Finance Committee Backs Solar Leasing, Splits on Battery Storage Bylaw

MAYNARD -- September 22, 2025, Maynard Finance Committee unanimously backs solar leasing articles tied to Green Meadow School but deadlocks on battery storage bylaw. Meeting Monday, the six-member panel voted 6-0 to recommend Articles 5 and 6, which authorize the Select Board to negotiate solar leasing and tax agreements for municipal buildings including the new Green Meadow School; Chair Jillian Prendergast warned that failure at the October 27 Special Town Meeting would likely cost the town federal investment tax credits and eliminate solar from the new building. The committee also voted 6-0 to recommend Articles 8 and 10, which create optional Powder Mill Overlay subdistricts D, E, and F along the Assabet River corridor, following a detailed briefing from Planning Director Bill Namer. A vote to recommend Article 11, a proposal to ban battery energy storage systems above 15 kilowatt hours in the town's water supply protection districts, ended in a 3-3 tie and failed, with members divided over whether the threshold was calibrated to block commercial developers or inadvertently restrict residential green energy installations. The committee deferred action on a citizens petition to pursue a home rule authorization on rodenticide restrictions pending town counsel review.