BETHEL — The Bethel Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) presented the latest draft of the town’s new solar ordinance, which the town’s lawyer had reviewed, at the April 4 selectboard meeting.

“The biggest thing was the area we set, a 175-acre maximum for the town,” said ORC Chair Jim Bennett. There is a 125-acre limit for solar installations, on viable land in different locations around town, and another 50 acres for brownfield incentives – or land that doesn’t have any other good uses, like the dump, he explained.

Floodplains are not allowed and there are setbacks from rivers and public ways as well as a requirement to screen the installation so it isn’t visible from the road.

The ordinance lays out the process for residential, commercial, and industrial installations.

Residential panels only need to abide by state code. “I will testify that the solar companies are doing a great job,” Code Enforcement Officer Randy Thurston added. “They contact me all the time and have been very professional about it.”

Commercial installations, where a business installs panels primarily for its own energy use, are also fairly straightforward, but require a site plan and need to go before the planning board if they are ground mounted.

Industrial applications, in which installations are created to generate electricity for sale, are more complicated. There are requirements to set up an escrow account for the land to be returned to its original state if the installation is ever decommissioned or unused for more than 12 months.

Selectman Michele Cole asked for clarification on a few sections of the new ordinance and whether an existing business would be required to file an amendment to its site plan. Bennett responded that the code enforcement officer would likely make that call, noting that a rooftop installation would have to comply with the town’s 35-foot height restriction. Selectwoman Pat McCartney clarified that the height restriction “has to do with the fire department.”

Further clarifications took up a good portion of the two-and-a-half-hour meeting. The committee will ask one of its members to work on smoothing out the language and bring it back to the selectboard next month.

The ORC also presented amendments to the existing Wind Ordinance. Selectboard Chair Lloyd Sweetser asked for a summary of the changes.

“It was mostly to clean up the language,” Bennett said. “Escrow got increased and the financial responsibility for decommissioning got straightened out. We also dropped the decibels from 25 to 10. The whole thing is designed to deter them anyway. At this point, it would be very difficult for a company to come in and put one in here.”

The complaint process was also modified, Bennett added, so that it would go through the town and not the company, ensuring there is a paper trail.

Building permits also prompted extensive discussion, whether they should be based on fair market costs or by square footage. The goal, several selectboard members agreed, was not to overwhelm the CEO, or the planning committee. For now, the board left the $2,500 threshold, below which a permit is not required. It will revisit the issue in May.

Other business

In other business, the Bingham Forest committee requested a purchase order to hire a forestry consultant to manage logging on the Newry section of the forest.

The County Tax Assessment for this year was reported as $525,328, on top of what Bethel pays for sheriff services.

Scott Cole helped write the proposal request for the solid waste contracts. Those are out for bid and due back April 15. The committee will meet to review bids that day.

Sarah Southam was renewed as a member of the Conservation Commission.

The Town Clerk, Christen Mason, reported that there are two openings for Assessing Board and two for selectboard. (Three applications have already been received.) The town also needs a sextant and a mechanic for public works.

The selectboard also scheduled a workshop meeting, open to the public as are all of its meetings, to review rules and procedures, create a code of ethics, and discuss the Ethel Bisbee School property. That workshop is schedule for Tuesday, June 21.

There will be a public hearing on May 16 to review the ordinance amendments and enactments in advance of the Town Meeting on June 15, to vote on the budget. Town elections are June 14. The next selectboard meetings are on May 2 and June 6.