Petition signatures against massive solar array in rural CT town top 1,100

Don Stacom 

Residents looking to block an expansion of a huge solar array on East Windsor farmland got a boost Wednesday when the town’s legislative delegation put out a bipartisan statement slamming the proposal as damaging and unwelcome.

“The people in the town have spoken clearly and loudly at all levels,” state Sen. Saud Anwar said at the Legislative Office Building. “Our message is clear: Reject this expansion … do not allow our community in East Windsor to be overlooked again.”

Anwar, a Democrat, along with Democratic Rep. Jaime Foster and Republican Rep. Carol Hall issued a call for the Connecticut Siting Council to reject a request from Desri Holdings L.P. to approve more than 150 additional acres in East Windsor for solar arrays.

Residents and town leaders argue that East Windsor and a few other sparsely populated towns with large quantities of farmland are being forced to carry most of the weight of renewable energy for the state and beyond.

“Achievement of the state’s renewable energy goals should be the responsibility of the entire state, not just a few rural towns,” Town Attorney Robert DeCrescenzo wrote last month on behalf of selectmen.

If the state approves the expansion, East Windsor would end up with a total of more than 1,100 acres consumed for solar energy. Much of the expansion would be near residential areas, which would harm existing owners’ ability to enjoy their homes, he wrote.

More than 1,100 people have signed an online petition against the project, warning “Our town’s rural identity, scenic views, and peaceful neighborhoods are incompatible with large-scale solar development. The proposed expansion would industrialize beloved green space and diminish property values.”

Solar panels in a field in East Windsor. (Don Stacom/The Hartford Courant)

Desri, a New York-based renewable energy company, contends the expansion will provide
“cost effective, stably priced, renewable energy to Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island customers,” saying it would deliver power to high-demand centers including Hartford, Providence and western Massachusetts.

The company has approval for a 120-megawatt project, and is asking the Siting Council to approve an additional 30 megawatts.

“Upon completion, the expansion will deliver affordable, renewable energy to customers in Connecticut – producing enough clean energy to power approximately 4,500 homes in central Connecticut and beyond,” the company says.

Desri advertises that it has solar and wind projects across 22 states generating enough power for nearly 2 million homes.

“Our commitment to a sustainable future is reflected in our ongoing engagement with the East Windsor community throughout all stages of the project,” according to Desri’s webpage.

But residents and the state delegation disagree.

“We along with our first selectman, Jason Bowsza, stand united to deliver a clear message to the Siting Council that our community will not be ignored. The Gravel Pit Solar Project must be stopped,” Anwar said. “I have yet to come across any person who is in favor of this expansion, not a single one.”

The expansion wouldn’t include only farmland; part of the area is forest, and Desri plans to clear 46 acres of trees.

Neighbors say that’s not acceptable.

“I moved here for the open space, the farms, and the peace of rural living — not to live beside a fenced-off industrial solar array. What was once a quiet, natural landscape is now a stark, lifeless installation of metal and wire. The wildlife is gone. The view is gone. The quality of life is gone,” resident Dominic Pascucci wrote in a letter to the Siting Council, which is scheduled to take up Desri’s project on Thursday.

“Meanwhile, my property value will most likely drop, yet I’m still expected to pay the same inflated property taxes based on a prior assessment—one that no longer reflects the reality of what’s next door. In essence, I’m being penalized for someone else’s profit,” he wrote. “To make matters worse, the energy generated by this massive project doesn’t even serve our community—it’s sold out of state. Those of us living in the shadow of this development get none of the benefit and all of the burden.”

Homeowner Christina Dahl said this week that hundreds of residents are frustrated.

“I guess you can say we are now officially a power plant/utility and no longer a town,” she said. “We need our state leaders to realize we as a town should not have to carry the load for renewal energy in the state.”

Waterbury's North Side Firehouse renovation project estimated to cost $5.5 million

Paul Hughes

WATERBURY — City officials estimate that a full renovation of Fire Station 1 on North Main Street will cost $5.5 million.

The city administration is asking the Board of Aldermen to approve an additional $6.7 million in city bonding to pay for the North Side Firehouse project, upgrades to several other firehouses, and preliminary costs related to the replacement of Fire Station 5 on East Main, including property acquisition.

The bonding request and a second one for $6 million for funding renovations to the city-owned One Exchange Place building will be subjects of two public hearings before Monday's Board of Aldermen meeting set for 5:44 p.m. and 5:51 p.m. Aldermen could approve the bond issues at the regular meeting to follow. It will take 11 affirmative votes to approve each one.

Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. reminded the Board of Aldermen that Fire Station 1 is the next up in the ongoing program to update the city's nine firehouses when he submitted the $6.7 million bonding request at its May 5 meeting.

In 2021, the Board of Aldermen approved an initial $1.3 million bond authorization for the fire station upgrades. The city administration reported that since then it was determined Fire Station 1 requires substantial renovations.

The scope of work for the planned $5.5 million renovation of Fire Station 1 includes structural repairs, interior renovations, including living quarters on the second floor, and necessary upgrades to meet safety and operational standards. The existing firehouse at 1979 North Main St. was constructed in 1968.

The city accepted requests for proposals from contractors for the Fire Station 1 project from March 28 to April 29.

The additional $1.3 million of the requested $6.7 million bond authorization will pay for replacement of the bay doors at Fire Station 10 at 26 Field St. and Fire Station 11 at 740 Highland Ave., kitchen renovations for Fire Station 4 at 823 Baldwin St., and roof repairs for Fire Station 6 at 431 Willow St.

It will also provide preliminary funding for preparations for the replacement of Fire Station 5, including property acquisition, relocation and demolition.

Fire Station 5 at 1956 East Main St. was built in 1927, and it is not only antiquated and worn down, but also considered functionally obsolete, according to city officials. It is considered too small to adequately serve the fire safety needs of East End neighborhoods.

The firehouse can only accommodate a single fire engine, and the single exit and entrance is at the congested intersection on East Main Street and Southmayd Road. City officials have also said the existing station is too confined to meet the personnel needs of the firefighters assigned there.

The Board of Aldermen voted Feb. 24 to authorize the city administration to acquire the Las Delicias Bakery & Restaurant property at 1980  East Main St. through a negotiated sale or eminent domain for the planned replacement of  Fire Station 5 next door. It is a small 0.21-acre property with a three-story building constructed in 1926 that consists of commercial and retail space on the first floor where the bakery is housed and apartments on the upper two floors. The city last valued the property at $404,700. 

The acquisition of the Las Delicias property would allow for the construction of a larger firehouse that could accommodate two modern fire engines, and it would also provide a second means of ingress and egress on Brookdale Lane, which will allow fire trucks to pull out of the entrance fronting East Main Steet  and loop back on Brooksdale Lane to return through the rear entrance.