Developers to pitch solar projects in Frankfort

Solar energy projects will be the topic of a meeting of the Frankfort town zoning and planning boards next week.

Developers are interested in siting solar farms in Frankfort, said Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency (DA) Executive Director John Piseck. He said representatives from these groups will be on hand to discuss their proposals and answer questions and concerns.

The meeting is at 6 p.m. Aug. 5 at the Frankfort Town Hall on Third Avenue.

A former dump site and some land — owned by Human Technologies — located across from Industrial Park Drive are among the locations under consideration, Piseck said, noting that all of the sites are in rural areas.

“They’re not going to be in anybody’s backyard,” he said.

If the projects go forward, the IDA would likely offer payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements on parcels that are not providing tax revenue to the town, he said.

No projects can move ahead, however, due to the town’s moratorium on solar farms and battery energy storage projects to allow town officials time to the study the issue and determine any potential impacts. The moratorium was passed in November.

Piseck said battery storage would not be an issue because the power would not be stored.

“It would be going straight into the grid,” he said.

Elsewhere in Herkimer County, a solar project has been proposed on a site located in the towns of Schuyler and Herkimer.