MIDDLETOWN — A former landfill in the Port Belford section of Middletown will soon help power homes throughout the area and provide a tax break for Monmouth County residents, according to officials.
The project is part of a larger redevelopment plan that Middletown officials hope will revitalize Port Belford’s economy and increase property tax revenue.
The Middletown Commission plans to lease 151 acres of the former landfill to Port Belford Solar Farm LLC, a company owned by CEP Renewables. The parent energy company has built solar farms in South Brunswick, Old Bridge, and Mount Olive, as well as other sites in New Jersey and around the world.
The commission will hold a public hearing on the solar farm lease at its meeting Monday, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall on 1 Kings Highway.
The 20-megawatt solar plant would cover about 42 acres of the former landfill, according to CEP Renewable Plans submitted for Transitional Renewable Energy Certificates, or TRECs, to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. TRECs are credits that solar companies sell to other energy suppliers in order to meet government solar requirements.
In addition to being a source of renewable energy, the project will bring economic benefits to provincial and municipal governments, officials said.
Thomas A. said: Port Belford Solar Farm will pay $750,000 annually to lease the Belford property, to the benefit of Monmouth County taxpayers, Arnone, the county commissioner’s director, said in an email. He added that this money will be used to reduce taxes.
County officials will lease the land to a solar developer for 20 years.
“The goal is to provide up to $15 million in tax relief to our residents,” Arnone said.
The project will also bring property tax money into the Middletown municipal budget, said Anthony Mercantante, the town’s business manager.
“It is difficult to deal with landfills from a development perspective,” he said.
It could take years to close the current landfill to prevent pollution in nearby areas. It is almost impossible to redevelop it, because structures placed on top of the landfill must not break the cap, or seal, that prevents rainwater from washing trash and decomposing materials into the local water supply. Any construction that requires a foundation for support could break the cap and is therefore typically not permitted, Mercantante said.
“The solar array is actually one of the few really good adaptive reuses…for landfills, because it doesn’t require large construction,” he said. “It’s just solar panels sitting on giant racks.”
Once redeveloped, Middletown officials could collect property taxes on the property, he said.
Preserving Port Belford’s History
The solar farm will be part of a larger redevelopment project aimed at economically revitalizing the Port Belford area. Middletown officials are in talks to create new mixed-use residential and commercial buildings, affordable housing, parking and a public area, such as an outdoor amphitheater that could provide entertainment, Mercantante said.
He added that the area will also include a center dedicated to the history of fishing and coastal science in the region.
“No applications have been submitted for this (redevelopment project) yet,” Mercantante said. “It’s… kind of a concept at this point.”
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The new structures will replace the existing parking lot at the Belford Ferry Terminal and will be near the Belford Seafood Association, a fishermen’s group that first organized in 1953, according to the Daily Register of Red Bank.
The town’s business manager said that fishing no longer plays a strong role in the region’s economy as it did before.
The Belford Seafood Association “is a historic operation…and the city has always felt it was important to try to preserve it,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we decided to incorporate their property into this, because it’s becoming harder to compete as a commercial fisherman.”
Belford Harbor doesn’t support the types of large fishing boats that can dock in places like New York, New England and Cape May, he said.
“The size of the boats our fishermen can use is limited,” Mercantante said. “Therefore, their catch has never been large and therefore it has become difficult for them to compete…Economically, they have struggled intermittently in recent years.”
The redevelopment project should change that by bringing new shops, restaurants and sightseeing opportunities to the area, he said.
“Our goal is to try to help them generate revenue from their property that is not just related to fishing,” he said.
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Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. I have worked in journalism for more than 15 years. Contact her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.
