Nottoway supervisors approve Ampliform siting agreement after hours of testimony, with setbacks still in dispute

The Nottoway County Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved, with reservations, a draft siting agreement negotiated with Ampliform Rocky Ford LLC for a proposed utility‑scale solar project in the Rocky Ford area after more than two hours of public comment and extended board debate. The motion to accept the siting agreement "with reservations within scope" allowed staff and attorneys to correct typos and make limited clarifying edits without returning to another public hearing.

The agreement the board considered ties mitigation and financial terms to a hypothetical 100‑megawatt facility. County counsel for the developer, Mike Lockerbie, summarized the negotiated capital payments as roughly $8,000,000 total in phased payments: $1,200,000 within 60 days after certain interconnection steps and a building permit, $400,000 at a subsequent milestone, $2,400,000 after construction hard costs begin, and $4,000,000 when the project goes on line. Lockerbie said the arrangement, coupled with a separate performance agreement the board is not voting on tonight, is intended to reduce the county's borrowing needs for a planned courthouse and that, depending on bond rates, the county would come out ahead on…