Great Barrington — Lodestar Energy presented a proposal for a commercial solar-plus-storage facility at 53 Van Dusenville Road and asked the Select Board to forward a recommendation to the Planning Board. The project outlined by Lodestar would include a fixed-tilt racking system, 17 SMA inverters, a Tesla Megapack AC‑coupled battery system, and a limit of disturbance of roughly 12 acres; the company described grading of about 4 acres and said a Phase I environmental review (May 2025) found no visible environmental concerns.

Developers said the inverter and battery pad would be located near the site entrance and estimated in‑service sound levels at 500 feet would be roughly 20–22 dB (daytime inverter sound quoted from the SMA spec), with the company proposing to supply a formal sound study as the next step. Lodestar representatives also said construction would use ground screws (TeraSMART) and that no permanent lighting was planned.

Public comment at the Select Board meeting was substantial and overwhelmingly opposed. Speakers living near the site raised objections including: the project's 12‑acre footprint in an R‑2 residential zone; visual intrusion on hilltop views; prior complaints about noise and long construction schedules at other nearby solar fields; concerns that the Housatonic area already hosts multiple solar installations; and assertions that notice to all abutters had been insufficient. One resident said the area had become “inundated” with solar and asked why Housatonic continued to be selected for projects. Several asked that construction hours and noise‑mitigation measures be required if the project proceeds.

In response, Lodestar acknowledged the community concerns and said it would provide a formal noise study and additional data on setbacks, buffers and equipment locations. The developer emphasized that the primary sound sources would be equipment pads (inverters and transformers) rather than the fixed panels, and that the closest occupied residences are more than 500 feet from the equipment pad.

A Select Board member moved that the board not recommend the special permit to the Planning Board, citing community concerns about cumulative development, construction noise and pending Board of Health matters arising from other solar sites. The motion was seconded and drew further discussion from other members and residents; the transcript records the motion and discussion but does not include a formal roll-call tally of that vote.

What happens next: because this Select Board action is a recommendation to the Planning Board, the project will go through the Planning Board’s public hearing and special-permit process; Lodestar and town staff will provide the promised sound study and additional technical materials for those hearings.