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October Zoning and Economic
Development Committee Meeting
[October 07, 2025]
On Monday, October 6th, the
Zoning and Economic Development Committee of the larger Logan County
Board held their monthly meeting. This meeting was held in the Blue
Room of the Logan County Safety Complex and started at 6:30 p.m.,
following the Transportation Committee meeting. Of the five members
on the committee, three were present. This included committee
chairman Michael DeRoss, vice chairman Kathy Schmidt, and Joseph
Kuhlman. Bon Sanders and Hannah Fitzpatrick were not in attendance.
Also present were board member Kevin Knauer, Zoning and Economic
Development Officer Al Green, and Administrative Assistant Madelyn
Hinton.
The meeting started with the approval of minutes from the previous
month’s meeting, which was approved without any changes. While there
were only two other items on the agenda, the discussion over these
items was lengthy.
The first item, which was the only item on old business, was the
possibility of levying fines and penalties against wind and solar
companies for violating the conditions in their permits. The
discussion began with Green stating that he had done some research
on surrounding counties and what they have done in this regard. He
stated that he had not found much. He did see that some of the
counties issued fines for companies not turning off wind turbines in
bad weather, but that these fines were not specific as to exactly
what parts of their ordinance were being violated.
Green also mentioned that should the board decide to change their
ordinance to allow fines for violations, these fines would not have
to be excessive. He clarified that ‘excessive’ would be determined
by the state. Green also shared that there is currently legislation
going through Illinois Congress to issue fines against solar
companies that have liquid leaking from their turbines into the
ground. The bill states that the fine would be $1,000 for the first
offense and $10,000 for the second offense. Green then said that
Bret Aukamp with the Highway Department issued fines of $5,000 for
violations. Green did not think that issuing fines in the same
amount would be considered excessive, especially because of the
amount the state was considering in their bill.
The steps for more than one violation were then discussed. Green
stated that he thought, in addition to fines, that a notice should
be sent with the first offense, a referral to the county board for
the second, and a referral to the board and legal about pulling
permits for the third offense. The board also discussed timelines,
and what amount of time would be considered reasonable for different
offenses.
This led to a discussion over Top Hat’s wind farm and the fact that
they are required to have an Aircraft Detection System (ADS) on
their turbines. None of the other wind farms in the county are
required to have this as the ordinance was not in place when their
permits were approved. As for Top Hat, their ADS systems do not
work, but the ordinance does not specifically require the systems to
work, only that they must have them. LDN did ask Green about the
legality of this, and he shared that if this was fixed to
specifically state that the ADS system must be functional and being
used, then there would be no legal loopholes that they could try to
work around, as ADS systems are apparently very expensive to
maintain and fix.
DeRoss asked the other committee members about their opinion.
Kuhlman shared that he is concerned about fluid leaking from the
turbines, and also mentioned “flicker,” or the sun reflecting off
the blades onto people’s property.
Green also mentioned the importance of the wind companies shutting
off their turbines when the weather got bad. He stated that, since
many of the turbines are close to the weather radar in Logan County,
operating them even when there is the chance of bad weather can mess
with its ability to accurately track and predict said bad weather.
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Nothing on this
issue was really decided. Kuhlman made the suggestion that the
committee keep its eyes on what the state is doing with their
fines and go from there.
The committee then moved on to new
business, of which there was also only one item. The item for new
business regarded data centers, which DeRoss shared that board
chairman JR Glenn asked him to put on the agenda. Green shared that
data centers, unlike other energy projects, are usually not located
in the country, rather usually being located in cities like Lincoln.
He also shared that Lincoln currently has two, one being across the
street from EATON and the other near Aldi.
Green also mentioned that the permit fees are going to have to be
similar to other energy projects. He then shared that he is happy
the board voted to change the permit fees for these projects to be
based on the energy produced or used rather than other qualifiers.
According to Green, if the county had made this change three months
earlier, one of the data centers would have brought in $1.5 million
in permit fees for the county. Additionally, Green shared that,
since the Trump administration pulled federal funding to these
projects, it would be unlikely that too many more would be seen. For
these energy companies to receive federal funding, they would need
to break ground on their projects before July 1st, 2026.
Even though it was not on the agenda, DeRoss stated that he wanted
to bring up one more issue, that being providing members of the
county with information regarding energy projects and laws the
county has to follow when approving them. DeRoss shared that he has
seen many Facebook comments regarding energy issues, some even
claiming that the county board members are taking the permit fees
for themselves. DeRoss jested that he would love to know where this
money they are taking is coming from, as he is not getting any.
Ideas were then shared as to how this information could best be
shared with the citizens of the county. Green suggested that a
semi-annual forum be held to educate people on the laws revolving
around the projects and provide any updates. Kuhlman suggested that
an FAQ (frequently asked questions) page could be added to the
zoning website.
Green then gave his officer’s report.
He shared that Pivot Energy’s permit for their solar project near
Atlanta was issued. He also mentioned that three complaints had been
issued for road conditions and damage to vehicles in the last thirty
days, with two of them being against Top Hat. The new ordinance for
personal solar was published on the zoning website. There were also
fourteen solar permits issued in the last month. He also shared that
two more permits were issued, one for a gym that is being renovated
behind the new Oil Changers (previously 4 Corners Lube) on Old Route
66. The other permit was for the new Taco Bell that is being built
just across the street.
Once Green’s report was over, and with public comments finished, the
meeting was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
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