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Logan County Board
December Zoning and Economic Development Committee Meeting
[December 02, 2025]
On Monday, December 1st, the
Zoning and Economic Development Committee of the larger Logan County
Board held their monthly meeting in the Blue Room of the Logan
County Safety Complex at 6:30 p.m. This meeting was attended by all
five of the committee members, which includes Chairman Michael
DeRoss, Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Hannah Fitzpatrick, Joseph
Kuhlman, and Bob Sanders. Also present were Zoning and Economic
Development Officer Al Green, as well as fellow board members Lance
Conahan and Kevin Knauer.
The meeting started with the usual approval of minutes from the
previous month. With no old business on the agenda, DeRoss moved the
committee on to new business, of which there were five items, the
first regarding updates on the new proposed data center. DeRoss
stated that a man wanted to come in on behalf of the data center and
speak on the matter to the committee. Unable to make it, he spoke to
DeRoss ahead of time. DeRoss shared that this person spoke on the
cooling system, stating it is “not BS.”
LDN has previously reported that the cooling system at this data
center would reuse the same water for an extended period before
needing to be replaced. It was also reported that this water was to
be brought in from an outside water source as to not put a strain on
the Mahomet Aquifer.
This person also told DeRoss to beware the job numbers that they
were given. DeRoss stated he was told the people who have been
talking to the county are salespeople and to have them “prove up”
their numbers.
Green then spoke on the matter, stating that the company is planning
on coming before the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of
Appeals (ZBA) in January with their proposal. He also stated that
the location is a bit different than they originally thought. It is
still going to be near Latham, specifically west of it. The road
they are building near, however, seems to be of concern for Bret
Aukamp, head of the Logan County Highway Department. According to
Green, Aukamp says there is not enough “right of way” on the road.
Green also shared that the company is seeking to have the land they
are looking to build on rezoned from agriculture to industrial. If
this were done and the data center was not built for some reason,
Green stated this would allow the company to build virtually
anything they wanted to on the location.
With discussion on the data center
ending, DeRoss moved the committee on to some changes regarding the
application fees for energy projects. As they currently stand, the
county charges $500 per application. It was recently discovered that
they can charge as much as $5,000 per megawatt of power the project
is expected to generate, up to $125,000. In addition to this, the
state is allowing counties to charge and other reasonable expenses
in addition to the $125,000 cap. DeRoss asked the committee if,
should ZBA make no major changes to this ordinance change this week,
he could bring the item off the floor for consideration at the
county board’s next Workshop meeting. No one objected to this.
The next item was regarding penalties for violating zoning
ordinances and was very briefly discussed in little detail. The next
item was regarding enterprise zones. Enterprise zones are areas
where economic relief, such as tax exemptions, can be given for the
purpose of revitalizing areas. DeRoss stated that Lincoln Mayor
Tracy Welch is wanting to expand these enterprise zones into
residential areas. He asked Green if he knew the reason.
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Green stated that
he thinks there may be some people who want to put in
multi-family buildings. He stated that the second reason is for
people who need to “clean up their yard” or “fix up their
house.” With this expansion, people could get sales tax
exemptions for materials they use to fix up their house. Green
also stated that any improvements, such as building a patio, to
one's house would result in no increased property taxes for five
years in these zones.
Green then said that Mayor Welch has stated that he has a guy
who wrote the original enterprise zone agreement and they are
wanting $10,000 to update it to include residential areas.
According to Green, Welch is wanting the Planning Commission to
help pay for part of this amount.
The committee then moved on to their
final item, which was regarding a temporary position at the Zoning
Office. DeRoss stated that the committee would like Green to do what
they said he would do at the last Finance meeting. It was previously
reported that discussions were had for Green to hire part-time help
to mostly assist with filing in his office. Several board members
wanted to make sure there was some kind of hard limit to this
part-time position so it did not end up becoming a permanent one.
Green then gave his Zoning and Economic Development Officer Report.
The first news he gave was regarding another potential solar
project. He stated he had some inquiry regarding it, and that it
would be a 29 acre project near campus view drive on the edge of
Lincoln. It was asked if this was Lincoln’s land, but Green stated
that the land they were looking to build on does belong to the
county. Additionally, he had two inquiries regarding battery storage
but informed both parties that there is a moratorium on the approval
of these facilities for the moment until an ordinance could be
drafted and passed by the county.
Green also stated that there was a total of twelve permits applied
for last month. DeRoss asked about projected revenue for next year,
with Green stating that it could be quite high if the data center is
built.
Schmidt then asked about an update regarding the Sugar Creek solar
project the county heard about a couple of months back. This project
is going to allow for the building of solar panels near the base of
some of the Sugar Creek wind turbines. Green stated that he has not
received their final conditions for the project yet, and that these
would need to be submitted before his office could start issuing
permits to build.
Lastly, DeRoss stated that two new phones were purchased for Green’s
office, replacing older phones that do not work well. With this,
DeRoss entertained a motion to adjourn, and the meeting ended.
[Matt Boutcher]
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