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Bethel Township supervisors unanimously approved a conditional-use application for four solar farms on two land parcels near Northern Lebanon High School on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
The vote was 2-0 because township supervisor Bruce Light recused himself from the public hearing. Light did so at the advice of township solicitor Andrew Morrow since Light’s farm sits adjacent to the land that will be used for the solar arrays.
The unanimous vote came with five conditions that must be met by SR1 Captura Sage Holdco I LLC, based in San Francisco. SR Captura, commonly known as SR1, is the company that will erect the solar arrays on property leased from local resident Andrew Whitehill.
Read More: California-based developer proposes 4 solar farms on 2 Bethel Township sites
The conditions were read by Morrow prior to the separate votes for each property and after 45 minutes of private deliberations. Attending those deliberations were the two other township supervisors, chairman Richard Rudy and Michael Saphore, Morrow and township zoning officer Jaclyn Hollenbach.
Those five conditions, which apply to properties on the north and south sides of Route 22, include:
- Placement of a mesh covering on the 8-foot chain link fence erected around the arrays.
- The decommission agreement must apply to Whitehill’s successors, heirs, and assigns.
- A glare study must be conducted by the applicant during the land development process.
- The applicant must comply with Bethel Township’s stormwater and land management plan regulations.
- Decommissioning costs will be reviewed every five years and the financials for the decommissioning agreement bond will be increased, as necessary.
The decommissioning of the arrays was a point highlighted during public comment by several local residents, who raised concerns about the properties once the solar panels are no longer operational.
During the reading of the five conditions, Morrow noted after announcing that Whitehill’s beneficiaries would be responsible for decommissioning efforts that “a lot of good points were made by people” during discussion concerning this topic.
The reason the five-year cost review was added to the conditions was due to prices most likely increasing in coming years.
The approximately 16,632 solar arrays, or solar panels, are expected to have a lifespan of up to 50 years, LebTown previously reported.
LebTown, which exclusively covered the hearing, also reported exclusively on Sept. 3 that the lease agreement between SR 1 and Whitehill is for 25 years.
The lease also includes an extension option to renew the agreement for five additional five-year periods, meaning the solar farms could be there for 50 years. The application noted, however, that the life cycle of the panels involved with this project is about 40 years.
The arrays will be erected on just over 25 acres that’s zoned highway commercial district, or an area along a major highway for the sale of goods and services to the community and surrounding region.
During testimony before attorney Micah Bucy of the Harrisburg-based firm Hawke McKeon & Sniscak LLP, Whitehill said his grandfather Clarence Manbeck, a former state senator and owner of Farmers Pride, Fredericksburg, farmed the property for many years. Bucy represented the applicant and the land owner at the hearing.
Whitehill said he was trading one kind of agriculture for another.
“It was important to me to follow through with the legacy of an agriculture senator,” he said. “Now, some people would say that we are taking away the land and developing it, but what we’re actually doing is switching from growing corn to growing kilowatts.”
Whitehill noted other factors driving his decision to enter into an agreement with the solar company.
“I believe it will be of value to the community, help our electric grid to supply clean energy and meet the needs for clean energy in the community,” he said. “After we had settled the estate and I became the owner, I was looking for a way to keep the land in the family, generate revenue and have an overall benefit for the community.”
Whitehill told LebTown during a break in the hearing that he purchased the land from the estate of his grandmother Eve Manbeck, who died at age 101 in 2021, according to Legacy.com.
Whitehill expanded further on the concept of this alternate form of agriculture.
“We’re still using the land in the same way. The sun is providing the energy. We’re merely harvesting it at the time it’s produced and putting it on the grid so that it can be utilized by the community – and that was important to me,” he said. “Land ownership is important and it is also important that I generate revenue to perpetuate ownership in the family.”
Bucy asked Whitehill who’s responsible for the decommissioning and about a letter from local energy supplier FirstEnergy and their refusal to notify township officials if the solar farm goes dark, meaning the array is no longer generating electricity.
While SR1 has agreed to decommission the solar farm, adding it would do so within six months, ultimate responsibility lies with Whitehill as land owner. An exhibit filed with the township contains a letter signed by Whitehill stating he acknowledges he has six months after SR1 would fail to complete decommissioning the solar farm to finish the work himself.
At one point during the hearing and after being asked about it multiple times, Whitehill again acknowledged ownership, stating “the buck stops here.”
LebTown was told after the hearing that a decommission agreement will be developed between SR1, the applicant, Whitehill as landowner, and the township, with specific details still needing to be ironed out.
Hollenbach said the agreement will be written during the land development phase of the project and will have to be approved at a meeting of township supervisors, adding that must occur before site construction commences.
It was noted that the bond amount must total 125 percent of the decommissioning estimate, which Augstin “Gus” Abalo, owner of SR1, told LebTown is a unique requirement.
During the hearing, Bucy methodically examined particular details of the proposed project point by point to ensure compliance with Bethel Township’s solar ordinance, which was enacted by the supervisors in April 2023.
Bucy questioned Abalo and Matt Pierce, principal civil engineer for SWCA Environmental Consultants of Phoenix, Arizona, for answers to his questions. SWCA is the engineering firm that is responsible for developing the project for SR1, and Pierce is based at the company’s branch office in Pittsburgh.
Questions that concerned the developer were asked by Abalo and those applicable to Pierce as project engineer were posed to him. Bucy’s questions covered topics from the height of the panels once installed to the glare and noise that will be emitted from the inverters.
Lebtown previously reported that the application lists the ground arrays at 12 feet off the ground, which is 8 feet below the township’s maximum allowable height of 20 feet. Other notable project requirements include construction of a gravel parking lot and an 8-foot-high fence around each farm, vegetation planting to reduce glare and impervious coverage that will not exceed 50 percent of the land mass for each farm.
Township resident Brian Remper, who said he has children and lives near the north side of the project, expressed numerous concerns, including noise and placement of the arrays in proximity to Northern Lebanon schools.
It was noted that the noise level is 65 decibels at three feet, or one meter, away from the inverters, which are devices that convert direct current electricity from solar panels into alternating current electricity. Each solar farm has its own inverter.
Remper was one of several local residents to voice concerns about the project with others either asking questions about it or, in the case of Timothy Showers, opposing it. Showers said the land is zoned commercial and it would eventually be developed anyway.
Samatha Acri, Fredericksburg, asked a number of questions, such as whether the project would lower electric cost for local consumers and create local jobs during construction and maintenance, among others.
Abalo said one benefit is that the energy would be used locally and address electrical needs, which he believes will become even greater in the future.
Several individuals raised concerns about SR1’s ethics since LebTown reported that the application included a provision to provide learning opportunities for students in the local school district but that the district superintendent knew nothing about the project.
Abalo read an email and asked it be entered into the record noting that Northern Lebanon superintendent Gary Messinger Jr. had written that Abalo’s correspondences had gone into the spam folder of those district personnel he was attempting to contact.
Messinger further says district officials would be happy to meet with Abalo to discuss educational opportunities if the solar project is approved by the township supervisors.
After the vote to grant conditional use, Morrow spelled out next steps, saying he had 45 days to render a written decision. When that’s completed, anyone wishing to oppose the decision has 30 days to file an appeal with the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County.
Morrow informed the approximate 10 township residents who attended the four-hour plus meeting that he will most likely need all 45 days to issue his decision. Once made public, residents can contact the township office to obtain a copy of his report.
During the meeting, Abalo said he projects construction could commence in 9 to 12 months if the conditional-use application is approved.
After the hearing was over, Whitehill told LebTown he was grateful for the township supervisor’s decision and reiterated that he believes the project will benefit the local community.
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