After some discussion, West Penn Township supervisors granted conditional approval to preliminary plans for a solar farm.

Supervisors wanted the developer of the proposed 79.87-acre farm near Ash Circle and Ridge Road to put a decommissioning plan in place.

“We just want to know that these things are going to be removed and that there is a plan for removing them,” township Solicitor Paul Datte said during supervisors’ recent meeting.

The township’s Planning Commission recently recommended conditional approval of the Ridge Road Solar Land Development, but also asked that developers meet certain comments suggested by ARRO Consulting, Schuylkill Planning Commission, and Bill Brior, sewage enforcement officer.

Among them is a decommissioning plan that would provide for the removal of the panels once they reach the end of their useful life, or the solar farm goes out of service.

Developers from Bollinger Solar noted that such a plan wasn’t required by township ordinance when they first filed the plans. They also said that the solar panels retain a high monetary value even as they age — and would likely be removed and sold.

Supervisors, however, want a decommissioning plan spelled out when developers file final plans.

“And (it should include) an estimated timeline and so on,” Supervisor Jim Akins added.

“I think that’s certainly something we can expand on,” said Nate Bollinger of Bollinger Solar.

Bollinger said that there is a provision in the lease between Bollinger Solar and the property owner to remove the panels at the end of the lease. Even so, he said, the company will come back with a decommissioning plan as requested.

“We want to be good neighbors. We don’t want to see these things sitting in a field, rotting and rusting,” Bollinger said. “I grew up on farms and one of the things we like about the way this development works is that it goes back to the environment.”

The Ridge Road project is about 2½ times larger than another one in the area that was approved in June. The Gregory and Jodi Duschak Solar Energy Collection calls for 63 rows of solar panels on 34 acres of private land zoned for agricultural use. It is awaiting approval from the Schuylkill County Planning Commission.