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The Wyoming County Planning Commission recently accepted the submittal of a revised land development plan for a proposed solar panel project at Tunkhannock Area School District’s Mehoopany Twp. campus, even as the status of the district’s solar initiative remains unclear.
Last month, the planning commission voted to reject the original land development plan for the Mehoopany Twp. campus solar project, on the recommendation of county Planning Director Matthew Jones. The planning office expressed concerns about fire safety and access for emergency vehicles if the solar panels were to catch fire.
The planning commission on Feb. 18 acknowledged that the reconfigured land development plan for the project was complete and received, Jones said. That starts the 90-day clock ticking for the review of the plan, after which the commission will vote whether to approve it.
The revised plan “appears much improved,” Jones wrote in an email.
“The location of the proposed solar panels has been moved from the inaccessible north side of the school building to the more-accessible east side of the school building, and a gravel fire lane has been proposed to connect the new location with the east end of the pre-existing parking lot,” Jones wrote. “It appears this will make the panels adequately accessible to fire/emergency crews (within the achievable 200 feet shooting distance of fire tanker trucks). I think this will alleviate safety concerns.”
The school district also proposed solar projects at the district high school and primary center. The planning commission rejected the original land development plan for the high school project in June, after the discovery of two sewer line no-build easements in the area proposed for construction at the site.
The planning commission accepted the submittal of a revised plan for the high school solar project in January. That plan is under review.
The commission gave conditional approval to the proposed solar project at Tunkhannock Primary Center in July.
However, it is not clear whether the school district will proceed with its solar initiative, which received a mixed reception from residents when it was announced in 2024.
At the January meeting of the district school board, Superintendent Paul Dougherty said he could not recommend the direct purchase option for the project, which had been estimated at about $10 million. He said he was concerned the district might not receive $4.5 million in federal solar tax credits, even if it qualified for the credits.
At the Feb. 18 school board meeting, Dougherty said district officials will likely decide plans for the solar initiative in the next month or two.
School board President Holly Arnold said in a phone interview that the uncertainty over solar tax credits might factor into that decision.
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