Proposals For Solar Panels at Pill Hill to be Considered on Tuesday

Township officials and legal counsel are scheduled on Tuesday to take a look at proposals for placing solar panels at the Pill Hill municipal landfill, a project that has been in the discussion stage for about a year.

The proposals vary greatly in price and the companies which might want to install the panels on a sloping section of the municipal landfill property on Pill Hill Road, said Bruce McArthur, township administrator.

The proposals will be be examined in a closed legal session scheduled for Tuesday night prior to the public Township Committee meeting, McArthur said. "We will discuss our next step with our attorney," he said.

A year ago, solar energy companies had contacted him wanting to install solar panels on the south-facing slopes of the Pill Hill municipal landfill, McArthur said. But the township was unsuccessful in two attempts at seeking, the most recent in August, he said.

Apparently, none of the vendors who had initially contacted the township were willing to commit to a contract under the bid package advertised by the township at that time, he said. By state law, a municipality can negotiate a contract following two failed bid attempts, he explained last summer.

McArthur said he believes some solar panel companies may have been reluctant to bid because the township's first bid proposal  last June requested an up-front payment of $100,000. That required payment was reduced to $15,000 in the August bid package, he said. The project also would require approvals from several agencies, including the state Department of Environment Protection, he said.

A year ago, a consultant hired by the township concluded the municipality could earn money by installing its own solar panels at its sewerage treatment facility, and also by leasing space for another company to install panels at the landfill, McArthur said. He said the township had been hoping to earn about $50,000 a year by leasing the landfill space to an outside vendor.

The township sewerage authority is proceeding with its own completely separate project to install panels to generate electricity at that facility, McArthur said.