Daniel Zuckerman is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media Coxsackie residents packed a town board meeting March 13 to demonstrate their opposition to Hecate Energy's proposed new solar project. The facility, to be built near Farm to Market Road, would include more than 15,000 solar panels, miles of barbed-wire fencing and hundreds of utility poles. The viewshed of residents’ homes would be significantly altered by the project, said Kim Rose, a town resident and member of the Facebook group Coxsackie and Athens: Say No to Residential Solar Farms. It would significantly reduce home and property values, and home sales could take longer to complete, if the solar farm is built, Rose said. The exact amount of land needed for the 50-megawatt project is still unknown, but it could be anywhere from 4 and 8 acres, Hecate Energy Development Director Gabriel Wapner said. “We’re at the beginning of our permitting,” Wapner said. Whether the Hecate project is defeated or not, there’s a chance other solar projects will dot the town, Mike Deering, of Coxsackie, said during the meeting. Another proposed project is close to Deering’s home on Kings Road. “We’re going to be surrounded — 15 acres here, 20 acres there,” he said. “I don’t think anybody knows any of this is going on in their backyards.” Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.