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Updated: September 18, 2026 @ 11:49 pm
A rendering of what the proposed solar array at Trudeau Field on state Route 3 in Bloomingdale, across from the Saranac River and the school district’s bus garage would look like immediately after construction, before trees would be planted.
A rendering of what the proposed solar array at Trudeau Field on state Route 3 in Bloomingdale, across from the Saranac River and the school district’s bus garage would look like immediately after construction, before trees would be planted.
BLOOMINGDALE — After neighbors and community members brought their concerns about a proposed solar farm in the town of St. Armand to a public hearing, the town council is planning to set up a meeting with the solar company and property owner to try to address those concerns.
The 10-megawatt community solar farm has been proposed by solar developer Our Generation at the Trudeau Field across from the school bus garage on state Route 3. The energy generated from these panels could be able to give town residents and subscribers a lower rate on their electric bills.
The town council passed a one-year moratorium on commercial and community solar energy farms in June to give them more time to draft a local zoning law regulating their use and decommissioning.
Town Supervisor Davina Thurston said that the comments from the public hearing will inform the regulations they eventually draw up to mitigate concerns.
Neighbors and board members brought concerns about aesthetics, drinking water contamination, property value, wildlife, glare, fire risk and noise. Dan Leary, a managing partner from Our Generation, said the company would address these concerns. Board members and neighbors said they want guarantees in writing.
Thurston said they will set up a meeting with the board and the developers at a future meeting. She said she wants to make sure what they ask of them makes sense and meets the needs of the community.
Councilman Karl Law grilled Leary with hard questions. At the end of the day, he said the land is Trudeau’s property, and as a believer in capitalism, he does not believe in unreasonably restricting what the family can do with their own property. But he does want to watch out for board members 30 years from now.
The property is owned by the Trudeau family under Trudeau’s Green Valley LLC. Mark Trudeau attended the meeting and said they agreed to lease the property to the solar company to help cover their property taxes.
When they’re looking to place a community solar farm, first, Leary said they look at substations and lines with enough capacity available to host a system and see if the electric rates there make sense to be offset with the credits. Then, they start looking at properties that work.
The project involves two proposed solar arrays — one in the field in view of Route 3 and one behind the tree line. Much of the grassy field is classified as wetlands and cannot hold solar panels. Most of the panels in the field would be in the north end of the field, behind the barns and structures there. The panels would extend into the field, up to around where the bus garage starts across the road. Leary said they tried to put as many of the panels as possible behind the buildings and out of site.
Leary said this is not an array to supply a BESS or power a data center.
The farm would put electricity directly into the grid, connecting to National Grid distribution lines that run by the back of the field. The solar panels would rotate throughout the day to follow the sun.
Leary said the electricity would stay here in the community. After energy is produced, he said it takes the path of least resistance to be consumed. A 10-megawatt farm can produce power for around 1,500 homes a year.
Thurston clarified that this is not a town project. She’s had several people ask her if it is.
Leary said he started his career selling systems to big box stores like Walmart and JCPenny. He prefers community solar, because people get the benefit of the solar credits instead of big companies.
With the community solar program, up to 1,500 St. Armand residents would be able to sign up and get up to a 10% reduction of their energy costs from National Grid. Leary estimated that this could save a home an average of $200 per year, which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars of savings across the town.
The way this works is the farm produces energy, which Our Generation sells to National Grid in return for energy credits. The solar company then passes on some of those credits to subscribers, who can apply a discount index percentage to their electric rates.
Leary said this would likely be an opt-in program and there would be no cost to sign up or cancel the subscription.
The system has a maximum number of people who can sign up — 1,500 subscribers. Thurston said there are 980 homes and businesses in town.
Subscriptions would not be limited to town residents.
Law said unless town residents get the chance to be the first to sign up, he wouldn’t feel comfortable calling it a “community” solar installation.
Leary said Our Generation would love to open the sign-up to town residents first.
Leary also said National Grid has requirements that the project capacity includes 51% low to moderate income households. Thurston said St. Armand should easily reach this.
The project would also increase the town’s property tax revenue. Leary estimated the increase from around $600 to $14,000 in revenue per year for the town. The school district and county would also get more tax revenue.
The solar company would pay National Grid for upgrades to substations and infrastructure.
It would be in charge of training local fire departments to respond to emergencies.
Leary said that no harmful or toxic chemicals would leach from the panels, even if they are broken.
Law was still concerned. He said some chemicals currently considered safe may be found to be harmful in the future, and uncommon weather events could cause them to be introduced into the local watershed.
He wants Our Generation to put it in writing that if, say, a hailstorm breaks the panels and chemicals leach into the Saranac River, that the town would not be held responsible if downriver communities wanted to sue.
Leary said this was a hypothetical he has never come across before.
Stephanie Koff owns the house right next to the north end of the property. Their drinking water is on site, so she wanted something in writing that the solar farm would not use herbicides.
She also took issue with the photos in Our Generation’s slide show. The photographer stood in her driveway to take the photos and didn’t tell her. After she said she was not OK with this, Leary apologized.
Koff also had property value concerns and requested that the solar panels be set back further from the property line.
She pointed out that Our Generation would be using state tax dollars for the installation. Leary said every electric bill includes a “SBC systems benefits charge” which goes toward things like energy efficiency programs and public services NYSERDA administers, including the NY-Sun program.
He said the state funding will be a single-digit percentage of the capital of the investment, adding that if people are already paying that change, solar credits could allow them to benefit from it.
Town resident Larry Sweeney said he loves solar energy, but he had concerns that they act like “big mirrors” reflecting light that could be seen from the McKenzie range or Whiteface Mountain.
Leary said the panels are designed to absorb as much energy as possible and have anti-reflective glass that is less reflective than metal or glass. The company also plans to surround the panels with trees.
Leary said the project is currently going through the Adirondack Park Agency permitting process.
The solar panels have a 25-year output warranty and Leary said more than 85% of the material in panels can be recycled.
The project would have a decommissioning bond to cover the cost of returning the land to its current state after the contract ends. The bond would name the town as the beneficiary and escalate with inflation.
More documents about the proposed project can be found at townofstarmandny.gov/community-solar-project-trudeau-field.
To reach Aaron Marbone, email him at acerbone@adirondackdailyenterprise.com
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