Some citizens are seeking help from the Vermilion County Board in efforts to prevent a 1400 acre commercial solar farm from locating along the Catlin-Tilton Road. Bill Pickett has the story….
Audio PlayerTonya Hill said there are zoning issues that have arisen, plus health concerns…
{AUDIO: “We need to know the environmental effects of these solar panels coming into our ground and our property. It’s not good. I’m not going to stand up here and preach that to you but please do your homework. And I would really appreciate it if you could find somebody from the Vermilion County Health Department to serve on this committee.”}
Hill was referring to the County’s Wind and Solar Committee.
Patty Jones told County Board members that if the solar farm is erected it would surround the home where she and her husband live on three sides. She voiced several concerns – among them….
Audio Player{AUDIO: “We have received conflicting information regarding who’s responsible for voting on this project. The Catlin Village Board refuses to discuss the project or provide any information regarding the solar farm. The board refuses to commit to upholding Catlin’s 1.5 mile setback zoning ordinance.”}
Lisa Comrie also addressed the County Board Tuesday evening saying the solar farm “would permanently alter the character of the landscape, displace productive farmland, and infringe on the rights of residents who believed their municipality’s zoning still applied.”
County Board member Joe Eakle says he understands the citizens concerns. And he added Earthrise Energy is dealing with an absentee landowner….
{AUDIO: “These people pray upon absentee landowners, and that’s what they did. The Latter Day Saints aren’t in the area except for the farm ground. So they hit on them kind of people. So, if we work together we can accomplish a lot.”}
Earthrise Energy says the Tilton Solar Project would generate enough clean, renewable energy to power more than 30,000 homes. The solar farm is proposed on land stretching from just west of Tilton to east of Catlin on the north side of the Catlin-Tilton Road.
County Board Chairman Steve Miller says there has been no application for the proposed 1400 acre solar farm submitted to the county. When we asked Miller whether the project would have to be considered by the County’s Wind and Solar Sub-Committee – he replied, “We think so.”