Hancock County Board

County Continues To Study Ways To Add Teeth To Solar, Wind Farm Contracts

Joy Swearingen, The Quill Correspondent

The Hancock County board approved a 24-month temporary moratorium on issuing permits for data centers in the county, at their board meeting June 16. 

The action came amid more discussion on what authority the county has to regulate wind and solar projects and to limit data centers in the county. State law now requires county ordinances to follow state building standards, preventing a county from being more strict that state regulations.

To help with clarity,  energy attorney, Andrew Kite of Peoria, spoke to the board via Zoom, answering questions and explaining when the county can take action. Kite has worked with over 30 counties on renewable energy, land use and zoning issues.

Kite reminded the board that if the county voters have not approved zoning, the board has no power to limit construction of battery storage facilities that are used for data centers. Criteria data center builders need are access to fiber optics and the cloud, water and power resources, and available land.

“What rights do counties have if they are not zoned?” asked county board president, Mark Menn.

“You always have road authority. The county engineer and township road commissioners have power to regulate use of the roads,” Kite said. 

“Beyond that you do have some inherent police power to regulate certain types of land use. You do not have power to regulate locations, design criteria, set backs, things that are found in normal zoning.”

Kite said that if a project becomes a nuisance there are certain police powers such as regulating noxious weeds, environmental threats, or damage to roads.

Kite explained that zoning takes a public vote to establish. The county must hire a zoning commissioner paid a minimum of $75,000, and then create a zoning board that would oversee what is done. 

The county board does not control zoning.  County-wide zoning could result in regulations on many other kinds of property use.

Steve Lucie asked, “How do we protect the neighboring land owner. A lot of us here, we are okay with landowner rights.  We also want to put in some protection to the neighboring land owner who seems to be left out of this equation.  How do we put the onus on the project landowner or the solar company itself?”

Lucie cited possible cases where storms would cause panel debris to be scattered onto a neighbor’s field or pasture land, rendering it unusable for many years.

Kite said there are certain provisions for clean-up with fine structures. 

Tom Rodgers cited a study saying solar energy may contain small amounts of toxic materials, but these materials do not endanger public health.

“Is there any legislation that protects the public if these guys are wrong? I am concerned as a public official, sworn to protect the public at large. How do I do that when I am being told by the state that I have no control?”

The board agreed to have Kite review their solar and wind ordinances to see if there are any clauses that can be tightened.

Following a public hearing, the amended county wind ordinance was approved, aligning it with state regulations.

The board postponed action on the special use permit for two solar projects, Hwy 61 Sun LLC and Hwy 61 Sun 2 LLC. The owners had canceled and then resubmitted their applications to be sure they met county regulations after the county amended their solar ordinance last month.

Tom Dale was appointed as solar site assessment officer, with pay of $300 per trip. He will make visits twice a year to each solar project site, as well as other inspections as needed.

At the beginning of the meeting, representatives from the county 4-H program spoke about the upcoming 4-H show, and gave an invitation to the county board members to attend all events, especially the barbecue/auction/awards night Wednesday, July 8. Those present were Madeline Davis, the 4-H program coordinator, and three 4-H Federation members, Kate Thompson, Courtney Lucie and Laney Pfeiferling.

Cora Hanks was introduced as the co-op student working in the office of the county clerk.

The resignation of county board member, Ryan Weeks, was accepted. At the recommendation of the  County Republican Central Committee, Jason Jacquot, was appointed as the board member from District 3 to fill that vacancy.

Board member Harry Douglas suggested the board or a member of the board make a Freedom of Information request for emails and texts on county devices, related to requests by the board for receipts of expenses paid using the sheriff’s department credit card. These items are part of the county budget, and receipts or invoices have been requested by the county auditing firm. 

The board approved paying overtime of $3,600 to Richard’s Electric to install a generator in the courthouse, so that the work can be completed during a weekend. Power to the courthouse will be shut off during the process, which would require the courthouse to be closed if done during the work week. The funds will come from Court Services budget.

A fee schedule agreement was approved between Hancock County EMS and the La Harpe Ambulance Service. Since La Harpe Ambulance is not part of the county EMS system, the payment schedule reflects whether or not the patient is a county resident paying into the county tax subsidy, or a resident outside the county ambulance tax district.

The upper limit of the credit card used by the ambulances and EMS was raised to $12,000 because of the increased cost of fuel purchases. 

Amy Graham reported progress on the statue of Abraham Lincoln being prepared for the courthouse. It is hoped to be finished in time for July 4. The board approved making the second payment, and authorized the final payment to be made on delivery.

Superintendent of Assessments, Mike McVey, asked the board to consider changing GIS mapping service from Schneider Geospatial to Sidwell. Both companies made presentations at a special meeting of the Finance Committee on May 28.

Gary Akers was appointed to a five-year term as trustee for the Dallas Rural Water District.

Five tax deeds for property in the Warsaw area were approved.