Building permit fee for community solar project
During Public Communication, Harvard Solar Gardens organizer Worth Robbins addressed Selectmen, asking for reconsideration of the building permit fee for the ground-mount photovoltaic solar system to be installed in the solar overlay district on Ayer Road. Robbins explained that the permit application had been filed using the solar panels permit application form established last year for projects built under the Solarize Mass program, but the fee of nearly $17,000 had been based on the rate for commercial construction, $12 per $1,000 of construction cost.
Robbins stated that the community shared solar project had not expected the fee for a single system ($125 for a building permit plus $36 per electrical inspection), but, given the shared solar system is an aggregation of 40 individual systems, had expected a fee based on a multiple of the single system fee.
After brief discussion among the board members, debating whether community solar should be part of a comprehensive review of all permit fees, Chairman Lucy Wallace asked selectmen Tim Clark and Marie Sobalvarro to work with Town Administrator Tim Bragan to recommend direction.
