The Haverhill Conservation Commission is expected to give the final go-ahead Thursday to a proposed 6,000-panel solar farm off Amesbury Line Road.
Members held off giving approval to Solar Smart of Summerville, S.C., at its last meeting when a last-minute change came forward. East Haverhill resident and retired firefighter Tyler C. Kimball suggested a compromise involving land owned by Albert Duchemin. Conservation Commission Vice Chair and Community Liaison Ralph T. Basiliere told WHAV the nature of the change.
“It’s a different road. So, instead of the road crossing and encroaching upon wetlands, coming close to wetlands, there’s an alternative road that goes to Mr. Duchemin’s house,” he said.
Basiliere, Kimball, Conservation Commissioner Thomas Wylie, Environmental Health Technician Robert E. Moore Jr. and developer’s engineer Kyle Bouchard were among those that negotiated the plan during a site visit last Thursday. Basiliere called it a “great breakthrough” after neighbors and the developer at first did not see eye-to-eye.
“The proposal by Mr. Kimball is better for the wetlands because there is no disturbance and that all parties are in agreement,” Basiliere explained.
The two-megawatt array would be located on 18.6 acres of land owned by Theodore Xenakis at 139 Amesbury Line Road, near Whittier Regional Vocational Technical School.
The Haverhill Conservation Commission meets Thursday, Oct. 28, at 7:15 p.m., online.