Lincoln City Council
Alderman hesitant to approve enterprise zone for Mulligan Solar

 

[February 26, 2021] 

A request for 1.4 miles of Enterprise Zone for a new solar farm in Logan County was recently approved by the Logan County Board. But for the Mulligan Solar Farm to actually get the zone designation the city of Lincoln must also approve the request.

At the Wednesday night Lincoln City Council’s Committee of Whole, aldermen were hesitant to give approval. The hesitancy of the council was strengthened when aldermen heard from Logan County Board Chairman Emily Davenport that the county is having second thoughts on its decision as well.

Via audio conferencing, Davenport said that currently she is looking into the legality and process of rescinding the vote so that the board may reconsider their decision.

The discussion in council chambers began with comments from City Administrator Beth Kavelman who said that she had several concerns. She noted that in the past the city and county have given away enterprise zone miles to other counties because those counties had ran out. She said that once those miles were given away they could not be taken back.

Kavelman said that the city was in the enterprise zone because the goal was to bring new business to Logan County and new jobs for the residents of the county.

In addition, Kavelman said that those seeking enterprise zone had a history of paying a stipend for the privilege. She noted that the city has collected $330,000 from four entities with an additional $100,000 yet to come.

Kavelman said that Mulligan was a $5,000,000 project, but the project owners Apex Clean Energy had not agreed to a stipend for the city.

Kavelman also expressed great concern over the future of the enterprise zone if the city allowed this first solar farm to participate.

Apex is asking for solar farms to be added to the county and city’s list of eligible business or industry. Once the blanket designation of “solar farm” is recorded, Kavelman said additional solar farms could request enterprise zone miles and the county and city would have to give them.

Kavelman said the city and county currently have 5.5 miles of EZ available. If Apex/Mulligan gets the 1.4 miles it is seeking then the city has only 4.1 miles left, and that could be eaten up very quickly by more solar farms. She noted that depleting the EZ would hinder the city and county from attracting manufacturing development that would supply jobs for local residents.

City Treasurer Chuck Conzo said he agreed with all that Kavelman had said. He added that with the EZ designation comes an exemption on the property taxes. He explained that Apex/Mulligan would not have to pay the increase in value in the property tax. Therefore, the county would have no benefit from the construction of the solar farm.

[If the property is assessed, for example, in 2020 at $100,000 and goes to $200,000 after the construction is finished, Mulligan would still only pay taxes on the original $100,000.]

Conzo said that the farm is also going to be on property that borders the historic Route 66 Highway south of town. He said the highway is a tourist attraction and he didn’t think tourists were traveling Route 66 to see a solar farm.

Ron Keller said that he had spoken with Will D’Andrea who oversees the enterprise zone for the county. D’Andrea said that he was hesitant to see the zone approved by the city. Keller said that D’Andrea was “on the same page” with the city having concerns about the future and additional solar farms. He also told Keller that while the county had approved the request, there had been reservations on doing so within the members.

Davenport spoke to the aldermen at that time saying that when the county approved the request, it was not clearly understood that the board would lose its control over future solar farms. She said that the members thought they would still be able to ‘pick and choose’ which farms if any were permitted. She has since learned that is not the case. She added that there are people who are asking the county to reconsider its vote. She said she was looking into that but didn’t know if it would be possible.

Davenport added that the board could also wait and see what the city decided. If the city does not go along with the request, then there would be no granting of the EZ and the board would not have to hold a new vote.

Kevin Bateman said that he would like to see the county rescind their original vote and vote again. He called it a matter of “optics” that it would be good for the city and county to be unified in the decision.

Keller said he agreed with Bateman that the city and county should show that they are both on the same page.

Erin Baker with Apex/Mulligan was on the phone. Keller asked her if the solar farm would go in anyway without the EZ designation.

Baker said indeed it would. She said that the county board has already granted the special use permit for the farm. She added that Apex/Mulligan was not seeking the property tax abatement. All the company wants is the tax breaks on sales and use tax for material purchases associated with construction, most of which would be purchased outside the county and even outside the state.

Ron Fleshman said that the EZ is intended as a means to stimulate the local economy. He said that taking “Class A farm ground” out of production “doesn’t fit.”

Baker went on to say that she felt the city and county were both saying “what’s in it for us.” She said that the company was willing to pay the stipend for the designation if that was what it was going to take.

In response to the discussion about no control over future solar farms, Baker said that solar energy is probably going to be added to the state’s list of “High Impact Businesses” in Illinois soon. When that happens, no solar farm will need to have the EZ designation to get its tax breaks. Therefore, she said Mulligan could very well be the one and only request the county and city will receive.

Acting Mayor Tracy Welch asked about the de-certification of the project. Would the county and city be able to de-certify as soon as the construction of the farm was completed. Baker said her associate Kyle Barry had looked into that question and says that yes it is possible. However, she said that D’Andrea had some ethical issues with doing so. Baker said that Barry had written a document regarding the de-certification that she could share with the city. Welch said he absolutely wanted to see that document and also wanted to see the company’s proposal for a stipend. Davenport said she would like to see those documents as well.

Welch said the city should review the documents and talk more at the next committee of the whole meeting. He asked about time restraints for Apex. Baker said the goal was to start construction in April.

All the aldermen agreed that the topic should be discussed further at the next C.O.W. on March 9.

Welch brought the conversation to a close with a comment addressed to Baker. “We want you to understand, we are looking out for our communities. We want to do what is right.”

It is anticipated that the Logan County Board will discuss this issue further in March. The Logan County Planning and Zoning Committee meets on March 3. The Logan County Workshop meets on March 11 and the county’s Regular Board voting session will be March 16.

[Nila Smith]

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