Dear Friend of Sensible Solar for Rural NY,

As the Stipulations phase of the siting process wraps up, the public has a limited opportunity to share comments on Hecate Energy's proposed 360-acre solar facility in Copake/Craryville, NY with members of the Siting Board who decide if the project is approved. We urge you to have your concerns noted before this critical window closes at the end of this week. 

Below is a template letter we invite you to use as a starting point. Please adapt it freely and add your personal perspective. You are welcome to omit items, reorder them, and change emphasis and language to suit your own voice.

It is critical that you email your letter of concerns to the three email addresses below on or before this Friday, February 12th. 

Email Both:  secretary@dps.ny.gov (Secretary Michelle L. Phillips) and sml@readlaniado.com (Sam Laniado, esq)      
CC:  acampbell@hecateenergy.com (Alex Campbell, Hecate Energy)
Email Subject Heading:  Regarding Stipulations on Case 20-F-0048 (Shepherd’s Run, Town of Copake, NY)
 
Template Email:

Regarding the Stipulations of Case 20-F-0048 in the Town of Copake, Columbia County

Dear Secretary Phillips and Mr. Laniado:

I am writing in response to the notice inviting comments on the proposed Stipulations on this Case. I am a resident of [insert your town, NY] since [insert year].
 
I am very concerned about Hecate Energy’s proposed industrial-scale solar facility to be located in Copake and Craryville, NY, and do not believe the out-of-state developer's Stipulations will adequately address and measure the long-term, adverse impacts of this 360-acre facility on our rural community, Columbia County and the Hudson Valley region, as well as our agriculture and tourism-centric economy.

My concerns include:

• Hecate Energy's Stipulations do not adequately measure and consider the fundamental change in the nature of Copake and our rural area, and this is a central and serious consequence of the project under consideration. Hecate Energy’s massive project would be situated in the tiny hamlet of Craryville along two scenic, primary arteries for residents and visitors to Copake, Hillsdale and beyond. The agricultural lands surrounding the hamlet and the roadways and views from them are integral to the bucolic, rural character of our community. This poorly-sited, immense industrial solar facility will have a profound negative effect on the robust and growing agricultural, cultural, recreational and tourism-centric economy our community is benefiting. In fact, the proposed solar project will depress existing businesses and discourage the entry of new ones. Unfortunately, the Stipulations as proposed hardly consider the massive impact the project will have on the character, values and vitality of our community.
• The proposed 60-megawatt, 200,000 solar panel installation is in direct conflict with the Town of Copake’s prohibition on large-scale solar energy systems enacted in 2017. In an effort to protect Copake's natural resources, farmland and view sheds, the Town's zoning law limits solar installations to ten acres or less on any single parcel of land. The proposed project site is not in a remote, desolate location, but rather in the heart of our rural community. Local law and regulation must be respected.
• The removal of hundreds of acres of prime, Class One farmland from agricultural use is in direct conflict with Copake’s Farmland Protection Plan and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets' (NYSAGM) mission.
• The adverse, long-term impacts on the Taghkanic Creek and smaller tributary streams -- the source of drinking water for the City of Hudson, protected wetlands, floodplain forests and other natural resources on or adjacent to the proposed site must be fully and independently evaluated.
• Displacement of native and endangered wildlife and birds due in part to the proposed site’s close proximity to the Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Center and Sanctuary. For example, the project site is in the direct migration path of the monarch butterfly, listed as endangered and decreed warranted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on December 15, 2020.
• The project site falls within an important unfragmented forest corridor that provides connectivity for plants and animals across the region. Hundreds of acres of fenced-in land will result in fragmented forests and a loss of resiliency and flow in the face of climate disruption. The project’s fencing also reduces the grazing area for deer, pushing deer closer to residential areas and increasing the risk of citizens contracting Lyme disease. Columbia County already has the highest rates of infection among all of the state’s counties.
• The proposed industrial facility flanks the local Taconic Hills Central School District campus (grades K-12) and its playgrounds and recreational fields -- negating the school’s purposefully sited and designed bucolic educational environment.
• Furthermore, Copake and Craryville are not an industrial area, but rather a popular tourism destination that is home to the Copake Lake recreational area, the Taconic State Park and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. Placing a 360-acre solar facility in the middle of our community will adversely impact our tourism-centric economy for decades.
• The siting of this utility-scale solar operation in a densely populated rural area would decrease surrounding property values by up to $18 million, and negatively impact the future sale of homes and farms surrounding the proposed solar project site.
• Our community continues to share serious concerns related to the proper disposal of the 200,000 solar panels and necessary funding being available to return the land to its previous natural conditions at the end of the project.
• The Stipulations must properly address how Hecate Energy's proposed industrial solar facility will be properly and thoughtfully buffered, landscaped, fenced in and lit to ensure it naturally blends into the surrounding rural view sheds and respects abutting waterways, wetlands, forests, farmland and homes.
• The proposed project borders the intersection of three towns, Copake, Taghkanic and Hillsdale. However, the Stipulations only require sending notices to residents of the Town of Copake. All local townspeople who are impacted should be served public notices, including Taghkanic and Hillsdale residents.
• The stated size and footprint of Hecate Energy’s solar project in Copake and Craryville, NY and key elements of the project -- for example, the use of onsite battery storage -- have changed weekly. For local officials, residents and concerned citizens to effectively counter this industrial-scaled project that intends to over-write the history and nature of our community, Hecate Energy’s intentions need to be fixed, clear and responsive to the best interests of our community and its laws.

I hope you will take these important and serious considerations into account. 

Sincerely, 
[insert your name]
[insert your town, NY]