By Bob Neal of The Maine Monitor
Walden Renewables of Portland is proposing the project, and residents have questioned its ownership and how a possible tax increment financing deal would work.

JAY — The Select Board agreed Monday night to schedule a workshop with developers, regulators and financial specialists to discuss the financial and environmental effects of a proposed large solar farm.
Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Walden Renewables of Portland, which has proposed installing solar panels at six sites around town, asked to appear before the board to provide more information about state environmental rules and requirements for choosing project locations.
Walden said it would ask a representative of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to attend the workshop.
The company also asked to meet with the board and a lawyer in a workshop to explain how tax increment financing (TIF) would work for the project.
After a 17-minute discussion, Selectwoman Lee Ann Dalessandro asked board members to raise their hands if they supported holding a workshop on both topics, rather than discussing them at a regular board meeting. All five members indicated support.
The board has not set a date because Walden needs to arrange for a DEP representative and other specialists to attend.
Most of the discussion focused on the TIF. At least four of the 22 people at the meeting asked questions about the TIF.
Tanya Demillo, a Jay resident and Regional School Unit 73 director, urged the board not to schedule an appearance that included Walden.
“I believe, especially for the financial pieces, that the town manager should … have the answers on that and on the TIF,” she said.
LaFreniere replied: “Typically, what would happen on a TIF is the tax assessor, myself and the town attorney would sit down, with two of the board members and Walden, because they’re the ones proposing the TIF, go through it all, find out the details and how it would benefit the town.
“Then we would bring that back to the board for your consideration. Then, it would have to be approved by the residents. Ultimately, any TIF has to be approved by the residents.”
Dalessandro had asked whether a workshop before a scheduled vote Nov. 3 on enacting a 180-day moratorium on solar development would be “putting the cart before the horse.”
The question for now, LaFreniere said, “is whether to spend the time now or wait for the vote.”
Selectman Tom Goding said: “I would like to do it (hold the workshop) now. Later on, I don’t want anyone to be able to say we didn’t let everyone hear and know exactly what was going on. They should be able to answer questions and go back and forth and get some information.”
Several audience members murmured in agreement. One said, “That’s absolutely right,” while another said, “That’s what you are going down there for.”
Selectman Gary McGrane agreed.
“We need to have that discussion before rather than later,” he said. “I agree with Tom (Goding).”
McGrane and Goding often disagree, especially on spending issues, so the room broke into laughter when McGrane voiced agreement with Goding. Later, Goding said he agreed with McGrane on another point.
Mark Wittenberg, a Jay resident and owner of Cross Country Land Services, a land clearing and development company, asked whether the town had done “due diligence about who these people say that they are?”
Wittenberg said Walden Renewables is “strictly the developer. They are not the owner of the project.”
He said the contract states that “Alden Mill Solar LLC is going to own the leases and own the land. Alden Mill Solar is owned by MN8 Energy, which is a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs.”
MN8 Energy, which operates at least three solar farms in southern Maine, spun off from Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Renewable Power Group in 2024.
After Wittenberg spoke, LaFreniere reminded the board that the agenda item was to decide whether to schedule a meeting, a workshop or both with Walden and other participants.
Dalessandro then polled the board, and all members agreed to hold a workshop.
Dale Knapp, Walden’s head of development, told Monitor Local on Wednesday morning: “I am working on getting key participants’ availability back to Shiloh so they can be scheduled. Working diligently to get this done quickly.”
In other matters Monday, the board accepted the low bid of $52,189 from A. Maurais & Son Inc. of Jay for a condensing boiler at the sewage treatment plant in Livermore Falls, which Jay and Livermore Falls operate jointly. The Livermore Falls Select Board had already accepted the bid.
LaFreniere said a condensing boiler is about 98 percent efficient, compared with about 85 percent for a cast iron boiler. She said the difference in initial cost would be made up within two or three years. The bid from A. Maurais & Son for a cast iron boiler was $42,382.
A condensing boiler captures additional heat from exhaust gases by cooling them until water vapor condenses into liquid. This process can improve efficiency by 10 to 12 percent, according to Consumer Reports.
The Select Board scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 13 on Theresa Preble’s nomination as an alternate member of the Planning Board. The hearing is expected to precede that day’s board meeting, which members moved from Oct. 12 because of Indigenous Peoples Day.
The board unanimously approved renewing the liquor license for LaFleur’s Restaurant.
The board also agreed to seek proposals from real estate companies to sell a vacant property at 3 Marcello St. The property’s derelict building has been razed.
The board also approved two tax abatements: one to correct a duplicate assessment and another after the assessor’s agent reduced the assessed value of a house by $22,000.
 
This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.
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