Government

Town Hall: PSEG chooses Southold for solar; for-profit triathlon rejected

Cox Lane landfill. (Cyndi Murray photo)
Cox Lane landfill. (Cyndi Murray photo)

Southold’s landfill will soon be the site of a 12-acre solar panel array.

Power Service Electric & Gas (PSEG) Long Island chose the Cutchogue site for the construction of a 2,000-kilowatt solar facility, Supervisor Scott Russell announced Tuesday. 

Poughkeepsie-based firm SunEdison will lease the land from the town for 20 years and be responsible for installing the ground mounted solar arrays. The lease agreement will bring in $57,000 annually — roughly $1.14 million over the lease term.

SunEdison will in turn enter into a 20-year power purchase agreement to generate the power for PSEG.

PEAKER PLANT SUPPORT

Southold Town is also hoping to bring a 75-megawatt power generating facility to the Cutchogue landfill.

On Tuesday the board issued a letter supporting Northville Industries proposal to PSEG for the installation of three natural-gas fired 25-megawatt generators on a two-acre parcel of town-owned property at the Cox Lane landfill.

The lease could bring in roughly $1 million in revenue annually for Southold Town over 20 years, according to the company’s proposal.

Similar to the solar panel project, the town would lease the land to Northville Industries, which would then be responsible for operating the plant through an agreement with PSEG. The Town is expected to find out if the parcel is selected for the project next year.

NO-GO FOR MIGHTY NOFO

The annual Mighty North Fork Triathlon will no longer take place in Southold Town.

Town Board members on Tuesday night denied Event Power a permit to hold the 16th annual event, which was scheduled for July 13. The for-profit company was seeking to hold the triathlon at Cedar Beach Park and more than a dozen surrounding roads in Southold.

Members voted 0-6 in opposition to the permit, stating the for-profit event would violate a code the board adopted last spring. The policy bans all for-profit outdoor events and limits the number of participants in non-profit bike rides to 600.

Non-profit footraces would not be subject to that cap.

The code change was enacted last May after Southold Police Chief Martin Flatley reported that the number of races and bike rides in Southold was doubling in size, putting strain on the police force.