Residents raise cybersecurity, environmental and nuisance concerns about Goshen projects and proposed annexation
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Summary
Multiple residents used public comment to urge trustees to scrutinize Goshen-related projects: claims ranged from alleged embedded 'kill switches' in Chinese-made solar equipment to anticipated noise, water use and zoning concerns for a proposed data center site to be annexed into Manteno.
At the July 21 public comment period, several Manteno residents raised concerns tied to projects associated with a company frequently referred to as Goshen and to a separate potential annexation into Manteno.
Anne Gates urged the village to review solar and energy storage equipment being deployed in the region and cited national reporting and investigations. Gates said reports show an undisclosed extra component in Chinese-made inverters and described it as an alleged security threat: “There are ... a kill switch that's being embedded in solar panels from China,” she said, adding federal agencies have opened inquiries and that senators had launched an investigation. Gates also asked the village to monitor ESS (energy storage system) units deployed on Goshen-owned property and their cooling during an extreme heat watch.
Gates said she was concerned about a parcel proposed for annexation into Manteno and raised potential environmental impacts if it were developed as a data center, including water use for cooling and noise from equipment that can affect nearby residents and people with hearing aids.
Other public commenters touched on the Goshen presence and broader community concerns. Sandy Chish reviewed contract language and billing she said conflicted with village ordinance limits and argued that some prior contracts had not been properly presented to the board. Francine Fatima complained about perceived expansion of Goshen’s local footprint and raised general concerns about panhandling and how the village attracts families.
Commenters repeatedly framed their remarks as community-safety, environmental and transparency concerns; trustees did not take formal action during the public-comment period but several residents urged the board to exercise oversight on permitting, annexation, and monitoring of infrastructure.