Town reviews second bidder to create solar array at former landfill

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. » The town is reviewing a proposal from Hesp Solar LLC of Montvale, N.J., for installation of a solar array at the former New Paltz landfill.

Sol Systems of Arlington, Va., last year proposed paying about $200,000 plus a lease amount to install the system. But town Supervisor Neil Bettez said the amount was reduced to less than $50,000 following a site review by the company. “We’ve gone onto the second bidder (Hesp) because the first bidder made an initial offer, and ... [af

ter] they came and looked at the site, the amount they had originally offered they decreased substantially,” Bettez said. “It was enough where they were below what the second bidders had offered.”

Bettez said Hesp has proposed paying more than $50,000 plus a lease amount.

The town initially sought to construct a 5-megawatt system on about 20 acres of the 189-acre former landfill property, and provide enough electricity for about 1,300 homes.

Sol Systems, which had not visited the site before submitting its bid, was asked to reduce the size of array.

“We asked them to reduce the size because some of the board members were concerned about cutting down trees,” Bettez said. “We reduced the size of the area by 25 percent but they reduced their payment to the town by 75 percent. We felt it wasn’t proportional.”

The solar project still must be approved by the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency because it paid the town to close the landfill and still provides services at the site, such as mowing and leachate monitoring.

Authorization also will be needed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.