MARION — After years of work to put a solar array on the town’s capped landfill, Selectmen approved 20 year lease agreements for the project at a video meeting on April 23. 

There is still the chance that the project may not happen, as negotiating how it will connect to the grid is complex and costly. But the lease is written to allow the town to back out if it feels the project no longer makes financial sense. 

The town does not get to use the power from the array, but does benefit from the lease payment, which is about $125,500 a year. 

Selectmen John Waterman asked several questions about potential costs, saying “we don’t want to get surprised. Town budgets are fixed and rigid and surprises aren’t easy to deal with. 

Liz Argo, the executive director a Cape and Vineyards Electrical Cooperative, which helped to speed up the planning process for the array, said that the town payment to her organization is fixed and not going to be a surprise.

She explained every time the interconnection cost rises by $10,000 the town has the funds detracted from its lease.  

Waterman asked how quickly the project would move once the paperwork is signed. Argo said the initial application could take three weeks and a design study another two months, but the process would definitely take less than a year. 

The town will also pay liability costs for the landfill, about every five years, and Waterman told Town Administrator Jay McGrail that those costs should be taken out of the lease funds. 

Selectmen also discussed ways to make Town Meeting work in late June using three large rooms at Sippican School, and brought up but did not finalize June 22 as a date.