Commissioners: No moratorium on solar requests | News | suncommercial.com

After hearing a request by neighbors concerned about a potential solar farm near Cloverdale, the Putnam County Commissioners will not be placing any restrictions on solar energy applications in the near future.

Attorney Eddie Felling appeared before the commissioners Monday on behalf of a group calling itself the Putnam County Rural Preservation Society, which Felling described as interested property owners who do not want to see the proposed project come to fruition east of Cloverdale.

The project, known as 4Leaf Solar, is a planned project that developers estimated will generate 300 megawatts of new solar energy, enough to power more than 50,000 homes each year. Representing an investment of more than $400 million by developer energyRe, the project has yet to appear before any county boards for planning and zoning purposes.

energyRe has, however, begun making its presence known with advertising and editorials having appeared in the Banner Graphic and other community involvement, such as sponsoring the sheep barn at this week’s Putnam County Fair — no irony considering the project plans to utilize year-round sheep grazing under and around the solar panels.

Felling, however, pointed to what he sees as “a major hole with regard to the decommissioning aspect” in the Putnam County Unified Development Ordinance.

Completed less than two years ago, the new UDO sets specific parameters for solar and wind energy development in the county, but Felling believes that in terms of decommissioning — returning the land to its original state once the solar farm has completed its life cycle — the county ordinance is lacking. 

Felling noted that the UDO only requests a 25% decommissioning bond over the first few years of the life of the project, and only 50% through 10 years.

“Not only that, but you’ve got the eyesore and the concerns of the adjoining property owners,” Felling said.

Acknowledging that the county can negotiate a higher bond in individual cases, he said this can be tricky: “I can tell you that 90% of the negotiating is regarding decommissioning.”

Felling’s request was that at the next commissioners meeting, set for Monday, Aug. 4, they pass a resolution to place a moratorium on all solar applications for one year to go back and revisit the laws.

County officials, though, have been through this process before. Although the request ultimately failed by a 2-1 commissioners vote, an agreement was already in place two years ago for the proposed Cold Spring Solar Farm in Russell Township, including for decommissioning.

County Attorney Jim Ensley noted they had “very aggressively negotiated a decommissioning agreement” in that case and were told that it was much stronger than other solar projects elsewhere in Indiana.

Ensley also noted that the UDO was only a year-and-a-half old and that any such moratorium would need to go through the County Plan Commission before coming to the commissioners.

County Planner Lisa Zeiner added that the percentages Felling cited were only minimums.

The commissioners, even those who haven’t necessarily looked favorably upon solar projects in the past, were also not ready for a moratorium

“I think they are trying to throw stuff at us to make a moratorium,” Commissioner Andy Beck said. “At this point, I think it’s just too late to go about it.”

Commissioner Tom Helmer also indicated the time was not right.

“My opinion is that I disagree with doing a moratorium on solar or moratoriums on basically anything,” Commissioner Rick Woodall.

“I hope you understand why I approached it the way I did,” Felling replied. “No matter what happens with this request, I ask that the commissioners take a close look at that portion of the code.”

Another zoning issue that’s already a thorn in the county’s side reared its head again on Monday.

Razor Aggregates, the company that is looking to develop a limestone quarry on 200 acres of land owned by Hayman Holdings and Eric Hayman, has retained Barnes & Thornburg as legal counsel in the matter. 

Last November, the commissioners denied a rezoning request that would have paved the way for the new quarry, but Razor and Hayman returned to a commissioners meeting in May saying they believed the county decision “held no weight.”

Despite Razor co-owner Greg Gould saying at the time that the company did not want legal action, the plan is now to take the county to court.

The problem is that the county has also used Barnes & Thornburg in such cases.

Woodall discussed a letter from the firm that stated that the county could choose to retain Barnes & Thornburg in the case, as different divisions of the firm would represent the two sides.

The other option is to not sign the waiver that was presented and make Barnes & Thornburg choose which client to represent.

The commissioners unanimously voted not to sign.

In other business, the commissioners:

• Chose to go with First National Bank to lease two new tandem dump trucks and one single-axle for the Putnam County Highway Department. The six-year lease comes with a rate of 4.12% and an annual payment of $127,757.

Local lenders Tri-County Bank and North Salem State Bank also submitted bids, with all three presenting options of four, five and six years. 

The six-year lease from FNB came with the annual payments.

Highway Director Clint Maddox also noted that he would be going west on an unrelated trip this week and would look at a road grinder for sale from an implement dealer in Iowa. The county is planning to have the seller bring it to Putnam County for a demonstration later this year.

“That way I can put eyes on it and see if it’s something we’re really interested in, and we can go ahead and see if we want to do the demo,” Maddox said.

The county will pay $3,500 for the demo, but that will become part of the $80,000 asking price if the purchase is made.

Maddox also noted that the self-propelled broom recently had a “major malfunction” when its water pump went out.

“It pretty much cooked itself to death,” Maddox said.

While a new motor would cost around $12,000, he said a new model can be obtained for $30,000-$35,000.

The commissioners approved the purchase, with $15,000 coming from the vehicle fund and another $20,000 from the bridge equipment fund.

• Moved forward with repairing and replacing Bridge 133 on County Home Road and Bridge 191 on Cemetery Road in Cloverdale Township.

Both will be replaced with grate-style bridge decks by E&H Bridge, with JAMRR Excavating of Greencastle doing the excavation work on both.

• Discussed the possibility of a lighted stop sign at the intersection of 500 North and 700 East at Heritage Lake.

Local resident Gary Dixon brought it to the attention of the board at Heritage Lake, which encouraged him to approach the commissioners.

“Coming up the hill from the bottomlands there at the campground, three times this year, I’ve had problems with folks running that stop sign,” Dixon said. “Last year, I actually came tire to tire with another vehicle.

“The problem is, they’ll tap their brakes but they’re not looking up that hill,” he added. “They’re not looking at the part down below it that says the cross traffic does not stop.”

Ensley noted that in the past, the county has had the firm Bliss McKnight look into such matters regarding signs.

The next meeting of the Putnam County Commissioners is set for 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 4.