Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Energy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tazewell County board approves two community-scale solar special-use permits after public comment
Summary
After a public comment in favor and board questions about farmland and long-term management, the county board approved two community-scale solar projects under special-use permits consistent with state incentives and prevailing-wage provisions referenced by a public speaker.
The Tazewell County Board approved two special-use permits for community-scale solar projects after public testimony and discussion about local farmland preservation and long-term site management.
A resident, Marty Helfers of Pekin, spoke during public communications in favor of the projects and described conversations he had with a Dimension Energy representative. "My name is Marty Helfers. I live at 1221 Veterans Drive, beautiful Pekin, Illinois... So I strongly support it," Helfers said, and he described his review of state incentives and labor protections that shaped his view.
Helfers told the board he had initially been concerned that developers might seek multiple 5-megawatt permits to evade private labor agreements, but said his understanding changed after conversations with the developer’s representative. He summarized the relevant state program as "CJ, which is a climate employment jobs act... and part of that in the act says prevailing wage will be paid. Number 2, anything over 10 megawatt will have a private labor agreement," and then acknowledged his earlier misunderstanding: "I was wrong, and I apologize for that."
During land-use discussion, several county board members raised concerns about use of prime farmland and long-term site maintenance. One board member said the county’s strategic plan prioritizes preserving prime farmland and cautioned that managers and operators may change over the 20–30-year life of a solar site. "So I hope that the neighbors... are satisfied 20 years from now looking at what we agreed to," the member said.
After discussion the board voted to approve the two special-use permit items (agenda items 7 and 8). The approvals occurred by roll call. The roll-call dialog recorded individual votes by name; members recorded as voting "Yes" included Paul, Hopkins, Kosting, Longfellow, Minnell, Minnis, Nels, Phillips, Sin, Saul and others; members recorded as voting "No" included Harris, Prael, Rich Fenson, Schmidloff and a small number of others. The board chair announced the items approved following the roll call.
Staff and board members also noted that Illinois state incentives and regulatory structures affect local review and the available options for the county when considering community-scale solar proposals.
