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Commission authorizes legal intervention in Sloopy Solar OPSB case after mixed public comment
Summary
The board approved letting county legal counsel intervene in the Ohio Power Siting Board case for the Sloopy Solar project and named an ad hoc OPSB appointee; public commenters expressed both support for jobs and concern about farmland and levy impacts.
The Clark County Board voted Feb. 25 to authorize Chief Legal Counsel Beau Thompson to file a notice of intervention and appear on behalf of the county in Ohio Power Siting Board Case No. 25-0636-EL-BGN (Sloopy Solar Energy Center).
Thompson advised commissioners that the commissioner appointed as the county's ad hoc OPSB member must not participate in discussion or vote on the intervention. President Sasha Rittenhouse said she would appoint Commissioner Charles Patterson as the ad hoc member; Patterson agreed and abstained from the roll call on Resolution 2026-0162, which passed with two yes votes and one abstention.
Public comments on the project were split. Clay Tolliver told the commission he supported the project as an economic opportunity and said it "is a good opportunity for young people to make $40 per hour." Jason Lautenslager of Laborers Local 1410 said the project could produce approximately "$57 million over the course of this project, approximately 25 to 30 years." By contrast, township residents including Jack McKee and Bill Agle raised concerns about placing solar arrays on A-1 agricultural land and about potential impacts to township levies and future equipment purchases.
The resolution authorizes county counsel to take necessary procedural steps to protect county interests in the OPSB proceeding; it does not itself change permitting decisions by the OPSB.
