Committee approves road‑use agreements for multiple county solar projects; escrow, surveys required for some routes

The McLean County Land Use and Transportation Committee voted unanimously Aug. 5 to approve road‑use agreements that will govern construction traffic and right‑of‑way use for a set of solar farms approved by the county zoning board. Public Works staff told the committee the agreements cover three 5‑megawatt arrays for 6GM in Hudson Township — two colocated on one parcel and a third about a mile east — plus separate Empyrean Power (through Imperial Power) projects labeled McLean Solar 7 and Old Colonial Solar. "So this company's building three solar farms off the Lakesburg Road…they're 5 megawatts," a county presenter said. For the 6GM Hudson Township agreements, staff said Lakesburg Road was repaved recently and is designated an 80,000‑pound route, so the county did not require a pre‑improvement survey. For the Empyrean Power projects that access older county and township roads, the agreements require pre‑improvement surveys and financial security: staff said one company is providing a letter of credit and another an escrow. The presentation noted a letter of credit or escrow figure of about $100,000 in one case and $25,000 as a typical baseline for a 5‑megawatt farm, and that the funds would be available to pay for repairs if project traffic damages county roads and a contractor or company failed to make repairs. Committee members asked whether the agreements impose lane closures or traffic restrictions; staff said the agreements are meant to govern use of the right‑of‑way and that the companies did not intend to interrupt through traffic on Lakesburg Road. "On this particular agreement…there's no restrictions on the road," staff said, adding the contractors do not plan to disrupt traffic while transporting equipment. Motions: the Hudson Township 6GM road‑use agreements were moved by Member Abel, seconded by Member Ziebarth; the Empyrean Power road‑use agreements were moved by Member Duffy, seconded by Member Abel. Both motions passed unanimously.