Town Meeting last month authorized Amherst Town Manager John P. Musante to enter into the long-term lease for the project.
This is the site of the proposed solar array. Neighbors have filed suit saying the site is only to be used for recreation. AMHERST - A group of residents near the town’s capped landfill filed suit Tuesday against town officials charging they violated an agreement with the state that restricts the use of the landfill to active or passive recreation.
The town is in the process of entering into a long-term lease with the Boston-based BlueWave Capital Inc. to bring a solar array to that capped landfill. Neighbors have been critical of the project claiming in the past that it poses health, esthetic and safety issues. The suit is asking the courts to stop the project.
Town Meeting last month authorized Town Manager John P. Musante to enter into the long-term lease for the project. Depending on the cost of energy over time, the project could save the town $25 million during the next 25 to 30 years.
The suit was filed in Hampshire Superior Court in Northampton by lawyer Michael Pill on behalf of 13 residents, all of whom live on either Tanglewood and Summerfield roads, Wildflower Drive and Teaberry Lane roads in the Amherst Wood Community near the capped landfill.
According to the lawsuit, the town was supposed to have filed the deed restriction with the state within six months of signing the agreement “and prior to submitting a request for final payment” in 1989.
The suit charges that the construction and operation of a solar array is not an active or passive use and the defendants “are attempting to take advantage of their own lack of compliance with the Grant agreement by taking the position that use of the landfill is not restricted” because the deed restriction was not filed.
The suit also quotes a letter from Department of Public Works Superintendent Guilford B. Mooring to the state in 2004 stating that town has not grant requirements and that the town is interested in resolving the issues. Tuesday Mooring said they purpose of the letter was “to open the dialogue” with the state to find out “what hadn’t been done and what still needed to be done” as far as the state was concerned.
The suit claims that the site is also home to the grasshopper sparrow, a species deemed rare by the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife.
The suit is asking the court to order the town to file the deed restriction and to ensure that the site is used only for active or passive recreation. It also asks the court to restrain officials from spending money “or incurring obligations” for the solar project.
The suit names the town, Select Board members, Musante, Town Treasurer Claire McGinnis and Comptroller Sonia Aldrich.