Wyoming County planners approve extension for Tunk Area solar project land plan
The Wyoming County Planning Commission on Wednesday granted a requested extension until Jan. 31, 2026 for the submission of a land development plan regarding Tunkhannock Area School District’s proposed solar project at the HANDS Elementary School in Mehoopany Twp.
Project engineers requested the extension in order to revise their plans for the site, county Planning Director Matthew Jones told the nine-member commission.
At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Tunkhannock Area School Board “un-paused” plans for proposed solar projects at three sites in the district. The board had voted in June to pause those projects, pending confirmation that federal tax credits for solar energy, potentially worth $4.5 million, would be available.
Jones said district Superintendent Paul Dougherty told him in August that the district received favorable news about the chances it would qualify for the federal tax credits.
Jones said he had mixed feelings about the requested time extension for the land development plan. He described the timeline of the district’s plans for its solar projects — which Dougherty has said could save taxpayers “millions and millions of dollars” in the long run — and its submissions to the county planning office.
Jones cited a lack of communication from project developers on specifics of their plans.
“Things have not been forthcoming” with the project engineering team, Jones said. The engineers’ job is to figure out potential problems and compliance issues in advance, he said.
Jones also mentioned concerns he and planning office staff raised about the proposed project at the Mehoopany Twp. school, including fire safety issues such as including a gravel road for fire truck access.
At its August meeting, the commission approved an extension until Oct. 31 for submitting the land development plan, to allow the project team time to address those concerns and to determine if the school district wanted to proceed with its solar initiative.
Jones said he worried that if the commission granted the requested further extension to Jan. 31, there was a chance, however remote, the commission might not be able to meet due to a lack of a quorum, which would mean a deemed approval for the plan even if not all issues had been addressed by then.
Commission members said it was extremely unlikely the commission would not be able to assemble a quorum of five members for a meeting in January.
The commission then voted unanimously to grant the extension.
The school district also plans to install solar panels at the district high school and primary center, in Tunkhannock Twp. and Tunkhannock borough.
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