The Chenango County public safety facility, located on Upper Ravine Road in Norwich, is being considered by county officials as a possible site for a solar array required in a proposed $35 million office building project. (Photo from Chenango Sheriff on Facebook)

NORWICH — Chenango County supervisors may have found a viable location for a solar array required to help power a proposed multi-million-dollar county office building.

Citing state law that requires a solar power source for new building projects, county officials are eyeing county-owned land at the public safety facility on Upper Ravine Road in Norwich as a likely location.

Supervisors say the location is ideal because it satisfies state requirements without the significant additional engineering costs of installing solar panels on the roof of the planned $35 million office building in downtown Norwich.

Moreover, the location can hold a solar array large enough to power a new DPW facility, which county officials hope to build separately from the new office building. An array that size requires one-quarter to one-half acre of land.

The Chenango County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in August earmarking up to $28,000 for costs associated with solar power for the building project. While that does not include the expense of the solar array — expected to add another $125,000 to $150,000 to the project — the resolution covers planning and engineering expenses of installing solar panels on the roof of the new office building or on a different parcel of county-owned land.

“If there’s a ground-mounted array, there’s virtually no engineering,” said Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey Blanchard, noting that, in contrast, considerable engineering would be required for roof-mounted solar. “It would certainly be more than covered with this resolution which is not to exceed $28,000.”

Supervisors appear united in their preference to leave solar panels off the roof of the new building, should the project move forward. They were caught off guard in July upon learning of a relatively new state code that requires a sustainable energy component on new construction. The expense had not been included in original project estimates.

Blanchard told supervisors last month that he had hoped the project would be exempt from the solar requirement, since engineering plans predated the NYS energy conservation construction code that went into effect in December 2025. Since then, county officials have held talks with project engineers about alternative placements for the solar panels.

“This is $28,000 to study putting an array on a building. I’m not in favor of putting an array on a building, so why am I spending $28,000 to study that?” said Norwich Supervisor Jim McNeil at the August meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

McNeil was among nearly half a dozen supervisors who voted against the resolution, which North Norwich Supervisor Robert Wansor proposed amending to include engineering of a roof-mounted array “or a solar array at a different location.”

Smyrna Supervisor Michael Khoury has been a consistent voice of opposition to the building project, arguing that the solar requirement is just one more expense on a long list of setbacks facing the county.

“You have to admire just how many decisions were made even before we made a final vote for the building,” Khoury said at the Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this month. “Now we’re designing a solar array for a roof that doesn’t even exist. I do admire how this got backdoored and how brilliantly it is being sold to us.”

“This is going to be one of many mandates, many cost overruns that we seem to be getting,” Khoury added.

The proposed building project has been an uphill battle for the county, drawing public criticism over its necessity as well as the transparency of local officials. The project hit another snag in May when a review put anticipated costs at nearly 7% over budget (totaling $37.6 million), triggering a contingency plan that allows an overage between 5% and 8%.

The county is working with engineers to revamp some design features for its IT department in order to stay within the initial $35 million budget.

County officials determined that renovating the 1960s wing of the current office building would cost 70% to 75% as much as building new. Consequently, officials intend to raze the 1960s wing and construct a new facility connected to the 1991 wing on the north side of the building. The plan is to construct the new building in front of the existing one, move departments inside upon completion, and then demolish the old facility.

County officials aim to put the project out to bid in the fall, with hopes of starting construction in 2027 and completing it within two years.