05/02/2022 Annual Town Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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10. Documentation of the major system components to be used, including the electric generating components, battery or other electric storage systems, transmission systems, mounting system, inverter, etc. 11. Preliminary Operation and Maintenance Plan for the solar energy system, which shall include measures for maintaining safe access to the installation, storm water management, vegetation controls, and general procedures for operational maintenance of the installation. 12. Abandonment and Decommissioning Plan: Any ground -mounted solar energy system which has reached the end of its useful life or has been abandoned (i.e., when it fails to operate for more than one year without the written consent of the Planning Board) shall be removed. The owner or operator shall physically remove the installation within 150 days of abandonment or the proposed date of decommissioning. The owner or operator shall notify the Planning Board by certified mail of the proposed date of discontinued operations and plans for removal. The Abandonment and Decommissioning Plan shall include a detailed description of how all of the following will be addressed: (a) Physical removal of all structures; equipment, building, security barriers and transmission lines from the site, including any materials used to limit vegetation. (b) Disposal of all solid and hazardous waste in accordance with local, state and federal waste disposal regulations. (c) Stabilization or re -vegetation of the site as necessary to minimize erosion. The Planning Board may allow landscaping or below -grade foundations left in situ in order to minimize erosion and disturbance of the site. (d) Description of financial surety for decommissioning: Proponents of ground -mounted solar energy systems shall provide a form of surety, either through escrow account, bond or other form of surety approved by the Planning Board to cover the cost of removal in the event the Town must remove the installation and remediate the landscape, in an amount and form determined to be commercially reasonable by the Planning Board, but in no event to exceed more than 125 percent of the cost of removal and compliance with the additional requirements set forth herein, as determined by the project proponent and the Town. Such surety will not be required for municipal or state-owned facilities. The project proponent shall submit a fully inclusive estimate of the costs associated with removal, prepared by a qualified engineer. The amount shall include a mechanism for calculating increased removal costs due to inflation. (e) It shall be a condition of any special permit that all legal documents required to enable the Town to exercise its rights and responsibilities under the plan to decommission the site, enter the property and physically remove the installation shall be provided prior to the issuance of a building permit. F. Required Performance Standards: Small, Medium and Large Scale Solar Energy Systems 1. Visual Impact Mitigation: The site plan for a ground -mounted solar energy system shall be designated to screen the array to the maximum extent practicable year round from adjacent properties in residential use and from all roadways. 2. All required setbacks shall be left in their undisturbed natural vegetated condition for the duration of the solar energy system's installation. In situations where the naturally vegetated condition within required setback is not wooded and does not provide adequate screening of the solar array, the Planning Board may require additional intervention including, but not limited to: (a) A landscaping plan showing sufficient trees and understory vegetation, of a type common in natural areas of Mashpee, to replicate a naturally wooded area and to constitute a visual barrier between the proposed array and neighboring properties and roadways. (b) Berms along property lines and roadways with suitable plantings to provide adequate screening to neighboring properties and roadways. 3. Lighting: Lighting of ground -mounted solar energy systems shall be limited to that required for safety and operational purposes, and shall be reasonably shielded from abutting properties. Lighting shall be directed downward and shall incorporate full cut-off fixtures to reduce light pollution. 4. Signage: Signs on ground -mounted solar energy systems shall comply with all applicable regulations of this by-law and/or any Town sign by-law. A sign shall be required to identify the owner, operator and interconnected utility and provide a 24-hour emergency contact phone number. Ground -mounted solar energy systems shall not be used for displaying any advertising signage. 26