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Town reconsiders plans for solar farm at Calverton landfill

Riverhead Town officials are again considering plans to place a solar farm atop the town landfill on Youngs Avenue in Calverton.

“I was asked to look into dusting off a [request for proposals] that the town had done in 2011,” Town Attorney Bob Kozakiewicz said at a town board work session Thursday.

A Sag-Harbor based company, Long Island Green Energy had proposed installing solar panels at the closed 76-acre landfill in 2011, which prompted the town board to put out a request for proposals to see if other companies were interested.

At the time, Mr. Kozakiewicz said, the project was dependent upon being accepted by PSEG Long Island. “We actually came down to selection of a particular solar facility. They weren’t able to consummate the deal, so that’s why that one fell off the table,” he said.

“I think there were some logistical [issues] with tying in that point,” Councilman Jim Wooten said.

Since then, Mr. Kozakiewicz said companies have revived interest in a solar project at the landfill. There was some expression of interest that based upon improvements in technology, they may be interested in taking a stab at it,” he said.

Mr. Wooten said solar has always been a goal at the landfill. “When the cap was put on, we purposely put three feet of top on that,” he said. “It was designed to accommodate some sort of solar.”

After seeking input from town engineers, Mr. Kozakiewicz said he would draft a resolution to be voted on at an upcoming town board meeting.

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