Residents raise concerns about solar property‑value guarantee, industrial development and meeting transparency

Two residents addressed the Board of County Commissioners during the public‑comment period on Sept. 2, raising separate concerns about a recently adopted property‑value guarantee ordinance for solar farms, potential industrial development and the county's public‑meeting transparency practices.

Dan Caruso of New Carlisle spoke about a recently approved property‑value guarantee ordinance affecting properties within one mile of solar farms. Caruso told the board he was concerned the ordinance could create new requirements for developers and builders near single‑family homes, including potential bonding that he estimated could equal about 20% of a project's value. He warned that industrial or commercial projects—he mentioned Amazon as an example—could impose air‑quality and water impacts, saying in the meeting that a concentration of diesel generators would not be a “minor source of air pollution.”

Nancy Duncan of Mishawaka criticized short‑notice changes to an Aug. 26 meeting that prevented some people from attending and said the recording of that meeting had not been posted as of Sept. 2. She suggested the board adopt a notice window—for example, 48 hours—before moving a meeting and said online recordings should be posted within 24 hours. Duncan also questioned a line item she read in the agenda for new chairs in the auditor's office and asked whether purchasing “18 bonded leather, high‑backed cushy executive chairs” represented good stewardship of taxpayer money.

No formal board action followed the public comments; the board recessed after the public‑comment period.