AMHERST - Six companies are interested in putting a solar-energy array on top of the former landfill on Belchertown Road.
Amherst officials expect soon to begin reviewing the proposals for this renewable energy project at the 51-acre site, which will benefit the town from both the land lease and the sale of power back to the grid.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford Mooring said Tuesday that a preliminary examination of the bids indicates that the proposals, submitted for a Dec. 23 deadline, meet the town's financial goals.
"There is much greater return to the town than the first time we did this," Mooring said.
In March 2009, the town received two bids, both of which were rejected. One was a photovoltaics project that was turned down because it would bring the town only $18,000 a year. The other was denied because it would be storing wood chips and chunk wood on the site, and was perceived as too intense a use for the property.
In Easthampton and Greenfield, where similar projects are occurring, estimates show that the communities will realize between $140,000 and $250,000 in electricity savings annually from their 1.2 to 2 megawatt solar farms. Mooring said Amherst would receive a benefit in the same ballpark.
The landfill, south of Belchertown Road, has been closed since the early 1980s, and it has been put to no other uses in that time.
The next step, Mooring said, will be putting together a review committee that will be made up of three staff members and a few committee members with representation from the Energy Task Force, Solid Waste Committee and the Leisure Services and Supplemental Education Commission.
Mooring said this committee will then either "short list" those who submitted, identifying the best proposals simply through the contents of their bid proposals, or have the various entities come before this review committee for formal presentations.
The most important criteria, Mooring said, is making sure that the cap on the landfill is not damaged.
He expects within 60 days to have a recommendation that would go to Town Manager John Musante.
http://www.gazettenet.com/2011/01/06/six-companies-issue-proposals-amherst-landfill-solar-panels?SESS173288eeee0c7c5441ef2fd645391262=gnews
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