The council of governments that operates recycling programs for three central Blair County municipalities this week authorized staff to sign a letter of commitment giving a Pennsylvania engineering firm exclusive rights for six months to organize development of a solar farm on land connected with the CoG’s compost facility near Buckhorn.

Comprising Altoona, Logan Township and Hollidaysburg, the Intermunicipal Relations Committee will give Dawood Engineering of Enola the right to create a solar array that would occupy perhaps 100 of the nearly 500 acres associated with the compost facility — leasing the ground for perhaps 20 years, officials said at a meeting this week.

The firm has provided no estimate of potential rental payments, but they could help offset the $55,000 annual contributions each of the municipalities makes to IRC operations, officials said.

Those rental payments could be a percentage of income the farm generates through sales to the electric grid, officials suggested.

It would be “a renewable funding source,” said IRC Chairman Jim Patterson. “It would lessen the burden on the municipalities.”

The partially flat ground is wooded, but the timber is of little value, and the organization has no other obvious use for the acreage, as the compost facility itself occupies just 22 acres, officials said.

Hollidaysburg Borough Manager Ethan Imhoff helped the IRC make the connection with Dawood, after Imhoff dealt with the company on a potential project in Cambria County prior to his taking his current job, said IRC Executive Director Brock Bryan.

If the commitment period expires without a deal, the IRC could pursue other companies that might be interested in establishing a solar farm on the property, officials said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.