Voters in Cavendish have an added reason to go to the polls on primary election day. The town will be holding a $450,000 bond vote to construct a 150-kilowatt solar array.
The Cavendish solar project vote will be held by Australian ballot, with an informational meeting the evening prior to the vote.
"The power generated by this array shall be net-metered electricity and will be used to offset the electric energy expenses of the Town of Cavendish facilities located within the Green Mountain Power service area," the bond question states.
Cavendish decided to pursue a town-owned solar array last month, after a project with Soveren Solarfell through, according to select board meeting minutes from July 7. The minutes state Soveren started to install equipment in the fall of 2013, but the project was delayed when the company "had difficulty finding financial backers." The minutes state that when a backer was brought in this year, "they had negatively changed the basic terms of the land lease agreement and net metering agreements..."
So at it's July 14 meeting, on the recommendation of the Cavendish Energy Committee, the select board voted four to one to have the town pursue the solar array on its own.
Both the informational meeting and voting will be held at the Cavendish Town Elementary School, on Main Street in Proctorsville. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Monday, August 25. Polls are open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. the following day.
