The Marshall County Commissioners were again asked Monday morning to place a moratorium on large-scale solar farms on agriculture land by Culver residents Debbie VanDeMark and Paul Levett who requested to take a step back to review the ordinance with the Marshall County Plan Commission to better “protect the county”.
VanDeMark said there is a concern where the ordinance does not protect the farmland, environment, adjacent landowners or the county against 55-year leases. She commented that battery storage projects also need to be addressed in the ordinance as well as contamination, clean-up, increased setbacks, and violations, and she reiterated her other concerns.
VanDeMark stated, “Batteries have caught on fire, solar panels have contaminated soil, wildlife is disappearing near current solar fields, young men and women wanting to pursue a career in agriculture are concerned about land prices and that it is being bought up by solar people. I’ve heard neighboring counties are experiencing health issues, property value reduction, contamination of soil, misleading contracts and payments not being made.”
Commission President Stan Klotz said the state is going to do a study on the effects of solar. He said he previously gave approval of an ordinance that would at least give home rule to Marshall County and agreed that the ordinance needs work. Klotz made a motion to enact a moratorium on large-scale solar farms so the ordinance can be reviewed by the Marshall County Plan Commission. The motion died for a lack of a second.
There were a few members of the public that spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting where they were against solar.
However, Adam Thada of Plymouth pointed to several larger solar projects in place at the John Glenn, Plymouth and Argos Community School Corporations, the Plymouth Wastewater Plant, the Town of Bremen, and Marian University’s Ancilla College, to name a few, and the economic development and benefits of those projects. He also made a comment about the placement of solar projects on agricultural land, specifically at Marian University’s Ancilla College.
“If 30 years from now somebody wants to get an excavator out there to pull those posts out of the ground is what they would need to do to decommission that site,” said Thada. “For those who are familiar with agricultural set aside programs, when you put land like that – dormant as the gentleman said, your best yields are going to be right after because the land is resting. That organic matter is building up in the soil so the idea that that’s lost agriculture is a little confusing to me because there’s not genrally any grading on these projects.”
Sheriff Matt Hassel also commented during public comment that the emergency plan developed by the Local Emergency Planning Committee several years ago does not address commercial solar farms or any battery storage units as containing potentially hazardous material. He stated that the Plan Commission should have an ordinance that sets forth guidelines to protect emergency responders and the county if there is a fire or hazardous spill.
During the commissioner comments at the end of the meeting, Commissioner Michael Burroughs commented that there was at one time a moratorium on solar projects and a committee went to the Plan Commission with a recommendation and an ordinance was passed, but there is a process that he will be following when it comes to the solar ordinance.
“Obviously, you can always learn things more after the fact, but I trust the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals to make a decision and bring it back to the commissioners,” stated Burroughs. “I don’t think the commissioners want to dictate to the Plan Commission or the Board of Zoning Appeals the process. There is a process to be done. I trust the process and let the process work and we’ll see where it shakes out.”
Commissioner Kevin Overmyer pointed to two pieces of correspondence in support of the current ordinance and a previous public hearing that was held concerning the solar ordinance and the passage of the current ordinance.
VanDeMark and Levett will be before the Marshall County Plan Commission Thursday, June 22 at 7:30 p.m. ET to discuss the solar ordinance and ask for amendments. That meeting will be held in the second floor meeting room (Room 203) in the Marshall County Building at 112 W. Jefferson Street in Plymouth.
