Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Solar topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Resident urges support for Crossroads solar-grazing project, calls out online misinformation
Summary
A local resident, Mike Bauchalken, told Morrow County commissioners he supports the proposed Crossroads Solar Grazing Center, described it as a $100 million project using about 550 acres, and said he is collecting signatures after seeing misinformation online; commissioners did not take formal action during the meeting.
Morrow County — A resident told commissioners he supports a proposed Crossroads Solar Grazing Center, arguing the project would produce clean energy and provide tax relief while taking a relatively small footprint of farmland.
At the public-comment portion of the meeting, Mike Bauchalken said he and his wife have lived in the area since 1979 and presented a written letter to the board. He described several local improvements — a walking trail the speaker called the Fishburne Trail, nearby apartment and senior housing developments — and urged the board to work with property owners to preserve rights while pursuing new projects.
On the Crossroads proposal, Bauchalken characterized the project as a pending "$100,000,000 project" and said it would "generate an additional tax benefit to our immediate area" if approved. He described the plan as spread across multiple development areas with setbacks and wooded buffers to reduce visual impact, and said, "...a company that will produce clean energy for future generations and provide tax relief."
Bauchalken also addressed local online debate: he said "so much misinformation has gone around on Facebook" about the project and that he has been collecting signatures from residents in favor of the development to present to county trustees. He told the commissioners he had met with a Crossroads representative and with a trustee to discuss the proposal.
Why it matters: The comment highlights local support and concern about the scale, design and public perception of a utility-scale solar project. Bauchalken’s numerical claims about project cost and acreage were presented as his statements and are not independently verified in the meeting transcript.
What the board did: No formal action on the Crossroads project is recorded in the transcript; the remarks were part of the public-comment period and no vote or referral appears in the meeting record provided.
Next steps: The transcript does not record any follow-up assignment or timetable from the board. Bauchalken left after his remarks.
