Five proposed solar garden plans reviewed by Logan County Regional Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals

 

[November 10, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

On Wednesday, November 7, the Logan County Regional Planning Commission heard from Edgar Lara and Paula Fitzgerald of Novell Energy Solutions about proposals for five different solar garden projects near Laeana Township.

Lara said Novel Energy Solutions is a Minnesota based company working on over 180 projects in Minnesota and currently expanding to Illinois. The company owner is a member of a fifth-generation farming family.

Lara said the Future Energy Jobs Act has been an impetus for solar projects and asks for 3,000 megawatts of solar to be produced by the year 2030.

Lara said the purpose of solar energy gardens will be to produce offsite solar energy directly to the energy grid, which will benefit subscribers to the solar garden. Many homes are not able to install solar panels at their own properties, so the community solar garden can benefit those.

Lara said all proposed community solar projects in Illinois will be chosen in a lottery system and between six to 10 percent will be approved. To enter the lottery, projects must submit an application and get consents, formal releases, and any permits needed by the permitting authority at the site.

Lara said they are expecting that possibly one of their five applications may be drawn in the lottery, but they would like as many opportunities as possible to build at least one of the solar projects. These sites are candidates for where the projects may be built.

Lara said there are several benefits to a community solar garden including added value to the land, land conservation, no negative impacts on land, production taxes paid annually, no adverse effects on surrounding properties, and energy savings.

Lara said the Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement has said the land will be assessed at $218,000 per megawatt.

Lara said to construct the solar gardens, sites are prepared, racks and modules are installed, and it is hooked to the power grid. The panels are pounded into the ground as deep as ten feet and are about nine-and-a half feet high, but can go up to fifteen feet. Panels are pointed south and tilted about twenty-five to thirty degrees. The panels have a heavy anti-glare coating.

Lara said construction takes about eight weeks and for the first week, there would be approximately two semi-truck deliveries of materials per day. The storage would be on the parcel, so they would not be on a right-of-way or other people’s properties or interfering with traffic.

Lara said they have prepared a storm water pollution prevention plan and perimeter control is required until seventy percent of the vegetation has been reestablished, no water will leave the site. An inspector will check to make sure there are no noxious weeds or plants that could cause harm to crops. Native grasses will be planted under panels.

Lara said decommissioning of a site must be done within 180 days of the site not being used and all materials will be removed from the site. The site can then be returned to agricultural use.

Lara said the properties are zoned permittable with the special use permit, and the proposed special use complies with the zoning ordinance. He said the use would not have an adverse effect on the general welfare of the neighborhood.

Logan County Board and Commission member Scott Schaffenacker asked about tile repairs if they are driving panels into the ground.

Zoning Officer Will D’Andrea said tile repairs were one of the conditions of the ordinance.

Commission member Blair Hoerbert asked where the projects would be located.

D’Andrea said they are in Laeana Township just past the Cob Plant.

Commission member Dave Schonauer asked about glare since the sites are near highway 121.

Lara said anti-glare panels are used and a body of water is more reflective than solar panels.

Logan County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp had several questions.

Aukamp asked if the Illinois Department of Transportation requires any screening since some sites are near an IDOT right-of-way.

Fitzgerald said they have not been informed of anything, but they would comply with IDOT if asked. She said they would have no problem with a condition for an evergreen screening as they typically do six to eight feet (tall) of evergreen screenings spaced four to eight feet apart.

Aukamp asked where the point of interconnection would be.

Fitzgerald said they would connect through the power lines, which could be underground if needed. They are not going to add a lot of new power lines.

Aukamp asked about water run-off potential.

Fitzgerald said as part of the pollution prevention plan, no more water would leave the site. They may have an area for infiltration basins.

The first proposed site

The Regional Planning Commission recommended approval of the plan for the first site near 2200th Avenue.

Second and third sites

The second and third proposed projects would be just north of the first site and near a floodplain. D’Andrea said they are on the same property.

Hoerbert asked how often the area floods.

D’Andrea said there is not a high volume of water. He has talked to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and solar gardens are allowed in floodplains since it is just a support structure, but a permit is required.

Aukamp asked whether there would be a gap underneath the fencing to allow water to flow since fencing can get full of cornstalks.

Fitzgerald said the fencing is down to the ground, but it is chain link.

Commission member and County Board Chairman Chuck Ruben motioned for approval of the next two projects and the commission unanimously recommended approval.

Last two proposed sites

The final two proposed projects are south of the cob plant on 121.

Aukamp said they would need township approval for one entrance and power poles.

Schaffenacker motioned for approval of the final two projects and the commission unanimously recommended approval.

The next step in the approval process was a public hearing held by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Zoning Board of Appeals approves four of the five applications for solar gardens

At the November 8th, Public Hearing held by the Logan County Zoning Board of Appeals, Lara gave the same presentation he shared with the Logan County Regional Planning Commission.

Lara also expanded on the expected proposal that Ameren would allow a solar company, if chosen in the lottery, to basically choose any of the projects in the lottery to actually build the project. Therefore, if they hit the lottery with one project, they can choose any project statewide that they had in the lottery to build.

Lara said if one of these five projects is chosen, the owner of the property will decide which of the five to actually construct.

Zoning Board of Appeals members and others present had some of the same questions posed at the Regional Planning Commission meeting.

Since some of the property has drainage ways on it, there were a few questions about adequate drainage and impacts.

Another question was about where they would run the power lines to connect to the system.
 

D’Andrea said there was a legitimate concern regarding one application from the owner who lives across the street. The neighbor relies on internet for work/business and they need direct line of sight to a receiver and they were concerned about interference.

Lara said they would work with them to mitigate any interference.

After all the questions had been addressed, the ZBA gave recommendations for approval for four of the five, with "denial" of the fourth application [the one with the concern about interference with internet connections].

The motion to recommend approval of the fourth application failed 4-2. Derek Martin, John Fulton, Scott Noltsenmeier, Judy Graff voted no. Doug Thompson and Cheryl Baker voted yes.

The applications will be brought forward at the Logan County Board Workshop on Thursday, November 15 and voted on by the board at the Regular Board meeting on Tuesday, November 20.

[Angela Reiners]