QUINCY — Round 30 residents from the Ursa space attended a public listening to with the Adams County Board Thursday to share their views on a proposed photo voltaic farm mission simply east of Ursa.
One resident, Tim Hightower, spoke below oath as a registered get together, presenting into report a 31-page petition with roughly 290 signatures that he, his spouse, and different residents gathered from neighbors against the mission.
One other resident, Doug Seeber, was additionally registered as an get together however was not put below oath by Adams County State’s Legal professional Todd Eyler performing as moderator for the assembly.
In attendance had been 13 of the county board’s 21 members together with County Engineer Jim Frankenhoff, although a number of of the board members left earlier than the three-and-a-half hour assembly had ended.
Among the many points raised by residents had been issues over unknown potential well being hazards from photo voltaic panels in addition to disruptions to yard views residents stated have given them enjoyment over time.
The corporate presenting the tasks, Greenkey Photo voltaic, LLC primarily based in Portland, Ore. and conducting enterprise for this mission below Ursa Creek Photo voltaic, LLC, was readily available to current their case for the mission.
Ursa Creek Photo voltaic has signed a lease for the 28-acre plot with a personal landowner, Spirit Knob Farms, instantly east of the Ursa limits, adjoining to Ailing. 61. The mission can be a four-megawatt farm with 27 acres of photo voltaic panels, or simply over 10,000 particular person panels.
The corporate has submitted documentation exhibiting that they’ve met all the necessities of state laws controlling each wind and photo voltaic services throughout the state. The legislation, referred to as the Wind and Photo voltaic Facility Resident Safety Act, was handed in 2023 and preempts county authorities’ potential to ban these tasks.
In keeping with state legislation, so long as a mission meets state necessities, county boards should challenge the permits to permit the development. Ordinances will be handed to make tasks slot in with native laws, however these ordinances can’t impose extra stringent guidelines on the tasks.
Desiree Noisette, allowing supervisor with Greenkey, stated tasks of this kind can solely be in-built protection areas managed by Ameren Illinois and have an upper-level threshold of round three miles away from a connection to the Ameren grid. These elements restrict the accessible properties that can be utilized to construct these photo voltaic farms.
Noisette stated the anticipated development time with the Ursa Creek mission is six to 9 months, beginning with primary infrastructure like perimeter fencings beginning in July with nearly all of the work coming after the sphere has been harvested.
As soon as in operation, the Ursa Creek Photo voltaic farm is predicted to generate 9,480,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, or sufficient for between 900 and 1,100 properties.
Erin Bowen, an actual property appraiser with CohnReznick, LLC of Chicago, offered below oath that the agency’s unbiased research in addition to tutorial analysis by establishments akin to Loyola College and Berkeley Nationwide Labs present that, opposite to anecdotal feedback offered by residents, photo voltaic farms just like the Ursa Creek mission have negligible affect, if any, on close by property values.
Board member Tim Finlay, R-5, requested if Greenkey was going to obtain any tax breaks for constructing this mission.
Greenkey mission developer Reuben Grandon stated the development is being performed with out incentives from tax cash, although he stated there are tax rebates accessible for sure kinds of energy inverters, and if the mission qualifies, the corporate would plan to file for these rebates.
Russ Hinkamper, R-7, requested what the affect could be on the land itself, for the reason that mission utility notes that when the location is decommissioned, the land can be returned to the earlier agriculture-ready state.
Noisette stated the mission makes use of pollinator-friendly floor cowl crops that may haven’t any detrimental affect on the soil and will really enhance the soil high quality.
The mission can be taken up by the county board’s Transportation, Constructing, and Expertise Committee for additional motion forward of the Could 13 county board assembly.
