KNOX — The Albany County Planning Board stalled when it tried to reach a decision about RIC Energy’s proposed 4.4-megawatt solar project in Knox, with two on the five-member board voting in favor of the project and two voting against, leading to no action. 

Although it means that the Knox Planning Board will make its decision about the project without clear guidance from the county, it’s a better outcome for RIC than it was in 2021, when the county planning board disapproved of the original version of this project, albeit for reasons that in some cases were less than legitimate, such as a misinterpretation of a county law. 

Because of the disapproval, the town planning board had to pass the project with a supermajority, or five out of seven votes in favor. This set the stage for the project’s ultimate failure, receiving votes in favor from only a simple majority of the town planning board members. 

The potential fifth vote in favor would have come from planning board member Debra Nelson — now the board’s chairwoman — who exited the virtual meeting prior to her deciding vote due to what she later explained was a family emergency. She declined to say later on how she had planned to vote, though she had cast a vote in favor earlier in the process, before the supermajority was required. 

RIC has since revived the project with various modifications, and now only needs  a simple majority vote to proceed. 

A letter from Albany County Senior Planner Gopika Muddappa to Nelson dated July 5 noted that the county board had discussed land-use compatibility and community character, the need for a permit from the state’s Department of Transportation to build a driveway that connects to State Route 157, an erosion and sedimentation control plan, and vegetative screening. 

RIC Project Manager Nancy Vlahos told The Enterprise this week that the lack of county approval is not seen as a setback for the project, since the “project as proposed either already addresses or will address all of the county’s concerns.”

She went on to explain that the current erosion and sediment control plan is in compliance with the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s requirements, and that the company will incorporate new practices recommended by the county. 

Vlahos also said that the proposal includes a “robust landscaping buffer around the perimeter of the project composed of evergreen tree species and shrubs” and that RIC will be obtaining a permit from the Department of Transportation for the construction of a driveway.