Solar panels planned for site of former sand and gravel business.... WHERE IS MIDDLEBORO?

WHERE IS MIDDLEBORO? 
MIDDLEBORO HAS LOTS OF OPEN LAND AND SHOULD BE LEADING THE WAY.
INSTEAD, THE MIDDLEBORO GAS & ELECTRIC IS SHORT-SIGHTED AND SHORTCHANGING ITS CUSTOMERS.

Solar panels planned for site of former sand and gravel business

By Beth Treffeisan
Posted Jul 2, 2020

BOURNE — The renewable energy company NextGrid Inc. is proposing to install 15 megawatts of solar panels over the former Cape Cod Aggregates site off of Scenic Highway.

The proposed project was brought up to the Planning Board during a videoconference hearing last week. Representatives from NextGrid Inc., said they plan to install the solar panels and stormwater management system atop 36 acres of the existing 46-acre sand and gravel site.

Plans call for the installation of 32,000 panels with two equipment houses, representatives of the company said. The company will purchase the entire property, and a portion that has a wetland resource area will remain untouched.

The lifespan of the project is expected to be about 20 to 25 years.

“I think this is a great project for everyone involved,” Daniel Serber, director of land development for NextGrid, said at the meeting. 

The site has already been designated a solar overlay district, Serber said.

Cape Cod Aggregates plans to demolish the existing buildings and replant the parcel that has been used for mining since 1957.

The town’s planning department is still awaiting approval from the Board of Selectmen and the Zoning Board of Appeals to make sure there are no cross-jurisdictional issues. The hearing was continued to July 23.