PEMBROKE — The Pembroke Town Council reluctantly approved a conditional-use permit Tuesday for a $10 million solar farm on South Jones Street near Deep Branch Road.

Strata Solar will build a solar farm on 14 industrial zoned acres at the site and will sell the power to Duke Energy. Strata Solar produced an attorney, engineer, appraiser and planner to provide testimony at the public hearing that lasted an hour.

The company will lease the property for 30 years from Donald Kevin Stone.

“All the legal requirements have been met, and it is your obligation to approve the permit based on the evidence,” said Strata attorney Beth Trahos. “Please follow the law and approve the permit.”

Solar farms are allowed in the zone in question, and there was no public opposition at the hearing. Mayor Greg Cummings asked the question: When does a $10 million investment not add $10 million to the tax base?

“There is an 80 percent abatement on solar farms, and it will depreciate over a 25-year period,” said Mike Jennings, developer of the project for Strata.

Councilman Channing Jones noted that the property is located along the town’s major sewer line, but solar farms will require neither water nor sewer hookups.

“A user of water and sewer would be desirable,” Jones said. “Employment would also be desirable.”

Strata Solar will provide a visual barrier fence and vegetation as a buffer. There are no negative health or environmental effects from the project, according to Strata Solar representatives. Strata owns a similar solar farm across the Jones Street.

All three other council members expressed their reservations, but could offer no legal reasons to deny the permit.

A motion by Councilman Larry McNeill to delay a decision until the next meeting on Oct. 2 did not garner a second. Councilman Ryan Sampson voted against the permit.

In another zoning issue, the council set a public hearing for Oct. 2 on rezoning three parcels to make way for a student apartment complex on University Road adjacent to several parcels The University of North Carolina at Pembroke owns.

Pembroke Development Corporation LLC already owns two large student apartment complexes and is expecting the university to grow in the near future.

The town council took under advisement a $135,000 proposal to repaint inside and out its oldest water tower at Vance and Third streets. AT&T has agreed to pay half, because it has a cell antennae on the the 1940s-era tower.

Utility Services Company proposed to do the job over the holidays this winter. Utility Services has an annual contract to maintain Pembroke’s water towers.

In other activities, the council agreed to the installation of 12 speed bumps at Pembroke Senior Village, a development of the Lumbee Tribe. The installation is contingent on approval by the fire marshal and town planner.

The council also agreed to allow the Lumber River Council of Governments to write a grant to the state to evaluate the town’s water system, a project similar to its ongoing sewer system evaluation. The cost will be approximately $2,250 for the town.

In response to a inquiry from Barbara Pearson, whose home at 205 N. Jones St., was flooded during Hurricane Matthew, Town Manager Tyler Thomas said a study to alleviate flooding in the area is in progress.

By Scott Bigelow

Bigelow@yahoo.com