“A swath of land is being cleared along a section of Cotuit Road in South Sandwich to make way for a 4.4 megawatt solar field, which was approved by voters at the 2021 Town Meeting.
The ground-mounted solar array is being built on an 18.8 acre parcel of land at 180 Cotuit Road that will be donated to the town once the solar field is decommissioned. The solar company—AMP Solar Development—has also paid for the permanent preservation of an additional 4.4 acres of town land at Gully Lane and Thicket Run.
Town Manager George H. (Bud) Dunham said that Town Meeting gave the town authorization to: acquire the land and lease it to the solar energy provider for up to 45 years; enter into an agreement with the company for payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) for the property; transfer the care and custody of the land to the conservation commission; and authorize the transfer of several parcels to the town. Those parcels are the land at Gully Lane and Thicket Run.
Mr. Dunham said that the solar lot will eventually be converted into a pollinator-friendly meadow.
The project has the support of the selectmen, the Cape Cod Commission, the Sandwich Planning Board and the Sandwich Conservation Commission.
Per the PILOT agreement, the company will pay the town $6,500 per megawatt for the first year. This will increase at a rate of 2.5 percent annually over a 20-year period for a total revenue to the town of about $730,000.
The selectmen authorized the town to move forward with the PILOT agreement at its meeting on November 3, 2022.”
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Goers, Katie. The Enterprise Sandwich 6 January 2023.