Todd Driscoll, left, and James Basiliere go over preliminary site plans for the Boulder Creek Golf Club with the Planning Board.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Developers for the former North Adams Country Club are looking to its past for inspiration.
And they're hoping a high-tech energy system will help bring the project to fruition.
James Basiliere and Todd Driscoll appeared before the Planning Board on Wednesday to present preliminary plans for the next phase of the Boulder Creek Golf Club that now includes a 4.27-acre solar array.
Basiliere purchased the 9-hole course four years ago and had planned to extensively expand it into an 18-hole course.
But the numbers failed to add up and Basiliere, partnering with Driscoll, radically scaled back the plans. Instead, the course will become a par 3 with a practice driving range. Plans for the clubhouse haven't changed.
"What we're going to do is bring it back to the original," Basiliere, referencing a 1915 postcard showing the clubhouse with a wide wraparound porch.
Driscoll said additions were "scabbed on" to the point there are three roof layers in one area.
"It's mostly tearing off what's there and getting to the original structure," he said.
The plans for the course and clubhouse were done by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin of Springfield. The solar array is being done by Aegis Renewable Energy, represented at the meeting by Tom Flynn, project manager.
The developers and Flynn said they had met with representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection to determine the next steps.
Flynn said they would first file for a Request for Determination of Applicability with the Conservation Commission but noted the array itself is not expected to impinge on any wetlands. There may be some restoration required because of previous cutting.
Conservation Commission members Clebe Scott and Gregory Vigna, who were in attendance, said they would plan a meeting in April.
Basiliere said the area will require some minor grading and ties into the work being done on the adjacent driving range.
Planning Board Chairman David Sherman asked for the board to be provided drainage details.
"I think our piece is there's drainage and you're not flooding anyone else," he said.
The developers did not believe flooding would be an issue and agreed to provide more information.
Basiliere said a new well would have to be dug and they would have to decide whether to use the functioning septic or tie into the sewer line that ends near the maintenance garage.
No permits have been filed for any of the work yet. Driscoll and Basiliere said they wanted to the board to preview the plans so as to anticipate any issues.
"We used a designer to take away any of those problems that could pop up," Basiliere said. "We designed the course to be environmentally friendly. That's why the solar fits so well."
"We want to hit the ground running once the snow melts," said Driscoll.
Basiliere, however, did not anticipate the course opening this year.
Sherman said a site plan review and public hearing would have to be held and abuttors notified.
Basiliere said there may still be some materials sold off the property, but not on the scale at which he taken out a gravel removal permit. Both men said there was no profit in trucking the material out so any sales would likely be small and to buyers close by.
"There's still some sand and soil," Basiliere said. "We have to try to make money where ever we can."
Sherman advised them to approach the Selectmen on the issue.
"It's hard to pick out things in a preliminary plan, but we can get a sense of what you have," he said. "There's a lot going on up there, it's a big piece of property."
In other business, the board extended by 30 days the time limit on a permit filed for a solar array off Gravel Bank Road.
Solar developer Kirt Mayland was unable to attend the meeting and asked for the extension in writing.
Another informal presentation on a solar array for off River Road was also postponed.
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Todd Driscoll, left, and James Basiliere go over preliminary site plans for the Boulder Creek Golf Club with the Planning Board. 
