Phase II of the PA Solar Park, proposed in Nesquehoning, cleared another hurdle.

On Wednesday, during Nesquehoning Borough Council's monthly meeting, council voted to grant conditional preliminary/final plan approval for the second phase of the project, subject to all conditions being met prior to work beginning.Conditions include drawing up a second developers agreement and project bond, receiving all necessary permits and everything outlined in the conditions set forth by Carbon County Planning Commission, Nesquehoning Planning Commission and Zoning Hearing Board, the borough engineer and Carbon County Conservation District, including phase I meeting the 70 percent grass coverage clause around the solar panel arrays.David Lear, senior project manager for Lehigh Engineering Associates Inc. of Walnutport, answered any questions council had prior to the vote.He reiterated that Con Edison Development will meet all conditions for the project.He said one requirement that borough planning commission set for after phase II is complete the construction of the visitors center.That requirement will be that one month after clearing the location that will eventually be the visitors center, which will act as the staging area for equipment and solar panels during construction, a building permit to construct the visitors center that was proposed in stage one will be secured by Con Edison Development from the borough.The company must then complete the center and pavers for the parking lot area within six months after completing building permit; and secure an occupancy permit from the borough.Prior to the vote, Councilman Don DeMarco asked Lear if Nesquehoning residents will benefit in any way from the park once it is complete.Lear said that Con Edison has been providing organizations with rocks or other materials for projects, and eventually will provide educational experiences, but noted that there wasn't anything of monetary value being given back to the community at this time.Council said that once the visitors center is complete, it will receive taxes on the property.Councilman Frank Jacobs added that property values will rise slightly as a result of having the green energy source in the borough.The proposed PA Solar Park phase II will complete the 20-megawatt park that began a few years ago.No details on the number of panels or the cost of the project were ever released by the company. The previously completed phase of the solar park, which was constructed by Green Energy Capital Partners of Conshohocken and operated by Con Edison, is located on land leased by the Kovatch family and contains 39,600 panels that generate 10 megawatts of electricity. The electricity generated is then sold to PPL ElectricThe new phase will be located on land leased by Boca Holdings and Kovatch and has an aggressive construction schedule, which calls for breaking ground this spring with a completion date by the end of the year.The timetable for the project is ambitious, with breaking ground to the completion of the visitors center projected at just under one year. Con Edison hopes to break ground on phase II by early April.