During a rather quick Vermilion County Board meeting Tuesday evening (Feb 10th), a building permit was approved for the proposed solar farm east of Rankin in Butler Township. Prior to that vote, the “required before building permit by state ordinance” landscape screening and vegetation management plan was passed. Both were passed by the County Board with 18 “yes” votes, one “no,” one “present;” and seven County Board members were absent.
Named after the site’s county road location, the company is listed as 4200 N. Solar 1, LLC; a subsidiary of Soltage renewable energy.
County Board Chairman Steve Miller says yes, the building permit has been passed; but that doesn’t mean ground starts moving this week.
AUDIO: My understanding is they will have to line up the acquisition of the materials that they need to actually do the construction. And then, of course, they’ll have to assemble the workforce, and make a plan for what parts they’re going to do first. They’re obviously not going to go to a lot of that expense if they don’t get a building permit. So, they needed to do the building permit first.
Vermilion County Board Chairman Steve Miller (top row, middle) begins Tuesday night’s meeting.
Attending the County Board meeting was project manager Dustin Squires of contractor EPC Contracting, who explained the timeframe they and Soltage have in mind.
AUDIO: Well, our goal is to have this thing started by the end of March. And we want to have the project completed by the end of the year. And so, right now we’re going through a process of getting the right partnering subcontractors on board, that have the resources to meet that schedule.
Squires says all equipment has been ordered, and all needed items should arrive in April or May. Also at the meeting was Justin Castro from Soltage. He described the project as “about three megawatts AC and about 4.2 megawatts DC,” able to provide power for several counties.
