MINUTES

Village of St. Helena Town Board Meeting

May 18, 2017

Present were Mayor Robert Barnhill, Mayor Pro Tem Judy Katalinic, Neil Benton, William Hunter, Nancy Jones, Kaye Knowles, Louis Hesse, and Nathaniel T. Coleman.

Attending the meeting were Mr. and Mrs. Bill Baker, Jason and Melanie Bradshaw, Chuck Button, and Apri Montgomery (President of REAP-Renewable Energy and Preservation).  Representatives from GreenGo Energy US, Inc. were Jonathan Burke and Fred Flagstad.

Mayor Barnhill called the meeting to order and prayed.

On motion by Judy Katalinic, and seconded by Neil Benton, minutes of April 20, 2017 were approved unanimously.

On motion by Kaye Knowles, and seconded by Judy Katalinic, the financial report was approved unanimously.

Louis Hesse stated that the Village of St. Helena Planning Board recommended approval for a UDO text amendment to include solar farms as a permitted use in I-1 zones.

April Montgomery gave a slide presentation explaining solar farms.

Judy commented that the Village of St. Helena would lose money because the tax rate per

$100 is five cents, and seven cents is currently being paid to the Burgaw Fire Department.

Mayor Barnhill asked about their other projects.  The answer was currently 33 projects.

Judy asked about the size of this project.  Answer was 30 acres with cost to build about 6 ½ to 7 million.

Judy had an issue with them not having a clean-up bond.

Melanie McLean (owner of property) spoke that she was in favor of the solar farm.  She was asked by Mayor Barnhill about her land on Burgaw’s side which is side of the St. Helena property.  She commented that she would not have a problem with a solar farm on that piece as well.

Nancy asked about  the replacing of panels in the future with more advanced ones.  The answer was that after 30 years, the panels would still perform at 85%.

William Hunter asked about whether panels are stationary or can be tilted.  The answer was stationary.

A public hearing on the text amendment was scheduled for June 15, 2017 at 6:30 P. M. at the Village of St. Helena Town Hall.

Mayor Barnhill brought up the proposed budget for 2017-2018.  There were no questions.  A public hearing on the proposed budget was scheduled for June 15, 2017 at 6:30 P. M. at the Village of St. Helena Town Hall.

Chuck Button had a concern on North Street about a hole near his driveway getting bigger. Mayor Barnhill and William Hunter are to check on this.

On motion by Kaye Knowles, and seconded by William Hunter, the meeting was adjourned unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary D. Bakan, Village Clerk