Supervisors: National Grid suggests changes to proposed solar ordinance

By Rick Morain
Jefferson Herald

The Greene County Board of Supervisors Aug. 29 heard proposals for changes to the county’s proposed ordinance on commercial solar energy systems from Marta Lasch, permitting specialist for National Grid Renewables.

National Grid is the company seeking to construct a utility scale solar energy panel array south of Grand Junction.

Lasch asked that the county not cap a solar array at 1,000 acres, as proposed in the county’s draft ordinance, but if it does, she recommended that the cap apply solely to the solar array itself, not to the entire geographical area developed for placement of the system.
She also suggested reducing the county’s proposed setbacks for distances from property lines, homes, wildlife management areas, buildings, and cemeteries. She said that landscaping could be used to address or mitigate visual impact of the panel arrays.

Additionally, Lasch discussed decommissioning language, supplemental language to describe components of a commercial solar system, and language to include substations in wind farms and commercial solar systems concerning the height and area regulations.
She also reccommended including commercial and industrial districts as locations where solar arrays could be conditionally permitted.
Greene County’s proposed ordinance on commercial-scale solar arrays is based on a similar ordinance from Webster County, with setback distances similar to those in the Adair County ordinance. The Adair ordinance, according to county zoning officer Chuck Wenthold, has the longest setback distances among all Iowa county solar ordinances.

Greene County treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen offered her concerns about solar array glare, fire hazards, and electromagnetic field sensitivity, although she noted there is not much data available on those factors.
Tim Bardole said he has an agreement with National Grid Renewables, as a way for his family to pay down debt and allow his son to come back to farm. He expressed concerns with the size of the proposed setbacks in the draft ordinance.
Mary Ellen Holz asked questions about substation distances and setbacks.

After the discussion, county attorney Thomas Laehn suggested that two members of the board meet with him to give direction on revised ordinance language. In the meantime, Laehn proposed that the board extend the current Sept. 26 solar moratorium as needed so that the final language could be completed first.

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• On another matter, the board approved a request from the city of Jefferson for property tax abatement on four properties: the site of the new animal shelter in the city’s West Business Park at the north edge of the city, the lot of the abandoned three-story apartment house at the corner of Adams and Wilson two blocks north of the square, and two contiguous lots on East Perry Street north of the Union Pacific railroad tracks.
The amounts to be abated are $3,822 on the abandoned apartment house lot, $300 on the animal shelter lot, and $48 and $64 respectively on the two East Perry lots. The four abatements total $4,234.
Vote on the abatement motion was 3 to 1, with supervisors Dawn Rudolph, John Muir, and Mick Burkett voting yes and supervisor Tom Contner voting no. Contner told The Herald he was opposed to abating the animal shelter lot taxes.

• County attorney Laehn suggested changing the county’s vicious animal ordinance’s provisions for euthanizing such animals to make sure that the owner receives the certified letter on the board’s decision in such cases.

• Laehn also credited assistant county attorney Laura Snider, county recorder Deb McDonald, and Tori Gettler from the county auditor’s office for their work in helping him compile a draft recodification of the county’s ordinances. A date for the public hearing on the recodification was not finalized pending the inclusion of language for utility scale solar energy systems.

• County engineer Wade Weiss discussed using tax increment financing (TIF) to help fund repair and/or replacement of County Road P-46 in the northeast part of the county. Initial repairs made, after heavy equipment used in the construction of wind turbines deteriorated the road, are no longer adequate, Weiss said, and work needs to begin sooner than expected on portions of the road.
Weiss also reported that the music controller for the Mahanay Tower is not working and has been sent away for repairs.
Supervisor Pete Bardole was absent from the meeting.