Polk Township began its hearing for the conditional use of properties near the intersection of Long Mountain Road and Bear Road on Monday evening.

The property is unimproved agricultural/woodlands and Effort Solar LLC submitted an application on June 1 for conditional use to install solar panels to generate electricity.

The properties are zoned residential (R-2). A solar farm is allowed as a conditional use in the R-2 zone.

For about three hours, the applicant’s engineering and legal team presented testimony and answered questions posed by township supervisors, solicitor Jim Fareri, and township residents who gathered in the Polk Township Volunteer Fire Company social hall.

The solar panels will be on pedestals and move with the sun, unlike others that remain stationary. Each panel will be 10- to 20-feet tall.

There will be a fence around the perimeter. The panels will have a black surface that absorbs the sunlight. They are not shiny.

Representatives said they will buffer the full perimeter with evergreen trees that could be 30 feet or higher.

Effort Solar officials told supervisor Carl Heckman the facility would be operational for 25 to 40 years.

The representatives could not say for sure if the energy generated by the sun would stay local or go to an area on the grid in greater need.

Mark Martini, who lives on Leisure Lane 200 feet from the proposed solar panel site, asked about the chemicals and toxins inside the panels if they catch on fire.

Water cannot be used to put out an electrical fire, so the two options are to let it burn out on its own or use foam.

Polk supervisors said they are taking into consideration all the concerns its residents have addressed.

There are 39 properties that are 200 feet from the proposed solar panel site. The names of these property owners are listed on the conditional use application.

No decisions were made Monday. The hearing did not close, and it will continue at 6 p.m. Aug. 29 with more discussion from the Polk supervisors, solar company and a glare expert.

Although the proposed panels are in Polk, the two substations will be in Chestnuthill Township. Polk supervisors said Chestnuthill Township has its own process and will notify the public when it is ready.

The applicant requires some ordinance changes in Chestnuthill before it can proceed.