LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “How will a solar farm next door affect the value of my property?” asked Amy Miller of Lake Huntington. The question left John Schmauch, director of Delaware River Solar (DRS), momentarily speechless. Recovering, he said, “I don’t know; but if studies have been done, I’ll try to get that information for you.”

Despite considerable advance publicity, fewer than 30 residents showed up for the June 1 Cochecton Town Board public information and comment session about commercial solar energy production. Most of those who did were landowners with property abutting the site of a proposed 10-acre solar farm on Route 116, opposite the old town hall in Lake Huntington. That farm was proposed by Delaware River Solar (www.delawareriversolar.com), a local company with ties to Xzerta Energy Group (www.xzertaenergy.com), an affiliate of asset management and financial services firm Auriga Capital Investments, S.L. (ACI). ACI has offices in Madrid, Barcelona and New York City.

Supervisor Gary Maas, himself a licensed real estate agent, offered no additional comment to Miller’s question. But he did say that the primary purpose of the meeting was for residents to ask questions, air opinions and concerns, and make the town board aware of their needs and wants with regard to installations producing solar energy for sale to utilities. At present, the town of Cochecton has no ordinances pertaining to commercial solar energy production; it does, however, have ordinances regulating residential and agricultural solar energy production.

Schmauch and DRS consulting engineer Manuel Folgado fielded about 20 questions regarding all aspects of present-day solar energy production, from site suitability and land clearing to solar panel composition, lifespan and disposal. “There is no noise, odor, or chemical discharge from our solar installations,” said Schmauch. “There are also no floodlights or spotlights at our sites, although small walkway lights are placed at intervals on the ground beneath the panels.”

Asked about hazardous materials contained in solar panels, Schmauch said that had been true of earlier models, but that panels are now made in compliance with U.S. government standards and contain only aluminum, glass, silicon and EVA, a high-grade plastic, all of which are recyclable at the conclusion of a panel’s 25-year lifespan.

Residents were especially curious about site selection, wondering why a site so close to the town’s nerve center (highway department, fire and ambulance departments and town hall) was chosen. Schmauch and Folgado said that it met all site suitability criteria: it was within one quarter mile of a three-phase power connection; it contained no state or federal wetlands; it was already clear-cut and had passed New York State Department of Environmental Conservation drainage and erosion tests; and the landowner has already signed a long-term lease with DRS.

But residents were quick to tell Schmauch and Folgado that the land it is leasing was until recently the fields and pastures of a working dairy farm, subdivided since into residential lots. So the site is not protected by surrounding forest, but is an open expanse onto which their two and three-story homes have unobstructed views. Said one resident, “I retired here from the city for the rural landscapes, not to look out my windows and see acres of solar panels.”