Clark's Beach in Greenport could be going green.
Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce said Wednesday that he has proposed a potential project that is in the "very, very preliminary stages."
The plan, he said, wouold be for a green energy park at Clark's Beach that would harness wind, solar, and, possibly, tidal energy.
Nyce said the village board authorized funds for him to prepare presentation materials so that he can pitch the proposal to the board in the next few months.
"At that point," he said, "the board can decide whether we want to move forward."
Should the proposal take shape, Nyce said Clark's Beach would remain accessible to the public.
Another facet of the plan, he said, would be to generate additional treatment at an outfall pipe on the parcel, with a recharge basin that would aim to remove additional nitrogen out of the waste stream.
"There are a whole lot of working parts to the proposal," Nyce said.
Should the board to decide to move forward, grants for the project would be pursued. Nyce said he is currently working with a grant writer and an engineer who works with green energy projects, to create a presentation to the village board.
The green energy park would be built on the approximately nine acres of Clark's Beach -- a rectangular site stretching from the Long Island Sound to County Road 48 -- owned by the Village of Greenport after a parcel of the Soundfront-property was sold to Suffolk County in 2011.
The plan, Nyce said, would benefit vllage residents. "The whole point of this, if it goes through, is that it would make the village energy independent," the mayor said.
Currently, Nyce said 75 percent of the village's energy usage comes from the Niagra Mohawk Power Corp. a hydroelectric plant in Niagra Falls; the remaining 25 percent is purchased on the open market. But that 25 percent, Nyce said, constitutes 80 percent of constituents' energy bill.
"The idea is that we could almost flatline the electric rates and become energy independent," Nyce added.
And, Nyce said, while electric bills wouldn't go down, residents wouldn't see an increase.
"Bills wouldn't go up, almost in perpetuity," he said, because the village would not longer be subject to the volatility of the open market energy rates.
Some funds, Nyce added, would have to be set aside for maintenance.
What do you think about a green energy park at Clark's Beach? Tell us in the comments section.
