Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 38F. Winds light and variable..
Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Low 38F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: April 22, 2026 @ 9:53 pm
The location of the proposed Freepoint Solar Farm on Potic Mountain Road in the town of Athens in April.
Michael N. Pirrone
The location of the proposed Freepoint Solar Farm on Potic Mountain Road in the town of Athens in April.
Michael N. Pirrone
ATHENS — Site preparation work for the location of a new solar farm could soon be underway.
Geotechnical investigations are being conducted to determine the makeup of the ground on the site, Town Supervisor Michael Pirrone said Wednesday.
“They’ve got to test the ground to see whether it is solid rock (or something else). What exactly? I really don’t know,” Pirrone said. “It’s to know where to drill for the solar panels.”
While work has not begun, the developers, Freepoint Solar LLC, made access roads to the woodland property on Potic Mountain Road, Pirrone said.
“They have not started it [the work] yet,” Pirrone said. “Again, I don’t know exactly (when it will start). They went in and made access roads so they can bring the machinery in to do the geotechnical investigation by bringing in a boring machine that goes down and brings up silt. That is the best way I can explain it.”
Boring is the process of enlarging a hole that has already been drilled. The work is expected to only take a few days, but Pirrone said he has not been told of a start date.
The work is the first that has taken place since the town lost its appeal of a case filed by the developers.
The area of the proposed solar site is zoned for residential use. Freepoint sought a use variance from the Athens Zoning Board, which would have allowed the company to build the solar farm on the property.
Freepoint was denied the use variance case in September 2021, and the company filed a lawsuit against the town in October 2021.
An Aug. 18, 2022, a state Supreme Court decision ruled Freepoint had incorrectly applied the standard in the town’s law when applying for the application. Freepoint reapplied to the board and was denied.
After the second denial, the company filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court, which was dismissed by the court on April 9, 2024. Freepoint appealed the April decision and won in December when the state Supreme Court’s ruling was overturned by a state Appellate Court decision that the solar project served as a public utility, giving it an exception to town law.
The Town Board agreed at its January 2025 meeting to challenge the December 2024 Appellate Court ruling that overturned the Athens Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision to reject granting a use variance to Freepoint.
The town’s appeal was denied June 18, according to court documents.
“The lawsuit is over with, again, the appeals division ruled in their favor to be able to submit their applications to the planning board,” Pirrone said about the lawsuit.
The town amended one of its local laws in August 2024 regarding the regulations of solar energy systems.
The regulatory changes aimed to ensure that proposed solar energy projects or activities will be environmentally responsible, and to simplify the review process.
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