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Landowners press Blackford County for stronger decommissioning oversight and a role in solar project closeout
Summary
Multiple landowners and residents used the public‑comment portion of the meeting to press the county to include landowners in solar decommissioning inspections and agreements, to restore topsoil after decommissioning, and to halt or more tightly govern negotiations with developers while the county’s wind and solar ordinances remain under review.
Several Blackford County landowners and residents urged the commissioners during public comment to strengthen decommissioning requirements for utility‑scale solar and wind projects and to involve local landowners directly in decommissioning inspections.
"First and foremost, you should admit that you broke your word without sidestepping or making excuses," resident Deb Bridal told the board, urging commissioners to end ongoing negotiations and allow the county’s updated ordinance process to finish. Bridal said commissioners should "make it right" by ending negotiations and returning to ordinance work.
Landowner Larry Garrett said decommissioning procedures should address issues such as removal of damaged panels, restoration of topsoil, and site‑specific problems like buried tile or material stacked behind woods. "We might want those cleaned up also," Garrett said; he and other landowners proposed forming a local committee that would work with county officials and decommissioning contractors to verify that sites are restored to their pre‑project condition.
Another resident, Michael McClain, raised concerns about the county entering negotiations with a developer (referred to in the meeting as EDP) while the wind ordinance was still unresolved. He called for the primary purpose of wind zoning to remain the protection of "the health, safety, and welfare" of residents rather than a focus on how many turbines a project could include.
Commissioners and staff responded to some procedural questions: a county official stated that the standard tax‑abatement term discussed in the meeting is 10 years. Staff said they would attempt to provide requested revenue figures at a future meeting but did not provide definitive numbers at this session.
Participants asked that decommissioning agreements require returning tilled farmland to a condition suitable for planting the spring after decommissioning and that landowners be allowed to verify completion before permits or approvals are signed off.
The board did not take formal action on these public‑comment requests during the meeting; staff indicated they would consult the county attorney and follow up in future sessions.
