County Board Acts On Enterprise Zone and Solar Panel Agreements

Members of the County Board approved expanding an Enterprise Zone near the Vermilion Regional Airport during their meeting Tuesday evening. Bill Pickett has more….

The board also approved a decommissioning agreement for a solar farm east of Rankin and welcomed a new member.   Eric Luttrell was sworn in to replace Kevin Green in County Board District 2.

The Enterprise Zone expansion will allow the 50-acre tract along the north side of West Newell Road at Bowman to be ‘shovel-ready’ in the event an industry or commercial entity seeks to locate there.  County Board Chairman Steve Miller says the City of Danville wants to extend sewer lines and other infrastructure improvements to the site.

Under the agreement, commercial or industrial projects that might want to locate at the site would get a 75-percent abatement on real estate taxes for 10 years.  Then in years 11 through 15 the tax abatement would be 50 percent.  Approval of the agreement does not change incentives already offered in other parts of the Enterprise Zone.

Board member Jerry Hawker questioned what financial protections are in place in the decommissioning agreement for the solar farm near Rankin. But County Board Chairman Steve Miller says the solar company involved has agreed to post $800-thousand dollars now, with the amount to be reviewed every five years.  Seven County Board members voted against the agreement as it was approved 15 to 7, with one board member voting present, and four were absent.  Those voting “no” were Kevin Bodine, Robert Boyd, Philip Jackson, Christine Lamar, Timothy Morgan, Brad Watson, and Dan Wright. Board member Joseph Eakle voted “present”.