Fall Festival in Glen highlights importance of town agricultural land

Tracie Soper took a rose out of the bucket of flowers she had and put it Inside the bunch she was holding in her left hand.

Soper, a florist in Glen, was creating ancompletely different bouquet Contained in the Glen Conservancy’s barn on Saturday, the place a quantity of tables had been set As a lot as showcase The numerous gadgets people Can buy Inside the metropolis.

Inside the conservancy, youngsters might draw pumpkins using pastels, And completely different people might buy cookies from native bakers, flowers from Soper, and scenic work by space artists. Outdoors, people have been dealt with to native music And will peruse crafts, baked items and produce On the market by completely different distributors.

“That is To draw considperiodtion to what the metropolis of Glen is all about,” said Michelle Egelston, a member of Glen Households Allied for Accountable Administration of Land (Glen FARMLand), who assisted arrange Saturday’s Glen Fall Pageant in about 20 days.

Definitely one of many largest traits that makes up Glen is its agricultural land, Egleston said.

Glen FARMLand has been pushing To maintain mega-photo voltaic tasks off agricultural properties Inside The world. The objective of the group’s festival was to show the significance of maintaining these properties for agricultural features, Egelston said.

There’s presently a 250-megawatt Solar power period facility proposed for enchancment in Glen. It was introduced in 2020 by The mannequin Ny State Energy Evaluation and Development Authority as one of 21 huge-scale photo voltaic tasks chosen statewide To fulfill New York’s objective of getting 70% of its power from renewable power sources by The prime of The final decade.

The proposed photo voltaic panel farm would span roughly 2,000 acres of land, and Can be In a place to currenting power to roughly 65,000 houses. Informational boards have been posted all by way of the barn with enterprise recurrentatives close by To answer residents’ questions and settle for suggestions on the plans.

Egleston said the enterprise would damage The Fantastic factor about Glen.

“We now have all these hills wanting down over the majestic valley,” she said.

Not solely would that be damageed, however life in Glen, the place Many people Rely upon people working in agriculture, Can be too, she said.

Soper, who opperiodtes Glen Cottage Farms on Route 161, believes That huge-scale photo voltaic tasks can intrude with meals sustainability, she said.

She said with local climate change inflicting many wildfires out West, the Northeast and farms in New York Could Even be referred to as on Finally To assist meet A greater demand for meals.

“It’s solely a matter of time earlier than we’re referred to as upon To current meals the place there Could be deficits,” she said.

People outside of Glen additionally acquired here to assist Glen FARMLand, like Wilta Holloway from the metropolis of Florida. She and three completely different artists, Lorrie Tesiero from The metropolis of Amsterdam, Marilyn Van Allen from The metropolis of Amsterdam and Connie Zevola from the metropolis of Amsterdam, every launched work to promote And in addition loved Testing A pair of of The completely different distributors.

Holloway said The drawback Glen is dealing with is all to acquainted to her, as she too is a farmer who resides in a metropolis with comparable factors. She said The huge drawback is the enchancments are Positioned on prime farming land, destroying it.

“You’re by no means going to get a crop there as quickly as extra,” she said. “We’ve acquired enough photo voltaic.”

She said You will Have The power to’t miss The huge photo voltaic arrays alongside Route 30.

“Everytime you see all that photo voltaic, it’s disgusting,” she said.

However, not everyone in Glen is as quickly as extrast huge photo voltaic tasks. Tanya Cioffi said she is on the fence Regarding The drawback. She said the placeas it Could be ugly To take a Take A look at, it’s As a lot As a Outcome of the property house owners what They Want to do with their land.

“We acquired enough people telling us what to do,” she said.