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Wisconsin Rapids council approves land contract to advance 5-MW solar array, mandates large buffer and pollinator plantings
Summary
The Common Council voted 5-3 to approve financing and a land contract allowing the Waterworks and Lighting Commission’s solar array to proceed; the city will install a 150–250-foot vegetative buffer, fence the panel area and plant native pollinators on cleared acreage.
The Wisconsin Rapids Common Council voted 5-3 to advance a Waterworks and Lighting Commission solar array on an about-80-acre parcel near Whitrock and 2 Mile Avenue, signing a land contract that will allow clearing, fencing and construction to begin. Mayor Matt Sacker said the council’s action follows a Jan. 5 planning commission approval of a zoning change (7-0) and a conditional use permit (5-2), after the Finance & Property Committee had voted down financing (0-2) earlier in January.
The project will clear roughly 40 acres and place panels on about 20–24 acres, Sacker said, and the installation is expected to produce about 5 megawatts of generation — “one-sixth of our power, on average,” he said — against the city’s stated average demand of roughly 30 megawatts. Sacker…
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