Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Renewable Energy Solar topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Iroquois County Board approves two solar conditional-use permits, grants variances for USS Woolly
Summary
The County Board approved conditional-use permits for CF IL Solar (Martinton) and USS Woolly Solar after Planning & Zoning recommended conditions including fully funded decommissioning agreements, road-use requirements and protections for drain tile systems. The USS Woolly variance requests were also approved.
The Iroquois County Board on June 9 approved two conditional-use permits for commercial solar facilities and granted related variances for USS Woolly Solar.
Counsel Andrew Keyt summarized the terms that will be attached to the approvals: “conditions of approval will be similar to those of the previous two US Solar projects, including decommissioning agreements fully funded at building permit without discounts for salvage value, road use agreements prior to construction, training/new equipment for local fire protection districts and protection of drain tile systems.” Those conditions were applied to the CF IL Solar Martinton and USS Woolly Solar approvals.
The CF IL Solar N 2200 East Road, Martinton LLC conditional-use permit (Ordinance No. 2026-9) was approved by roll call. The board also approved the USS Woolly Solar conditional use permit (Ordinance No. 2026-10) and two variances tied to that project: one concerning the living buffer and another postponing the interconnection-agreement timing until building permit issuance. The CF IL Solar approval was conditioned on the applicant submitting decommissioning-cost estimates and a funding plan within 30 days of board approval.
Board members who voted against both ordinances (three recorded nay votes) said they had concerns about local impacts; the minutes record narrow divisions on some related variance votes. Planning & Zoning Chair Kathleen Perkinson and Zoning counsel Andrew Keyt said the county will require road-use agreements and engineer-reviewed drain-tile protections prior to construction.
Next steps include finalizing decommissioning-cost documentation for the Martinton permit and executing required road-use and decommissioning agreements before construction permits are issued.
