[0:00] so we'd like to put two hand washing sinks in the health department and put

[0:05] wood linal planking in three of the offices um two of the offices will be

[0:11] patient rooms we're going to start doing um uh do doing blood draws for um TB

[0:19] testing STD testing um and lead testing um we H right now we have no nashing at

[0:29] all okay so to run the plumbing it's going

[0:32] to be pretty intense to have that done so we're asking to use $15,000 of some

[0:38] old grant money to have all the work done you

[0:44] work yes and um they're they're looking we

[0:51] haven't we haven't got a quote yet for the labor um but it's going to be a big

[0:57] job because there's no water at all on that side of the building but the

[1:02] bathrooms are close so just GNA it's going to be a lot in

[1:06] labor you do have money in your budget to cover all this that's already

[1:11] allocated gr money okay and just to let you guys know

[1:18] last year um they approved us to hire a contracted um emergency preparedness

[1:25] person and that person will be Ken gowell and they actually started in

[1:30] January so we're thankful I am very very thankful

[1:38] so well you you don't have any sinks in there currently do you in your health

[1:42] department none yesun the water above the

[1:50] ceiling as well as the sewer on the waste no schools no toilets no just

[2:04] okay I'll make a motion to approve uh the spending for the health department

[2:08] for four and sinks two hand sinks planking van planking wood

[2:16] approximately $155,000 you're taking it from an old rant yes yes okay as well as

[2:23] the close that I'll second that those in favor say I I motion passes thank you

[2:31] thank you Tasha you're

[2:40] next good evening evening so what I've got to talk about tonight Teresa does

[2:47] have the USDA grant that I had emailed you guys to sign um I'm not sure with

[2:52] the county attorney if we're going to be able to finish that tonight but um

[2:55] Teresa does have it in her hands to look at for you guys to possibly sign today

[3:00] um that was for the ambulance that we just received be their reimbursement

[3:04] from the USDA grant that we received full amount it's the full amount in what

[3:10] they agreed initially we can't get any more than what they initially agreed on

[3:14] what was that

[3:22] amount

[3:26] 33424 thank you

[3:31] did also want to talk about the ambulances and status you guys did ask

[3:36] me to email that report were you able to review that I did not no I I received it

[3:42] and then I don't think no you said that today last night yes yeah yep re so

[3:49] thank we got locked out of our accounts did you get lock that doesn't

[3:54] surprise me um essentially what has happened is that ambulance that did need

[3:59] repair we have found the parts so that will be able to be repaired at this time

[4:04] um going forward with the new quotes the lowest that I've received is for a

[4:07] remount quote other than that a lot of them are not prepared at this time so I

[4:12] will show you those documents and I will be emailing you money many

[4:17] more the last thing that I have for today is to discuss a new phone line for

[4:22] EMS specifically it would be a recorded line for our transfer service to make

[4:28] sure that I can review and do all the quality control to make sure that our

[4:32] staff and the hospital staff are communicating effectively at this time

[4:36] when they do call if no one is at the base due to being on a 911 call it

[4:40] actually goes to my voicemail so if I don't catch it then the hospital is

[4:45] wondering why we didn't call them back so I want to make sure that we have a

[4:48] designated transfer line um from what I understand they have two lines available

[4:54] Teresa did want me to bring this forward in front of the two of you to talk about

[4:59] Natasha before you took over you worked for the service so how did that work

[5:04] before it works as it currently works now um they call the winimac base so if

[5:10] no one's at the winac base due to being on a transfer or being out on a 911 call

[5:15] it just goes to my voicemail or the director's voicemail so that

[5:19] Francisville line doesn't ring so I would like to make sure that we have a

[5:22] designated transfer phone line that way when that specific phone number Rings

[5:27] they know it is for a transfer that way my myself and or our captains can answer

[5:31] knowing that it is in regards to a transfer that needs to go

[5:41] out anything else no that's it for me thank you you like motion

[5:49] theha was the USDA gr approved

[5:57] prior yeah I will make a motion to approve the phone line for Ems for

[6:01] transfer calls I'll second that those in favor say I I I thank you and just for a

[6:09] public comment the USDA Grant was worked on by the last set of Commissioners

[6:13] however somebody did retire from the USDA so it has now fallen to this set of

[6:18] Commissioners so thank you okay thank you

[6:31] yeah um just updates on Industrial solar battery energy

[6:36] storage um and I had a a meeting that I wanted to briefly discuss um first of

[6:42] all on the on the issue of battery energy storage systems um I'm seeing

[6:48] some more conversation happen in the county which is a huge plus and I'm just

[6:52] going to I won't call you out but we had a resident who sent an email to all the

[6:56] Commissioners in regards to battery energy storage Sy system and I just want

[7:00] to recognize that we do have people in our community um that we can call on

[7:05] which is great when we start discussing these large scale battery energy storage

[7:10] systems um and I think it's a I would love to see the community work

[7:16] together uh in addition with the Commissioners to bring a lot of this

[7:19] information so that we can really lay it out of the table and we've got some

[7:23] expertise so that's a positive sign keep keep emailing keep letting us know where

[7:27] your areas of expertise are please um I had a

[7:32] meeting last week with uh Senator Jim Banks's Regional director um in Indiana

[7:39] it was a good meeting he came up or came over from Fort Wayne to tour uh White

[7:45] County um what's going on with renewable energies there and then he came went to

[7:49] Jasper County had someone there take him around and show him everything and then

[7:53] ended up well he started in palasky County but because we didn't have

[7:57] anything to show at the time uh we just had a conver ation so um he he did say

[8:03] you know he had never seen um solar on such a scale as what he saw in white and

[8:08] Jasper uh the density of the solar was um concerning to him um he did say banks

[8:14] at this time is not a supporter of large scale industrial solar uh we talked a

[8:19] little bit about property taxes that came up uh at our last meeting and and

[8:24] he did say I said what do you see happening with that he said well because

[8:27] of the jump during Co with our property values everything skyrocketed and it it

[8:31] just a lot of people were alarmed so he said what he believes is going to happen

[8:36] and he's one person but coming from Senator Banks's office um he said he

[8:41] believes the property taxes will continue to slowly increase they will

[8:45] make sure that it slowly increases there will be a a limit and that eventually

[8:50] there may be a cap on those but he did not see those being reduced which again

[8:55] it's one person but it was good to to talk to him on that he was concerned you

[9:00] know he did say communities are built by people it's people that make communities

[9:04] and that if all of this is laid down it is a concern for the county that we are

[9:08] losing people because people bring the money in um and I of course you know I

[9:13] agree with that as well uh and he did say it would be a huge net cost to the

[9:18] state as well um project updates and and I've just

[9:24] learned tonight I've not gotten any updates on um industrial solar in the

[9:29] count and what's currently going on I was concerned because I got a call a few

[9:34] days ago in the morning and um one of the companies had trespassed onto a

[9:40] person's property that was not involved in the solar project and of course that

[9:46] led to calling the sheriff's department and having somebody come out from there

[9:50] so I'm concerned at this point um I don't know when these projects are

[9:54] starting I'm seen a little bit and Don you may be able to speak to that a

[9:58] little bit more more but but if they are happening and I know we have Jenny

[10:03] Monroe is she here tonight Jenny Monroe is with vs and

[10:07] she's supposed to be kind of the liaison Communicator uh between the solar

[10:12] companies and um us as Commissioners and then we are to delegate to her or let

[10:18] her know what what we expect Don and I have already you know right before the

[10:22] meeting um I just mentioned he mentioned that he had spoken with her and we do

[10:27] need to set up and we will be setting up some type of communication line for the

[10:31] people in the county we need something for um the buses whether the county

[10:35] needs to know when these large um gravel trucks start rolling in where are

[10:41] they're going to be if we've got a fog delay and as a superintendent I know you

[10:44] understand that um if we have a fog delay and we have all these gravel

[10:48] trucks running up and down these County Roads we've got some serious security

[10:52] and safety issues for the public so we need some type of website or some type

[10:57] of communication to update the community on where all of this is going what roads

[11:02] are going to be used and where we are in the project so um I was hoping she'd be

[11:07] here to speak to that just a little bit tonight but uh as well as a timeline for

[11:11] for the project construction um tomorrow I will be

[11:16] attending the association of Indiana counties a legislative conference to

[11:20] receive updates from our top Indiana officials and I'll also be testing or

[11:24] testifying against House Bill 1628 if you have haven heard of House

[11:30] Bill 1628 I want to let you know what's going on because you've got tonight uh

[11:35] to make your voices heard if House Bill 1628 is passed it would mean that a

[11:41] person wanting to locate or construct any

[11:45] multi-jurisdictional project does not need to obtain any

[11:49] local permits or zoning permissions from local County authorities so basically

[11:56] these large renewable um Energy Systems will be able to be built anywhere

[12:03] probably so long as they have permission from a property

[12:06] owner I am a strong supporter of local control and home rule um they've tried

[12:12] this a few years ago it did not pass um but as more and more counties

[12:18] are setting limitations to the amount of Renewables they want in their County um

[12:24] certain individuals are getting more aggressive to try and just remove that

[12:28] home rule so that these can be cited anywhere they want to put them so um if

[12:33] you would I I'm asking you to email um and just give your side whether you're

[12:38] for it or against it let our state legislators know and the people who are

[12:43] proposing this bill where you stand on this because it would this could have

[12:47] major impacts on counties all across Indiana and this would include um

[12:52] infrastructure gases so we're talking probably the carbon sequestration

[12:57] electricity and water and in my opinion would be an extreme overreach of our

[13:02] state government just as the federal the state doesn't like the federal

[13:05] government telling them what to do um local government really wants to keep

[13:10] the control at home

[13:13] um finally you know we've all been waiting to see where Trump stands on you

[13:17] know we know where he stands on wind um he's recently made statements about

[13:22] industrial solar uh anybody that's had at least one eye open since he took

[13:27] office I should should understand that he's making changes at warp speed in the

[13:33] nation um and in issuing the order for the Emergency declaration Trump did say

[13:38] the United States insufficient energy production Transportation refining and

[13:44] generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our nation's

[13:49] economy National Security and foreign policy he blamed the harmful

[13:54] shortsighted policies of the Biden Administration and in defining what Con

[13:58] in defining constitutes energy he did leave out two renewable forms wind and

[14:04] solar as a rural community whose economy is heavily built on agriculture I think

[14:10] as Commissioners we should be very careful where we're going to be putting

[14:14] the next batch of eggs because while it's important to protect individual

[14:18] property rights we have an even greater responsibility to protect our County

[14:22] first so I just wanted to update you on that and that's all I have

[14:29] moving on with other business we've the claims payroll one two and three I have

[14:36] reviewed those and I would make a motion to approve those I will second those in

[14:41] favor say I I minutes from the January 21st 2025

[14:50] regular meeting I I've read over those as well

[14:55] um and I make a motion to approve the minutes from the January 21st 2 meeting

[15:01] good I'll second that those in favor say I

[15:06] I resolution 20253 designate signature uh signatory

[15:12] for Grant applications documents for

[15:26] high this resolu olution allows the president of the board at the time at

[15:31] which Any Grant application is being submitted shall be authorized to sign

[15:36] such such applications and any related documents

[15:40] on behalf of the board in the event of the president is incapacitated or

[15:44] otherwise absent from the meeting at which the submission of a Grant

[15:48] application is approved the vice president of the board shall be

[15:51] authorized to sign such application on behalf of the board this is kind of a

[15:56] normal resolution but we've never had one before so it will cover us for an

[16:01] extended period of time I'll make a motion to approve the

[16:06] resolution I will second that motion those in favor say I I I those oppose

[16:12] same

[16:21] sign next is a recommendation for resolution 20254 approving work

[16:27] locations for soil water if federal government shuts down last time our an

[16:33] individual came and requested that we designate a spot after

[16:38] conversation um basically the employees of the plasy county will be directed to

[16:43] work from the office in the plasy County Highway

[16:47] garage I will make a motion to approve the resolution for approving rck

[16:52] location for soil and water to the County Garage should the federal

[16:54] government shut down I'll second that those in favor say I I those

[17:01] opposed guess that would be zero so a point of Al Bri fogal to plca County

[17:08] Economic Development commission which was recommended to do

[17:13] that I'll recommend Al Ry fogal to be a plasy County Economic Development on the

[17:20] economic development commission I will second that motion those in favor say I

[17:26] I I next we have approve and signed bonds

[17:30] for Corner Jennifer which would be $30,000 and building inspector Carla for

[17:38] $115,000 I will make a motion to approve and sign the bonds for Jennifer Johns

[17:42] and Carla redwick I'll second that in favor say I I

[17:48] I conference request we have two conference requests for auditor seler to

[17:55] the tax sales seminar in carel and veterans Affairs Roy to attend the

[18:01] Northwest District quarterly training I'll make a motion to approve both

[18:06] conferences I'll second the motion I'll second that those in favor

[18:11] say I I

[18:16] I all next is discussion approved prosecutors $5,000 claim for two FL C

[18:24] cameras through the Sheriff's Department

[18:29] what are

[18:35] cameras

[18:43] reest we have eight of them we have agreement with the prosecutor's office

[18:47] that they will buy two of them which makes T place around the camera theyy

[18:52] some places they go through stoic silver alerts Amber Alerts all that kind of

[18:57] stuff so very well they've uh we've actually caught people

[19:01] in CLC County that had warrants felonies outside of the

[19:09] state good idea so I think it'd be a very good investment for us

[19:15] continue I'll make a motion to approve the um the two flock cameras for the

[19:20] sheriff's department I'll second that those in favor say I

[19:24] I next is a Count Council RX

[19:31] okay so the reason they're wanting to cancel the RX help and what had happened

[19:35] back years ago we had had when we had um siga we did not have any help with um

[19:42] the County Employees did not have any help with any when they had major bills

[19:46] for prescriptions so now that we're with Anthem we do so and nobody's using this

[19:53] RXL but unfortunately it's costing the county it's like $50 a person

[19:59] so we had had a meeting Don and I um last week with um and actually with um

[20:07] epic our broker and they said that if nobody's using it we might as well

[20:11] cancel that part of it because there's actually already an RXL or it's called

[20:16] it's called Caron and embedded in the anthem program

[20:21] so we don't need this RX help so um we're just asking to go ahead and send

[20:25] them a letter telling them that we're not going to pay them any more because

[20:29] they're not helping us any yeah nobody so I'll make a motion to

[20:35] cancel the RX help all approve second that motion those in favor say I I

[20:44] I couple items that I'd like to State first of all our vs organization that

[20:49] was hired in December there was an organization meeting uh that took place

[20:54] so they are uh they're talking with the proper channels here in the County as

[20:59] well as those that have have permits and working on that so vs is working um as

[21:05] time goes on things as that we get going we have plans of putting some

[21:10] information on the website uh for public to see the correspondents and what is

[21:16] going on with that it be more to announce as time goes on with that as

[21:21] traca said we had health insurance meeting uh with epic which is our

[21:26] insurance carrier through Anthem April 1st is our renewal date

[21:33] they'll be putting uh bids prices out finding out prices for us I think it's

[21:37] very important to know that we're fully funded we're not self-insured we're

[21:41] fully funded uh and uh they'll be putting some prices together for us

[21:47] they'll be looking back at what is called the rolling 12 to see what kind

[21:50] of claims that we've had so they'll be working on that there's also a

[21:55] technology meeting with rowing who we contract with that was very helpful

[21:59] cyber security as we all know is a large issue so the county has moved to a

[22:04] two-step authentication uh program with that

[22:08] rowing also uh he stressed the importance of our departments working

[22:13] with them to make sure the technology uh that is purchased within our departments

[22:18] make they work with their specs and it works within our uh our technology

[22:24] system in our County so we appreciate rowing and explaining with that also we

[22:29] have several Verizon phones within and technology and County that's ma managed

[22:35] through the Sheriff's Department because they had the largest number uh we

[22:39] appreciate the efforts of the sheriff's department uh going through that they

[22:42] were able to determin there was several phones that were not being used and they

[22:48] were merging uh worked with the account manager so I appreciate the sheriff's

[22:52] department so we've reduced some of our costs through Verizon with that so thank

[22:56] you for the sheriff's department for that

[23:00] so at this time uh we'll have an opportunity for public comment we ask

[23:05] that you state your name residents we ask for you to speak for uh two minutes

[23:10] or less and we ask that you only speak once at this time is there anyone for

[23:15] public comment step on up to the mic

[23:23] please L first sucker live in with ma Indiana

[23:29] and um so I'm kind of wondering why in in this commissioner's meeting we are

[23:37] listening to a particular Viewpoint which is not shared by the whole County

[23:42] as far as solar goes and I'd also like to know what permit was authorized for

[23:47] an industrial solar farm because as far as I know they're only utility solar

[23:53] farms and um as far as Max engling goes he worked policy for 6 months he's not a

[23:59] lifelong farmer he is not a landowner in any project and his words of concerning

[24:05] perhaps that could be because he only had information from a particular point

[24:11] of view and any questions he may or may not have had went unanswered because the

[24:15] expert or someone who could answer it wasn't there to help him discuss what is

[24:21] concerning and also the big thing even on his own website he talks about um he

[24:30] doesn't like the fact that the federal government was expanding in tall areas

[24:34] of life well isn't part of the conservative view is that they don't

[24:38] want government in their business and yet what solar J Jennifer wants is to do

[24:46] exactly that wants exactly oversight into any

[24:51] landowners um property rights and that is

[24:56] completely the opposite of what I understand the Republican party to stand

[25:01] for and [Music]

[25:05] um it is my belief this is personal but it is my belief that regardless of the

[25:11] outcome unless it's exactly what Jennifer and her Handler is not here

[25:18] want they're going to sue and the first suit which Jennifer was a party to cost

[25:24] the county almost $300,000 we want ambulances we want

[25:29] Services $200 to $300,000 but there was a cost to it the

[25:34] county had to pay lawyer fees their name was on it I have public documents to

[25:39] prove that and so it'll be yet another problem and frankly you know this idea

[25:47] that we have to resisit it after 5 years no we're not revisiting it because it's

[25:52] 5 years we're revisiting it simply because je Jennifer was fortunate enough

[25:57] to be elected to the commissioner's office and of those 29,000 or so or less

[26:03] or whatever Acres that have been um appropriated for leases not solar Farms

[26:09] but leases not one of them is a constituent that she represents and just

[26:16] want to keep it that way thank

[26:20] you anyone else for public comments step up to the mic please

[26:38] hello my name is Dennis pop on talk so you can hear me my name is Dennis Pop I

[26:44] live on the Northern side of the county 750 North 300 West

[26:50] and what I see is that we have two teams here we

[26:56] have the anti- soers and we have the the farmers are want property rights and so

[27:04] as you know as you know I was a referee for many years if you would walk into a

[27:09] conversation with two referees talking and one referee would say I will

[27:15] never let that team win I will I'm going to call everything

[27:20] against I will never make calls for them and the other ref says well I want to

[27:27] play a fair game I ask you Jennifer it's like you're the

[27:32] one of the referees will you ever say something good about property rights and

[27:37] solers so as as a referee you wouldn't want to you

[27:42] wouldn't want to be a referee in your job now is to be a referee but the two

[27:48] teams all of us are kind of standing on what we believe those of us who are

[27:54] Landor and those of us who are against solar and there's a lot of

[27:59] innuendo and there's some specific rules when you

[28:04] referee do your best you can for both sides for both teams because you

[28:09] represent both teams but I don't mean anything personal

[28:13] but I've never seen anything that you said for the other team it's always been

[28:21] the anti- solar okay so this County wouldn't it be

[28:25] nice if you could come to a meeting and we would be on the same page we'd

[28:31] live in unity and that's what I'm hoping for I'm hoping for land rights I'm

[28:37] hoping for no restrictions and I'm hoping that you can

[28:41] be the best referee you can be if not if somebody heard me say that as an

[28:47] athletic director he'd say sir I don't want you refering this game because you

[28:53] can't call fair for both teams thank you

[28:58] thank you anyone

[29:05] else Logan we plasy County Francisville to be exact I'm a land owner on the

[29:11] other side of the team I guess as as it's put land ownership is much larger

[29:15] than um how much you have even if you have a half acre in town to uh 10,000

[29:20] acres in the country um I just want to say that um you'll never hear uh Trump

[29:25] support Biden and his policies so there's that being a referee is not what

[29:29] politics is about um it's about uh representing the people first and

[29:33] foremost and understanding your constituents how the county lies um

[29:38] Jenny you voiced your opinion on and you don't have to answer these questions

[29:43] because I know that's not this time Jen you voice your opinion on the house bill

[29:46] that's going to remove local legislation Don if you're willing to answer this

[29:49] question can would you be willing to answer how you feel about State Control

[29:54] uh taking County Choice okay well I would ask that if if

[29:59] you are not opposed to that then the question would be why um would you sit a

[30:03] commissioner's seat and be elected to do and to make decisions for the county if

[30:06] you want to roll over and let those things happen so that's all I have to

[30:10] say um we can't let the state government tell us what we can do we know our

[30:14] demographics we know our population we know what works in our County and what

[30:17] doesn't and we just can't we can't let the state try to take that over

[30:21] everything's unique everything's individual and I would just ask that you

[30:24] make that phone call if you haven't yet um down to the state uh to oppose that

[30:29] cuz we can't let them out of control thank

[30:42] you thanks for let us be here today my name is Levi Messer and I live on the

[30:48] country on 300 close to Francisville son silus Messer and um I'm

[30:55] going to go off my notes because I don't want to get emotional and say something

[31:01] wrong but it's already been alluded to there being two

[31:06] sides I think it's that's been too much in plasy

[31:12] County it's been like that way too long and personally I want to tell

[31:18] everyone in the room no matter where you stand on any side on any issue that I

[31:26] love you and I I think I'm called by Christ to love

[31:31] you and that goes for everyone in this room it's strange to be in this room in

[31:36] a certain way because I remember the first time I was

[31:40] in this room was for a 4 meeting and I met several friends in this room and

[31:45] some are sitting back here behind me and um fast forward a few years I

[31:52] turned 15 and we had a catastrophic barnfire on our farm

[31:58] and some of those friends just behind me here and several more that aren't here

[32:04] came and helped us build back that part

[32:09] and that always meant so much to me and epitomized what blasy county is and who

[32:17] we are

[32:21] and I felt that way for several

[32:25] years and the current divisions seems to counteract that feeling

[32:32] but why did they help us I believe they had something written in their hearts

[32:37] was love thy neighbor as

[32:42] thyself fast forward a few more years it was

[32:47] 2020 I now have a wife I now have children I have a job my job says I have

[32:53] to move to St Louis Missouri to keep my job

[32:59] I can't Alaska county is my home I love where I live I love the

[33:06] people I love the people that help me build my family build the waren

[33:12] back um I said no I'm thankful for the job I have now we than the

[33:23] half the reason I stayed is because I

[33:28] knew love thy neighbor as thyself still part of who I was and who

[33:34] our County was how far have we fallen from

[33:41] that do we still have love thy neighbor written in our

[33:46] hearts I challenge everyone here tonight when you lay in bed tonight open

[33:52] your heart and look look inside do you still love your

[33:57] neighb

[34:03] everyone tonight I know there's Commissioners are

[34:08] here um there's a lot of leaders here tonight and I want to make a commitment

[34:15] I've already been doing this but I want to tell you all that I want to be

[34:18] praying for you every day and I want to share a Bible verse

[34:22] before I'm done here he

[34:25] says this is apostle Paul talking to Timothy I exhort therefore that first of

[34:31] all supplications prayers intercessions and

[34:36] giving of thanks be made for all men for kings and for all that are in

[34:42] Authority that we may lead a quiet and Peaceable life in all godliness and

[34:50] honesty for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our savior who will

[34:55] have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the

[35:00] truth but there is one God and one mediator between God and Men the man

[35:05] Jesus Christ who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time I

[35:13] hope we can all look

[35:17] inside and know that we we do love our neighbor and Silas wants to share

[35:24] something [Music]

[35:32] what will my future look you may be thinking what does a kid know about

[35:37] solar I'd like to think that my perspective is considered respected and

[35:42] possibly even the most important because what is happening now affects my

[35:47] future when my parents told me that one day our home could be surrounded by

[35:52] solar panels couldn't believe it who would want to grow up looking at solar

[35:58] panels i' say goodbye to the days watching the beautiful Lush corn fields

[36:03] blowing in the wind matching my height in stock size with my brothers I'd say

[36:10] goodbye to the farmer man waving as he passed by taking one more round at

[36:15] Harvest

[36:18] time I'd say goodbye to the adventures across the field to explore the money

[36:23] ditch with my brother imagine it all knew to be

[36:28] replaced with large ugly black glass filling our land with all kinds of

[36:33] chemicals in the rest of my childhood robbed from me the thought makes me sad

[36:40] I can't imagine growing up in a place like that I can't imagine staying here

[36:45] and raising my future family if solar panels came to

[36:49] stay I may just be a simple homeschooled country boy but I know one things for

[36:55] sure what they call progress isn't always

[37:00] best in solar panels were not meant to be

[37:04] here it's not the future that I want to see for me or for plasy County and I'm

[37:10] going to do everything in my power to help keep them away so I can grow up in

[37:16] a county that we all know and love thank you thank you sence

[37:26] [Applause]

[37:38] others good evening um my name is darl Goodman live about a mile away from here

[37:45] and um I spoke at the commissioner meeting after the first of the year and

[37:48] I asked a few questions and I'm going to ask that that same question at this time

[37:54] just to see and I am a landowner and I am against solar so

[38:00] um I asked the Commissioners at that meeting um where the solar FS were going

[38:06] to be located and if you would be transparent to be able to give us maps

[38:10] of where those are going to be so that I mean certain people want to plan what

[38:15] they're going to do in the county and I think that would be a good idea do the

[38:19] other thing I asked was how many total acres are signed up for solar in plasy

[38:25] county and not only that is there a limit to the number of Acres

[38:30] that are going to be allowed to sign up in blasy county and I feel if we don't

[38:36] know those answers why are we continuing on to this it's not the Wild Wild West

[38:42] we ought to know we ought to know those things um and I'm going to try to make

[38:47] this quick guys um and this is something I want to

[38:52] do and maybe I can talk to Jenny or Don after the meeting I'd like to go to her

[38:57] and I want to ask you have you guys toured a large solar farm have you gone

[39:04] and seen it have you talk to the people around the solar farm how that affects

[39:09] their and I want to do that I really really want to do that what about the

[39:14] noise pollution I listened to I'm not going to go into it very much but there

[39:18] are issues with noise pollution there are issues with fire protection I know

[39:23] want I know Mike said well we're 20 20 mes or 20 minutes away from Gram Air

[39:29] Force Base that they can take care of that well I know personally that um the

[39:35] fire chief of westl yet and they had a they had a Tesla I mean he was telling

[39:40] me about it I don't know whether he dealt with it but it took 30,000 gallons

[39:45] to put the Tesla out he says that's the same amount that it takes us to put out

[39:50] a um a fire a house fire so there are some ramifications here that we need to

[39:56] have answers to before we really go on with some of these things

[40:01] um we need to do more

[40:06] research um another impact that I think and I'm not going to go into it what

[40:11] about the wildlife when you fence all this off and you're going to funnel all

[40:14] these Wildlife into certain areas what's that effect going to be what's that

[40:18] going to be on the crop land what's that going to be on um the wildlife

[40:23] themselves um and I had a an old landlord and he um he he was on the west

[40:31] side of 39 and I used to love to talk to him

[40:35] because he knew the history of plazy County starf County and I stayed up with

[40:40] him till 1:00 one night 10:00 other nights because I loved hearing about

[40:46] that and um one of the things that he said you know he grew up and the he he

[40:52] knew my dad they were both the same age and they started working together for 18

[40:57] cents an hour at the County highway department you know when they were the

[41:01] first jobs off the farm one of the things he said is every going through

[41:06] the depression going through World War II all those things he said everybody

[41:10] was poor but we didn't know it and I sure want to see that attitude in plad

[41:15] County again are we concerned about the small land owner like what seab back

[41:20] there it really fires me up if these people want to there's big families

[41:25] moving out of plasy count me right now if you want solar you want it on

[41:31] your back doorstep like buty saids going to see I don't think so and that's not

[41:37] fair what about kids coming back you know are they going to be

[41:41] coming back plas County because of the huge solar Farms I don't think

[41:45] [Music] so and lastly here

[41:50] um I think we need a moratorium till we get things figured out that's my thing

[41:56] thank you for letting me talk thank

[42:00] you else

[42:07] else Bob Barber I'm from lasy County and uh the first thing I want to say is the

[42:15] solar people lied to us I've been coming to all the meetings and they didn't say

[42:20] nothing they told us there wouldn't be no batteries that's the first thing they

[42:24] told us there would not be no batteries now all all of a sudden they're lying to

[42:28] us and saying they got to have batteries you know and which is it I mean are they

[42:32] lying to the people that they signed their agreements with I mean come on I

[42:36] mean it's not right what they're doing and the people that's signing these are

[42:40] they putting it in their own front yard or everybody else's front yard I mean

[42:44] there's different ways of looking at it talking about teams this team and that

[42:47] team that's not what plasy county is about I mean I don't remember it that

[42:52] way and I remember when you used to go up to the to the restaurant and heard

[42:55] the farmer saying I got 200 25 acres this year no well I got 230 you don't

[43:01] hear that no more that's that's going to be a thing in the past but they don't go

[43:05] up there and brag I got so much money for solar and I got more than that well

[43:10] no because they're dealing under the table and people hasn't figured that out

[43:14] yet evidently because it's wrong what they're doing I mean if they're lying to

[43:19] us they're probably lying to them too and they just don't know it yet and when

[43:23] it happens it's too late that's really all I got to say I

[43:27] just don't think I just I want our County to be like it was I mean that

[43:31] it's not now everybody's not speaking like they used to and it's

[43:36] wrong thank you thank

[43:51] you Ross Davis Blas County resident um this piggybacks on a couple things

[43:58] um here and darl talk about moratorium and than we not talk about moratoriums

[44:02] um but we know moratorium is to put a pause on what's Happening the US

[44:07] continues to need more electricity every year if these projects are viable then

[44:11] we aren't missing anything by putting a pause on what's Happening once we assess

[44:15] the current scope of the projects there will still be opportunity to grow this

[44:18] industry in the future the demand is obviously there and the cards are in our

[44:22] favor but we should pause it learn from it and then address it in the future

[44:27] so let's move forward with the moratorium thank you

[44:36] you others my name is Teresa Hansen and I

[44:41] live over by Francisville and what I have tonight is

[44:45] just called setting the record straight and it's from Mammoth solar and many of

[44:50] the land owners have signed this and so I was asked to bring it and pass it out

[44:56] to you and this just has to do with the things that commissioner Cano did say at

[45:00] the last meeting and it's about um forming a solar project committee where

[45:05] you talked about getting two from this side and two from that side to get

[45:08] together and talk um moratorium with no end dat concerns about decommissioning

[45:14] the solar panels um claims the private sector isn't addressing the

[45:19] recycling and some of the other things you talked about the property values

[45:24] this was information that was given to Me by Ed Batista who does he's the vice

[45:28] president of Mammoth solar so we did they did give that information and as

[45:33] far as them not letting you know what's going on they'll be happy to give a

[45:37] report uh it's just every time they say anything everybody says oh that's a lie

[45:42] they're lying they will come with facts they will be happy to I know that you

[45:48] all have a site palasan County against solar where you make comments on there

[45:54] how you guys run everything down that is that in your best interest to be

[45:59] on that site as a commissioner is that not a conflict of interest for you to be

[46:04] on there standing out for that site what about the rest of the county that you

[46:08] are a commissioner for ma'am I'm just asking is that a good site for you to be

[46:14] on when we are all depending on you to be a commissioner for our

[46:18] County it's just something to think about we will bring information and

[46:22] amaer will start keeping everyone up to dat uh we don't want it to be a site

[46:28] where they're jumping onto everything that's being said they will come with

[46:32] facts but it needs to be a site where they can put their facts down where

[46:37] every single every single thing they say is not being jumped on and they're being

[46:41] called Liars they will be happy to come with the facts that they have if they're

[46:45] given a chance and yes this has been hard I have neighbors and friends here

[46:50] who don't speak to us don't talk to us at church don't wave at us anymore this

[46:54] is tough but this is our land and we did make this decision but this has been

[47:00] really hard on us it's sad to see your neighbors going down the road who don't

[47:05] wave to you who don't talk to you who you've been friends with your whole life

[47:10] so don't think we didn't think about this this is what's good for our family

[47:16] and I'm sorry if other people don't like it but this is what we need for our

[47:20] children and our grandchildren so please let us have a

[47:25] chance to speak too I you know yes it's terrible it's it's

[47:29] tearing this County apart but we do need to all come back together like Mr Messer

[47:34] said this is getting out of hand and people are acting ridiculous so people

[47:40] need to grow up and we need to work together and I think as Leaders we need

[47:46] to set a good precedent for everybody and not just one side please we're

[47:51] counting on you we are all counting on you you got into office please lead us

[47:58] the right way it doesn't have to be our way or their way it needs to be for

[48:03] everybody it's killing us It's upsetting everybody please think about it thank

[48:11] you can I respond just briefly to that please thank you thank you and I

[48:17] appreciate that Terry um I was elected very well

[48:24] elected to represent plasy County um I don't think anyone

[48:31] doubted um my concerns I ran to protect property

[48:36] rights for every person in palasa County every person and I've spoken

[48:43] about property rights before and I believe what one person does on their

[48:48] property can have an impact on another and if we look at the law it does and

[48:55] that is why we have zoning um that if what you do on your property has some

[49:00] type of impact and I believe it does based on my research then we have to be

[49:05] careful we we can't trample on the property rights of other people um I

[49:11] have not and I I want you guys who are contracted or leased or whatever with

[49:15] Mammoth solar the ones that are already here I'm not saying anything in regards

[49:19] to those projects those projects are here please understand that I understand

[49:24] that and I'm for bringing the county back together as well

[49:27] um those are approved those are permitted um I am looking at moving

[49:33] forward this county is at almost 30,000 acres in

[49:38] leases and at some point as Commissioners our responsibility to this

[49:45] county is to protect the whole County and when I go from one office to

[49:52] another and I ask for updates where are we what is this going to look like what

[49:59] will the economic impacts be to our County by removing this much land from

[50:04] agriculture I'm not getting answers no one in the county has that answer my

[50:11] concern is if we continue as an open book and and we say

[50:17] give it to the state let the state handle it folks we're going to destroy

[50:21] our County we will destroy palasa County there's no way around I don't think

[50:27] that's my opinion based on four and a half years of research I but I was I was

[50:33] elected to be a voice for everyone in the county and I have to do that I I I

[50:40] need to protect everyone and that is what I am trying that's right everyone

[50:45] everyone yes you you've already you're you're

[50:50] there you're there you're

[50:54] good all right is there we excuse me we have made the announcement that we allow

[51:02] people to speak once is

[51:06] there I appreciate the respect and dignity that has been shown among

[51:13] everyone this evening and we must continue that obviously there's

[51:17] differences but we have to be civil to one

[51:22] another so we will um I was asked about the bill these are public comments these

[51:29] aren't and we take it into consideration but the house bill I will

[51:35] answer that I do oppose it because it doesn't give an opportunity for the

[51:39] different jurisdictions to Talk Amongst each other

[51:44] either a the elected officials or the people that live in that area so for

[51:49] example if it was a start plas guy project and they went across county

[51:53] lines I do believe that plas guy and County should be at the table with that

[51:59] however it's written up and I do believe the Senate bill is kind of on hold with

[52:03] that I believe that was Senator cook so now it's in the representative's hands

[52:08] uh with that so we appreciate the dignity and respect that everyone has

[52:14] been given this evening tonight we have called an executive session an executive

[52:20] session is for those individuals only it's dealing with Personnel

[52:24] issues and we are are that was scheduled to be at

[52:29] 6:45 we appreciate everyone and uh what you your comments that you have made

[52:35] this evening so we'll have a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn I

[52:40] will second that those in favor

[52:50] I last stay healthy

Pulaski County, Indiana, Board of Commissioners, 3 February 2025

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