A public hearing to receive comment to amend West Penn Township’s solar ordinance has been set.

The township’s board of supervisors will hold the public hearing at 9 a.m. March 18 for the purpose or receiving public comment on the proposed ordinance.

It would amend and restate a section of the ordinance to add provisions regarding decommissioning of solar energy collection devices, providing for a repealer, provisions regarding validity and the effective date of the ordinance.

After the hearing, the supervisors will conduct enactment of the ordinance at a public meeting to be held not more than 60 days from the second date of publication of the notice.

A complete copy of the full proposed text of proposed ordinance may be examined by any citizen of the township at the West Penn Township Municipal Building, 27 Municipal Road, on any business day (excluding Saturdays and Sundays) during township business hours.

Earlier this month, supervisors said they planned to continue to revamp parts of a township zoning ordinance that pertain to solar farms.

At that time, township solicitor Paul J. Datte presented supervisors with amendments that detail the decommissioning of solar energy collection devices.

The provisions Datte cited were taken from Schuylkill County ordinances that were approved last year and focus on decommissioning solar panels, along with security for the decommissioning process.

The board unanimously approved his suggested to move the revisions forward immediately.

Also during that meeting, it was noted that the company that purchased the former Villas Crossing Golf Course in West Penn Township hasn’t approached township officials with any plans.

Board Chairman Tony Prudenti said there has been no official submission while addressing a resident who asked whether a solar farm would be constructed on the property.

Schuylkill County property records show that Solareit2-A II LLC recently bought the property, which includes 161 acres near 521 Golf Road, for just under $2 million.

According to its website, Solareit is a real estate company “focused on delivering solar and battery energy storage developers and landowners the maximum value for their land and leases.” The company notes that its three primary products are land purchase, lease purchase and solar/storage land loans.

Prudenti said that the company had previously contacted the township engineer, ARRO Engineering, about the property. ARRO, in turn, prepared a comment and a rendering for the company, and then shared it with the township.

Prudenti said he hadn’t heard anything since then. To be sure, he checked with other township officials and office staff. Prudenti said that there hasn’t been any contact.

The resident who asked about the solar farm said he believed that the company would eventually do something with the property, given the price it paid for the land.