DENTON — At their May 7 meeting, the Caroline County Commissioners extended a moratorium on solar array batteries and finalized an agreement to retain the regional landfill for another 18 years.
Caroline County has agreed to 2042 being the end of life for its landfill. Mid-shore II Regional Landfill is governed by a four-county agreement between Queen Anne’s, Kent, Talbot and Caroline counties.
In the late 1980s, due to new federal regulations, the counties had to close their landfills and replace them with new landfills. In response to this new regulation, Talbot, Caroline and Queen Anne’s counties engaged with MES to form a partnership where each county would take turns hosting a landfill for a 20-year term. Kent County later joined that partnership.
Caroline County is hosting the current landfill and, under the original arrangement, would be off the hook at the end of 2030 when Queen Anne’s County would take over the responsibility of host. However, the partnering counties have agreed to allow the landfill to stay in Caroline County for 12 years longer than initially planned.
Dan Fox, deputy administrator, said the county will receive a revenue increase of around $12.3 million over the duration of the extended agreement. The counties agreed on a $3 per ton post fee until 2030. In 2031 it will rise to $6.
“That is a big number as far as our budget,” Fox said.
Commissioner Larry Porter said the increased revenue will be helpful as he looks to the future of Caroline County’s finances.
“The tipping point is knowing what is coming down the road to the county from a financial standpoint. The Blueprint numbers for education, the numbers for the budget projections that will start this fiscal year from the state,” Porter said. “It has been our goal to have maintained property tax rates. We have done this for eight years and are going to do it again this year. Beyond that we cannot control the additional things that will be mandated by the state of Maryland. To turn away the opportunity to generate revenue without raising property tax rate is something we have to consider.”
The next action agenda item was solar energy batteries and the commissioners’ belief that they are dangerous.
The commissioners extended a moratorium on the batteries until March 31, 2025. Explaining this decision, they said that the local fire departments and first responders are not equipped and staffed to safely deal with these energy storage systems were they to catch on fire.
“When the electric is generated from the solar panels, if it is not distributed to the grid, it is stored in batteries that are then stored in, like, large storage containers,” Porter said. “How would it be addressed if those storage facilities were malfunctioning and caught on fire?”
He said the moratorium will remain in place until these batteries can safely be put in place.
During public comments, James Baker brought up the issue of what to do with a solar energy battery at the end of its 20 year life cycle. He said he thought it would cost taxpayers.
At the May 7 meeting, the commissioners also made two proclamations. The first was to Ken Eaton and Mark Kerzener, who represented the Mid-Shore chapter of A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments of Maryland. The commissioners proclaimed May a month for motorcycle safety and awareness.
The other proclamation went to Derek Simmons, superintendent of Caroline County Public Schools. It was a proclamation for teacher appreciation month.
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