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Logan County Board
March Zoning and Economic Development Committee Meeting
[March 05, 2025]
On Monday, March 3rd, the Zoning and Economic
Development Committee of the Logan County Board met for their
monthly committee meeting. This meeting was held in the Blue Room of
the Logan County Safety Complex starting at 6:30 pm, directly
following the Transportation committee meeting. All five members of
the committee were in attendance. This included Committee Chairman
Michael DeRoss, Committee Vice Chairman Kathy Schmidt, Hannah
Fitzpatrick, Joseph Kuhlman, and Bob Sanders.
There were five items on the agenda for old business,
but all of these items were gone through within the first few
minutes of the meeting. Here are a couple of highlights from each:
Countywide Broadband Initiative Project: This item was taken
off the agenda until something new happens with it.
Energy Project Updates: Logan County Zoning Officer Allan
Green stated that the Zoning Office has been issuing three or four
building permits a week for Top Hat’s energy projects. DeRoss asked
how much money the county has been taking in on Top Hat permits.
Green stated that last year, it was over $1 million. This year, they
are only expecting a $500 charge for the temporary laydown yard that
Top Hat is looking to make permanent. Green also stated that two
community solar projects are coming in as well. One is called Water
Point and the other Black Jack.
Home Occupations: This is an issue that will be coming up
next month for the committee to address.
Ground Mount Solar Ordinance: This item was sent to the
Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), and so there is nothing the committee
can do with it until it moves on from ZBA.
Battery Storage and Legal Council: There were no updates
regarding this item.
The committee then moved on to new business. The first item was
regarding CO2 sequestration in the county. Susan Adams, who was in
attendance to talk about this issue at February’s Workshop meeting,
put together a packet for the board. The board briefly looked
through the items and discussed what could be done. DeRoss asked
what should be done. He asked if they should stop it or set a
moratorium, as Adams had previously suggested be done. According to
Adams’ information, some professors at the University of Illinois
stated that if a county were to ban CO2 sequestration on the basis
of health and safety, they may have a legal leg to stand on. DeRoss
made the additional suggestion of not deciding on CO2 sequestration
without having a public hearing on the matter beforehand, likely
through the ZBA.
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Schmidt then asked, “if we can
permanently ban it, if that wouldn’t be a stain on us [from the
state]... why not do that?” DeRoss then responded by saying that
he is not sure the county can do that without ending up in a
lawsuit. Sanders then brought up the point that the state has
not figured out all of the rules and regulations on CO2
sequestration yet. With that in mind, the committee moved this
item to old business for next month, stating that they would
each do some research before April’s committee meeting so they
would be more prepared to have further discussion on the matter.
The last item on the agenda for new business was
regarding an agreement between Tri County Regional Planning and
Logan County for professional services.
Little discussion over this matter was had before the committee made
a motion to approve the item. It was unanimously approved and sent
on to the Workshop meeting later in the month.
The next part of the meeting was the Zoning Officer
Report. Green stated that, since his administrative assistant, Tracy
Bergin, had been terminated last month, things have been “hectic.”
They will soon have access to the information on Bergin’s computer,
and are working on forwarding phone calls made to her number. They
also fixed an error on the county website listing a ZBA fee as both
$500 and $245, when it was supposed to be the former. Green stated
that four permits for four houses to be built around the county have
been submitted in the last few weeks. It was also revealed that
Sugar Creek has transitioned to United States ownership.
There was one public comment made by Bobby Jackson. Jackson, who is
on well water, stated that since the wind turbines have been going
up in his area, his well water has been dirtier than usual. He asked
if this could be a result of the turbines, but was told it likely
was not, with Sanders saying his well water had been doing the same.
He was given the name of someone to follow up on this matter with.
[Matt Boutcher] |
