.

Details about both the Baer Road and Hospital Road projects - including schematics and town-required analyses - can be found at delawareriversolar.com.