[0:01] Make a motion to start the meeting.
[0:07] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[0:14] » Okay.
Welcome the board committee meeting.
[0:18] Just want to remind everyone uh
basically that this is a open
[0:24] discussion. Uh is kind of an
informational meeting back and forth. uh
[0:28] nothing's going to get voted on tonight
or anything. Obviously, there's three of
[0:31] us here. Uh so that nothing's going to
get get voted on or anything like that.
[0:35] I would also encourage that uh to set
the dialogue to the meeting that we're
[0:41] going to use for some more format that
we did uh last time. I'm not going to
[0:46] read everything be honest with you.
>> Thank you. Um,
[0:50] so we can maybe
explain, you know, what we're talking
[0:54] about and things like that, but just so
everyone is is aware. Uh, and then we,
[0:59] uh, we will allow for, uh, public
comment, uh, at the end. Um and then
[1:06] also I encourage to if you have any type
of comments that uh want to be u given
[1:12] to you can put them in writing as well
and then to the committee then can take
[1:17] them back to uh the board as well. So
keep that in mind too.
[1:24] Um
first off uh basically after the last
[1:30] meeting
that we had going through the ordinance
[1:34] um we obviously had dialogue back and
forth and then we earthrise uh give us a
[1:42] rebuttal to in writing to some of the
things that were in the uh ordinance.
[1:47] And that's what we plan to do today is
to go through um and look at some of the
[1:52] things that you guys are talking about
uh and kind of go from there. And then
[1:57] we've gone through Vanessa, I'm sure
you've gone through some of it as well.
[2:00] Um maybe provide you with a few comments
and then something you can take back to
[2:05] the board.
Yeah. Um
[2:10] the first one uh basically would be uh
under the 350.52 principal use uh letter
[2:18] A uh regarding a uh
CS CSEF or USS as a principal use may be
[2:27] allowed only as follows in the three
sections of uh tier one, tier two and
[2:34] park. So
talk about that.
[2:43] » So, we found the 2 and 1/2 mile setback
um that we know of is existing solar
[2:50] facilities that are less than 2 and a
half miles from this location uh such as
[2:55] the one that's just north of the old uh
GM foundry site. So the existence of
[3:01] that alone would prohibit us from citing
these projects in this location under
[3:06] those rules
we're seeing now.
[3:11] If if I'm mistaken there and there are
no existing facilities within 2 and a
[3:16] half miles that of course is kind of
null and avoided at that point but we
[3:21] are as far as I know there's an existing
facility within a 2 and 1 half mile area
[3:26] site.
[3:31] Um in addition to that one u
[3:38] this reference says that [clears throat]
u no utility scale solar is allowed
[3:43] within the first tier or the first half
mile. So we do find that one to be um
[3:49] prohibited as well
[clears throat]
[3:54] in what?
>> Well, it's in the sense that it just
[3:59] prohibits us from being able to site our
project in in the area, you know,
[4:05] wouldn't allow us to submit an
application because of, you know, what's
[4:09] the difference between the community
solar being cited within half mile
[4:12] versus the utility. They're both utility
scale solar or they're both solar
[4:17] facilities.
Um so in this instance
[4:23] because of the location of the project
being known and a good chunk of that you
[4:29] know being within that half mile
um you know we think it's it's something
[4:36] that basically prohibits this project.
[4:44] I mean, I it would certainly it maybe
we're interpreting it the wrong way, but
[4:49] it would seem to prohibit any utility
scale project. Um, if you read them all
[4:54] together within the ETJ,
that's one concern. And then I have a
[5:00] concern about the 2 and 1 half mile I'm
going to call a setback.
[5:05] uh because
I get maybe it's a question well is the
[5:10] intent to have that extend beyond
uh Tilton zoning jurisdiction because I
[5:16] mean depending on where you start you're
going to end up in Indiana so I don't
[5:20] think that there's any authority for the
village to extend its zoning
[5:24] jurisdiction outside of its
you know limits
[5:31] » Indiana's at seven miles
[5:35] Um
I guess
[5:40] I'll answer that particular
>> well can I guess you I would almost
[5:45] awfully is that my anticipation for the
nature of this meeting is me just taking
[5:49] a bunch of notes about the discussions
between committee and potential
[5:53] authorized comments about things in
terms of what the next draft is going to
[5:57] look like. Um, and so, you know, that's
practically my perspective is not
[6:02] getting to debate about what their
commentary is is listen to what they
[6:05] have to say and if it's something that
needs to be considered in terms of next
[6:08] draft, then we'll consider it. But I
think that tonight or what the
[6:12] commentary is.
>> So, I guess fair enough on that side and
[6:16] I think it's easier just to hear it from
the horse's mouth on that side. He's
[6:19] taking notes and we'll go through that.
So if I can't provide you with an actual
[6:22] answer tonight that's suffice for you
just know that it's getting noted and it
[6:28] will be spoke about. Uh some of these
things honestly I don't know I I don't
[6:32] know what the answer is or thought
process behind it. Um but I can we can
[6:36] take notes and obviously talk about it
again. So I guess then to to recap on
[6:43] that without I don't expect to give an
answer but the concern would be that uh
[6:48] depending on where you start from um
forget about Indiana that was an
[6:52] exaggeration but depending on where you
start from uh the 2 and a half miles
[6:58] would easily extend beyond the zoning
jurisdiction of the village and I don't
[7:04] I don't think the zoning jurisdiction
uh I don't think the village is has the
[7:09] authority to extend its zoning
jurisdiction beyond its corporate
[7:13] boundaries plus the 1 and a half mile
ETJ. So that would be I would that would
[7:19] be problematic in terms of applying that
2 and 1/2 mile
[7:24] radius set
[7:30] » isn't community solar 5 megawatts or
less
[7:34] » and how how many megawws or yeah is Is
this one this 1400 Chris
[7:42] » 188
[7:58] is the I guess
Kyle's point aside is the intention for
[8:02] here regionally to to place u community
soldiers no no less than and a half
[8:09] miles from each other or is this like
does it blend together both community
[8:13] and utilities? So like any type
>> I I don't particularly know the the
[8:18] exact answer to that to be honest with
you. I if I had to guess maybe my own
[8:24] opinion of it is that maybe a stretch of
of uh within two and a half mile say
[8:29] we're if a village is five miles long
okay and you have for example you have
[8:34] one on on one end and you can't put one
next door to it. I mean,
[8:37] » right,
>> you're you're on our doorstep. So, we
[8:40] want to maybe regulate that. That would
maybe be an interpretation. I don't
[8:44] know, but that could be part of the
discussion.
[8:47] » Okay. Thank you.
[8:55] » Anything else on paper?
[9:01] say something. Uh, is it the language
intended to exclude transmission lines
[9:05] and related infrastructure within half a
mile of village boundaries?
[9:13] That's
>> it. So, okay.
[9:25] » Sorry, I'm expecting to actually run up
today.
[9:35] » Um, should we move on to the next one?
>> Uh, yeah. I'm just double checking my
[9:38] notes so I don't miss something.
>> Okay. Uh yes, we'll go to the next one
[9:43] which is uh
under setbacks. Um talking about the
[9:48] setbacks portion.
[10:04] » Yeah. I mean I think our in our response
it's kind of pretty clear, but u we find
[10:10] 1800 ft to be um overly excessive uh
again prohibitive to the project.
[10:19] Um
we found examples pre-state sighting law
[10:23] where there were 3 to 500 ft in certain
counties or municipalities um as
[10:28] examples.
Uh we certainly intend to uh design the
[10:35] project with extended setbacks uh
especially
[10:39] around non non-participating homes uh
with regards to that. Uh but yeah, we
[10:46] would ask that you know this 1,800 ft be
dramatically reduced.
[10:53] as far as your extended setbacks that
you're talking about and you know if we
[10:56] recognize 1,800 ft is is far what your
idea of a
[11:02] » yeah setback.
>> Yeah. So this this site you know we
[11:05] think it's kind of going to require a
little bit of a custom approach to these
[11:10] setbacks. Um reason I say that is
because
[11:15] there's there's more homes directly
impacted in Catlin's jurisdiction than
[11:20] there is in Tilton. Not to say that
there isn't any in Tilton that are
[11:24] impacted, but it's substantially more in
Catlin. And so, um, you know, on the if
[11:30] you think if you look at our project and
think of the north side, there's nobody
[11:34] living there. It's just the interstate,
right? So, we don't want to have to set
[11:38] back 4 500 ft from the interstate, for
example. That could be a very standard
[11:43] setback. If we look at the eastern side
of the project, the non-participating
[11:48] home owners uh have a lot of vegetation
on their properties that have already
[11:53] been existing there
>> across the road. It's not even on the
[11:57] same side of the road. the only home
that's on the same side is actually a
[12:00] participating land owner and you know he
h he's got a certain area of the project
[12:06] and if we set back if we have to set
back 500 ft then you know he's
[12:10] essentially being cut out of the project
in that case um so it's like in that
[12:16] scenario
you know as I said there's a lot of
[12:19] trees on properties across the road uh
there is actually a great amount of
[12:24] distance we looked at it this morning
between the outside wall of any one of
[12:29] those homes and where this project may
be relative to them. Um so that's why
[12:34] you know from Tilton we would ask that
the setbacks be more aligned with the
[12:38] state siding law just simply because of
the fact that there there aren't as many
[12:43] homes. Now there is a certain part of
the project where kind of both
[12:47] jurisdictions in with regards to the
setback topic kind of overlap and that's
[12:51] right along Tilton Cat Road. And so what
we're doing right now is we
[12:57] [clears throat] are telling our
contractor to design a project where we
[13:00] maintain capacity
and we can maximize
[13:05] setbacks on Tilton Cat Road and on the
western side of the project. So the
[13:10] western kind of the northwestern area.
So our guidance to them has been like
[13:15] tell us what the maximum is. That's what
we're going to approach this as. Is it
[13:19] 300 ft? Is it 500 ft? Is it 800 ft? And
so what we're trying to, you know,
[13:25] really control for here is the areas
where this is going to be most visible
[13:29] where it's most impacted. And to us that
that appears to be right along Tilson C
[13:34] road 1250 east kind of going east north
going up from there and the east along
[13:39] that road that connects to that. So like
that whole area we're really looking at
[13:44] extended setbacks. But again, because of
the interstate on the Europe North,
[13:47] because of no adjacent like property,
nonparticipating property owners on the
[13:51] east, we request from the village to
align that with the state sighting bill
[13:56] knowing that we're really approaching
this on a customized basis. And the way,
[14:01] you know, we can we can implement that
to give sure to folks is putting those
[14:07] in their um entering into good neighbor
agreements with them and entering those
[14:12] setbacks into those agreements with
them. That will be a way to approach
[14:17] [clears throat] this on a customizable
setback basis.
[14:22] » Can I ask another question?
You said there's a bunch of trees.
[14:27] There's nothing you're talking about on
his property. There's one tree. Where
[14:31] where are the rest of those trees? I
drive up and down the road 10 times a
[14:34] day. Where are they? I apologize if
>> so here's here's what we're this is what
[14:40] I'm I'm not going to have is is
>> okay that's why I said
[14:45] » it's okay but the way I understand
there's some frustration and things like
[14:48] that with the whole project but this is
this idea is not behind whether we like
[14:53] it or don't
>> that's true but he needs to speak facts
[14:56] doesn't he
I understand I'm trying to get it out
[15:01] too um is that I I don't want the
dialect back just between you
[15:06] It's it's one of them things if you have
a question I'm okay with it otherwise
[15:08] I'll shut it off and we won't have it
till the end because it is a lot of
[15:12] rough to remember questions and
sometimes when you're in in the heat of
[15:15] something you you know it's easy to hey
I got a question
[15:20] right there ask one question
>> okay
[15:22] » and if I just wanted to add one general
thing as a reminder I think I think it
[15:27] was in a report the uh third party
consultant that the village hired had
[15:32] indicated that he thought that the 1800
100 foot setback was excessive.
[15:37] » That actually just to clarify that too
is that that was a professor that the
[15:41] mayor reached out to just as an opinion.
We didn't hire that person. Okay. Um he
[15:46] was looking for some sort of uh
information out of someone other than an
[15:51] outside source. But yes, I my apologies.
I thought they were they were
[15:55] consultant. But yeah, I remember the
last a letter was rather some
[16:02] last [clears throat] about um you know,
a participating owner um who uh you
[16:09] know, they they're going to have to be
far away. Well, I think in section
[16:13] 350.52
under D4,
[16:18] it talks about um the setbacks for
um if if a homeowner or or you let's say
[16:27] somebody um participates in in the
utility scale or otherwise approves the
[16:32] setbacks closer Those
particular property owners can do that
[16:38] » do that.
>> They can they can say we
[16:42] » wait that [clears throat]
[16:53] if you have anything.
>> Yeah.
[17:03] And one thing I guess I had down a
couple things um was that it the terms
[17:10] were used out of the this is outside the
industry norms. Of course there's
[17:13] nothing normal about this project. I
guess 1400 acres of of
[17:18] new industry that we're we're looking
at. So uh
[17:25] just understand that both sides are
trying to trying to think of think of
[17:29] stuff here. So um
and I think some of the
[17:36] some of the thought process too is that
you know that's one of the ways we can
[17:40] grow open is at that direction. So going
to the the half a mile and uh some of
[17:47] the setbacks and things too. And if
you're on our doorstep then it's not
[17:51] going to be for land. I mean, we have to
keep that in mind, too. And as we're
[17:58] going forward, trying to find a
reasonable solution to it. Anything
[18:04] else on
[18:13] » uh storm water and nes
facility sh be subject to storm water
[18:20] management 78
[18:44] Um,
[18:48] so we tried to provide a
well, we're actually having consult and
[18:54] prepare a very thorough response to
this. Um we do
[19:02] we understand that the concern around
one of the main concerns around this is
[19:08] its impact to potential groundwater.
Uh
[19:15] we would ask if the village could be
more specific as to
[19:21] what type of equipment or activity is
creating this concern.
[19:27] U you know perhaps it's the modules or
the panels perhaps something else. Uh,
[19:34] you know, the issue we have with testing
of water in addition to the reasons
[19:42] mentioned last time, which is there's
just been so much activity around this
[19:46] project area in the past, and we don't
know what can flow where over what
[19:54] amount of time.
And so, we don't want to be held liable
[19:58] for something that occurred from a zinc
site to the east or coal mines go west.
[20:04] Uh but also
uh this requirement
[20:10] will be prohibitive to our financing and
insurability of the project. So
[20:17] we absolutely want to work with the
village and the [clears throat]
[20:20] community on this topic, but we're
trying to find a different way uh that
[20:25] still gets to kind of the same
asurances.
[20:29] Um so if it's you know hey we don't want
we're concerned about tellite panels we
[20:36] can commit to not using those
um we write and sign something to that
[20:42] effect
uh but I think you know out of all the
[20:46] items uh in here you know the
groundwater testing issue is the biggest
[20:51] issue for us it's not because we have
concerns that it could cause a problem
[20:58] It's simply because
if there's an insurability issue,
[21:03] because of these potential liabilities
that could come up as mentioned in the
[21:07] future, who knows when and because of
what? Uh and therefore the financing of
[21:12] the project also gets into jeopardy. So
again, you know, it's we would ask for
[21:17] more detail around what about these
projects creates this concern and why
[21:22] doesn't some other kind of
infrastructure investment create the
[21:26] same issue or concern. Um so that's kind
of you know what we'd like what we'd
[21:32] like to know out of this is you know
what what about our process in
[21:36] construction or operations and how can
we mitigate that?
[21:40] And and as a followup, I think that last
question is important for legal reasons
[21:46] as well because singling out of one
particular use and making them do
[21:52] testing while not applying that testing
requirement to other uses raises uh I
[22:00] think due process and constitutional
issues potentially.
[22:04] uh because uh so I think that the
village is going to have to do some
[22:09] homework on why that um why that's
justified. For example, when you know
[22:15] we're talking about steel and metal and
glass that virtually well many other
[22:24] businesses for example are going to use.
And so the question is why is this
[22:29] particular use being singled out and not
those other ones? Um and I think uh
[22:36] expose [clears throat] the village to
can the questions about that that
[22:40] singling out a single use as arbitrary
and precious thing.
[22:46] » Well, I I uh just my personal opinion on
it when I I look at it and I think about
[22:52] I'm not a solo solar farm do planning
these. Um, but as you're you're going
[22:58] out and putting uh putting these up, one
thing I can think about is driving, you
[23:05] know, something in the ground 15 ft deep
is going to be the first concern. So,
[23:11] it's been farmland this whole time and
if you're taking fertilizer, pesticide,
[23:17] whatever is out there, you know, you're
going to allow that to potentially
[23:20] penetrate the the ground and it would
get into the aquaur.
[23:25] um you know and we could go on for hours
and debate that and I couldn't because I
[23:29] don't know that much about it but I'm
sure we could.
[23:31] » Um so I mean I think that could be one
particular thing right there. Um I think
[23:37] the same concern could happen for an
area uh person that owns a owns
[23:44] home what happens if they're well
cracked up what happens if it you know
[23:48] something happens that their oils
contaminated at this point and once
[23:52] again whose fault is it? I don't know.
I'm not saying it could be yours. It
[23:55] just I don't know. So, I think that's
getting everything out and and about in
[24:00] the beginning. Uh the samples and things
is is probably smart and ongoing
[24:06] with the time is going to reassure that
it's not you you know if it would happen
[24:11] to be a coal coal mine for example. U
thinks the same thing would be, you
[24:18] know, as far as your your concern about
um singling solar out. I I I'm not here
[24:25] to single anybody out because if it was
a fertilizer plant that is going to
[24:29] drive 15t pile of, you know, steel poles
in the ground, then I think they need to
[24:33] do it as well. So, part of this whole
thing of going over is to adjust some of
[24:38] our uh ordinances and look at some
things that maybe we've never had
[24:43] before. Um, and we're adjusting some of
that stuff. So, that's I think that's
[24:47] what we're doing at this point. So, uh,
>> is there a specific
[24:53] uh project that was going out there and
that we didn't
[24:58] um require that from them?
I I'm not aware that the village has
[25:03] this requirement that applies to other
types of facilities such as a fertilizer
[25:08] plant or a grain elevator or anything
like that. So I'm maybe you do but if
[25:13] you do then I think you're going to be
in better shape from a legal standpoint
[25:17] but I don't think you do. No we don't.
That's what I'm telling you. Part part
[25:21] of this looking at all this with the
whole point was trying to look at some
[25:24] potential problems that we have
come about. That's the reason we're
[25:28] here. So, you know, you you brought a
point.
[25:34] » Oh, sorry. Something
>> go ahead.
[25:39] » I guess from a risk standpoint, and I'm
I mean, I'm possessed intensively
[25:43] [clears throat]
from a risk standpoint and done a risk
[25:47] assessment. I guess it's not so much of
the materials that you're using, it's
[25:53] the process and it's the procedure
that's being done is what the concern
[25:58] is.
Well, from a a legal standpoint, again,
[26:01] I mean, you're singling out a particular
use and they haven't they established
[26:06] that that that aren't other facilities
that have the same process as you're
[26:09] referring to.
>> So, I think those risks are associated
[26:12] with plenty of other activities and uses
that could be cited in this area.
[26:16] » Is it against the law to start the
process right now?
[26:19] » But what I'm saying it's it's the it's
the technique that's being used. There's
[26:24] a difference between when you're
drilling 15 ft in deep multiple times
[26:29] across something versus when you're
going to put something right on top.
[26:33] There's there's a difference in
>> that's that's a question of volume and
[26:37] and you use the word drilling and that's
not what happens with these tiles. But
[26:41] » but no, but they're breaking through the
soil. You're breaking through all of the
[26:44] bedrock, the sand, the rock, the top
soil. Everything is breaking. When you
[26:49] are breaking through anything like that,
there's going to be compromise. I don't
[26:54] agree with you on that because you're
also not a I look I don't want to get
[26:58] into our She's not an environmental
scientist.
[27:00] » No, no, but I
and I can tell you what the All I'm
[27:05] saying is they're legal concerns and
there are other uses that do exactly
[27:09] what this facility is going to do.
>> And I understand and that's what we're
[27:13] talking about
>> and we don't want you doing what we're
[27:15] asking them not to do.
>> Yeah, I agree. the way you're speaking
[27:18] to people.
>> Okay.
[27:20] » We do have an ordinance um that says
when our soil um engineering report when
[27:25] required by the village engineer um and
necessary test boarding and shall
[27:29] contain all the information listed about
um the nature um data regarding the
[27:34] nature distribution strength and
erodability of the soil um conclusions
[27:39] and recommendations for grading
procedures. I mean this is already one
[27:42] of our ordinances um
>> that has our code under erosion and
[27:48] sediment control.
>> Sure. Absolutely. But that's that's
[27:52] that's not the same thing as requiring
groundwater to to to move on. Noted that
[27:59] this is the point
>> we get. Yes.
[28:05] » Can I say something?
um
[28:10] being in the agricultural business being
on that property for
[28:15] very unique a lot of it is surface area
[28:22] it's the water movement across the
surface
[28:27] and that is that is natural flow of
water
[28:32] and if you're in the fertile business
any other business like that would have
[28:35] containment
this industry doesn't have containment
[28:39] to contain the water from the runoff.
That's the difference.
[28:46] » If they would I think they would be have
if they're going to use a certain tan
[28:50] then they would have required have
containment contain water.
[28:58] Well, I mean, they will have to do a a
they'll have to pull a a swift from the
[29:05] Illinois EPA that shows that the storm
water will not be
[29:10] will not spread out. And if that there
will be an engineering study done
[29:15] similar to what was described
and if it shows that um a certain volume
[29:24] is is is exceeded, that's going to be
disturbed. they will uh potentially have
[29:29] to to install detention pumps.
>> You also got to look at the recharge
[29:36] because distribution and absorption rate
is going to change too. So you've got
[29:40] recharge of water coming in and being
absorbed. So because it's not what it is
[29:48] now and there's going to be
spots, you're going to have a buffer in
[29:52] between.
[29:55] You cannot disrupt the natural flow of
water,
[29:58] » right?
>> The u what I have noticed is uh trucks
[30:05] out there doing are you already doing
some sort of soil sample this point?
[30:13] » I was just curious.
[30:27] I just going over my notes to make sure
I don't miss something.
[30:31] » Wasn't there coral samples pulled last
fall?
[30:34] » Yeah.
>> Yes. Yes, there was.
[30:37] » Yeah.
>> But the question was like right now
[30:40] trucks out there.
>> Yeah. The question was now
[30:45] but we did have a technical survey
conducted at level
[31:03] anything else.
[31:08] Okay. because
ground cover and buffer areas.
[31:15] » Yeah, this one I think is pretty
straightforward. I mean,
[31:19] in accordance to to align with the
Illinois Illinois Pollinator Friendly
[31:24] Act
project would have pollinators planted
[31:29] within inside the fence line. For these
pollinators to be able to propagate
[31:34] properly, it needs to reach a height of
36 in. That's what our real main concern
[31:39] is. And that's why, you know, in the
notes here, we do suggest an alternative
[31:44] like if if you really do want it to stay
at 10 in, we can we said, you know, the
[31:48] limit should not be closed until later
in the summer. Aggregated plant have an
[31:53] opportunity to probably
and I apologize that I'm not a
[31:59] horiculturist either.
>> Neither. Oh yeah, but if I got a 4x4
[32:03] area at home and I I go find a 10x10
bush to put in it, I know it's not going
[32:08] to fit there. So, do they not make a
pollinator that is 10 in high? It
[32:13] doesn't grow over that.
>> I'm not sure. Um I do not know. Uh I do
[32:18] know what I do know about the pollinator
seed mixes that the seed mixes are
[32:22] approved by the state for the specific
area.
[32:26] Um, that's about all I know is my
knowledge limitation on this.
[32:31] » That' probably be something to find out
to note because that'll be a question if
[32:35] we
>> were intending to have our director of
[32:37] environmental join the next call or the
next meeting here. Um, so so we could
[32:42] cover some of these topics as well.
>> Gotcha. How far off the ground are we
[32:45] solved?
[32:49] » Depends on design, but 8 to 10 ft.
>> Yeah, max.
[32:56] What's I'm sorry I didn't maximum tilt
tilt. Yeah,
[32:59] » the panel.
>> What's the maximum? 8 ft is the maximum
[33:02] it will be when it's vertical.
>> You can walk underneath.
[33:06] » That's what you're saying. I mean, walk
underneath.
[33:10] » That's what I'm saying. How far off the
ground will the panel be from the
[33:15] ground? The edge of the panel is
tilting.
[33:19] » How are we What's it completely? If it's
completely flat, let's say
[33:25] » 5t.
[33:32] » Okay. So, if it's tilted, then it's we
take it down.
[33:38] » So, from the ground to the bottom of the
panel, whether it's tilted or laying
[33:42] flat is going to be 5 to 7 ft.
Uh I mean if it's tilted like this then
[33:48] the bottom becomes this part I guess
which is going to be less than 5T at
[33:52] that point maybe four in that case when
it's fully tilted down I'm not it's flat
[33:57] like this then that's the five level
[34:11] I thought something different like if we
had uh
[34:16] inside is a certain height, outside is a
certain height of the fenced area. Uh
[34:21] for example, could be a compromise
potentially.
[34:24] » Uh it could be I think if it doesn't
jeopardize this like Illinois pollinator
[34:30] friendly act for the for the project.
I'm not there's a scorec card for it. Um
[34:35] and I'm not sure if the outside defense
area is scored within that criteria. If
[34:41] it's not then yes to your question. If
it is then we need to look into that.
[34:47] » Yeah. One thing additionally we met with
the u soil and water conservation
[34:53] district um last week and they mentioned
that they are often involved in
[35:00] approving and reviewing the vegetation
management plan we come up with for this
[35:05] particular project. So they will have
you know eyes on it and they're experts
[35:12] in that particular field. So sure that
they have give us their approval on that
[35:16] as well.
>> Who is that again?
[35:19] » Uh soil water conservation district.
[35:23] » Yes sir.
[35:33] Anything else on that?
[35:43] » [clears throat]
[35:46] » Okay. So, moving
[35:52] on.
>> Yeah. I just make sure I didn't have
[35:54] something because I did like you did go
through and have questions for YouTube.
[35:57] So, that's why it's taking me a minute
to make sure I don't miss something. Uh
[36:01] be D12 visibility. facility
designed to be screened in between.
[36:09] » Yeah, [clears throat] I I I think this
one's pretty straightforward. um if
[36:13] refers to screening in two separate
places in the ordinance.
[36:17] What you know if this if the project is
to be screened around the entire
[36:21] perimeter,
then what additionally would we need to
[36:26] do if some residential, you know,
development came up front, you know, on
[36:31] any side that's already screened.
So that's why we just found a issue with
[36:36] that. Um because you're asking for it to
already be screened. So adding
[36:40] additional language saying If a
residential development comes up, you
[36:44] will screen it. Screen one. Sorry.
Screen. So that's that's all
[36:48] [clears throat] you wanted to clarify
there.
[37:07] Part of this rolls into other things,
but this is some of my comment, but one
[37:12] of the talking about screening uh in the
fencing and and it rolls into the
[37:17] whether it's a cattle fence type you
have your term for it. I don't remember
[37:21] what it is, but the uh but if we stuck
with a a wood fence, you know, for
[37:27] example, uh you know, and some nice
evergreens and things like that, that
[37:32] would help with that scenario, too,
where the screening is already there. It
[37:36] looks nice. Somebody, you know, could
build next to that, not worry about it.
[37:40] So, I think all that kind of goes hand
in hand, you know, as we're trying to
[37:43] find something that makes sense along
with noise because the noise is in there
[37:48] too with with uh trying to to help that.
So, and we'll get into that a little bit
[37:54] a little bit later, but I think, you
know, a thought with the evergreens
[37:57] being, you know, five, six feet. I know
that was one comment we had last time,
[38:00] you know, plant these little foot tall
things. I mean, not necessarily that you
[38:05] do it, but we see others doing it and
and they're dead, you know, after the
[38:09] deer's on three times and all of a
sudden no, nothing happens to it. So,
[38:13] that's what I think we're looking at
trying to make sure that if if this does
[38:17] go, then we got a look that's going to
be appealing to everyone moving forward
[38:23] to.
>> Okay.
[38:27] » And same with wood fence. Who's going to
maintain it? Because wood fence don't
[38:30] last very long.
>> Uh we
[38:32] » especially when you're talking 30 some
years.
[38:34] » Of course. Um the M team generally
sources local for this type of work. So
[38:40] ming fence maintenance type work is
sourced locally.
[38:45] » Be like for example the mall has I think
Atlantic is like a
[38:52] goes and cleans up the mall and stuff
like that. Um that'd be some very
[38:57] similar to that. have a company come in
and take care of it.
[38:59] » Yeah. I mean, and you know, we have a
project right now [clears throat]
[39:03] that started construction county uh and
we're meeting with various land owners
[39:09] about the home during operations.
>> We have several in Danville area. So, do
[39:16] you think they have a maintenance type?
>> Um, you know, community solar projects
[39:23] are generally
they're smaller, right? And because of
[39:27] their size, there's there's smaller
investments, lower revenue, etc., etc.
[39:32] Uh sometimes they mo in most occasions,
they won't have someone on site. Uh
[39:38] whereas this facility will have anywhere
between three to five new hires that'll
[39:43] be working from the gas plant just down
the road.
[39:47] Um
so yeah I mean with with regards to
[39:52] community solar I can't speak towards
any other company's operations but my
[39:56] general ob observation on it has been
that community solar sites are very much
[40:01] managed remotely in a holistic sense uh
with the exception of of mowing and
[40:06] those types of things and that's why you
may also be seeing poor management of
[40:10] that because there's nobody actually
around here to do something about it.
[40:15] Well, it makes me think too that just
like everything else that you know if I
[40:19] want my itch to pick up the the room if
they don't then they're going for it.
[40:25] » So that may be something too that we you
>> Yeah, I think that's something we could
[40:30] definitely be okay with. Um you know,
another good example. So we just went
[40:34] through this exercise at Gibson City. Um
you know, Ford County required that we
[40:40] plant the trees prior to construction.
We stated to them that
[40:46] um probably not a good idea uh because
of all the construction activities and
[40:51] we'll have a lot more die out than what
is already expected. Uh nonetheless
[40:56] they they wanted it so we did it. Uh
that facility has now gone into
[41:02] commercial operations and we just
replanted the trees, right? I mean
[41:06] that's your project. So
>> yeah,
[41:09] » I just saw the invoice for the replant.
So that's how I know where it is.
[41:13] » Yeah. I mean they they were adamant
about having the uh tree running before
[41:17] construction. We did it then now we're
um going back and replanting trees that
[41:23] died off during construction period to
continue to be in accordance with their
[41:27] ordinance. But yeah, as it pertains to
Gibson city um we're hiring a very
[41:32] professional
group who
[41:36] looking to handle all the vegetative
maintenance operations as well. So it'll
[41:40] be there's someone very specialized in
that field that will be handling that
[41:43] during the operations.
>> I have a real quick question on on the
[41:47] fencing.
Any of your hammer substations have like
[41:51] six foot fence with three strands of
fire wire
[41:55] wire that to keep people from there's
lethal voltages.
[42:02] The connection of two panels together
[clears throat] that's lethal.
[42:07] Besides the transformers that go up to
69,000 volts or whatever.
[42:14] » Yeah, that's something too that I I kind
of I'm sure it's in my notes somewhere.
[42:18] I might have just but
>> you guys are calling for a 10ft fence
[42:25] call for an 8ft fence and being able to
synchronize on that for one thing.
[42:29] Another thing is it seems like need the
three strands wire because any kid can
[42:34] climb over an 8 foot or 10 foot fence
without wire.
[42:40] » And I understand that that's what that's
another another thing with you know
[42:44] being in the country you know you kids
go out and get into different things or
[42:49] curious four-wheelers
all the time.
[42:53] » Yeah. Bicycles, scooters, motorbikes,
>> they're all
[43:07] question
outside source to maintain the fence and
[43:12] the vegetation.
They have to be iners.
[43:23] Not the folks who are in charge of
vegetation maintenance but construction
[43:28] during the construction period. There is
a certain threshold of paper.
[43:33] » Is that something that could require
them
[43:43] for supports doing this? I would think
they would be on board.
[43:54] that
>> we wouldn't have a problem with any sort
[43:56] of requirements. All of our projects are
100% paper
[44:16] 13.
Uh the glare reflection
[44:21] » this one is I think it's pretty
straightforward one. Um they just
[44:26] reference to glare and reflection. Um so
we just asked that one term used there
[44:32] ideally glare. Um or sorry more
specifically why reflection is the term
[44:38] used in there. Um so yeah we're just
trying to
[44:42] remove some ambiguity there.
Get some clarity. I I think glare is a
[44:48] more technical term perhaps a term of
art and is it's used interchangeably in
[44:53] the provision with light reflection. So
I think they're familiar with what glare
[44:58] is not sure what light reflection means.
So that's what we want is the term the
[45:04] term of light reflection. That's what
you separate
[45:09] » between
[45:12] then just go with one.
>> Yeah. same thing as far as
[45:16] » well I know obviously with some of that
compared to that whether it's glare
[45:20] light reflection or whatever the sunsets
are bad you know the one approach cat
[45:26] anyway when I drive out that way but um
in along the lines of that glare light
[45:31] reflection type thing um has there been
any type of studies done
[45:37] » or what what can you explain some of the
studies that happened during some of
[45:40] this
>> yeah sure we we definitely get glare
[45:44] studies done for the project. Um we all
of our projects uh that we develop show
[45:52] no glare. Um that's our goal. Uh we
generally if glare does show up. So what
[46:00] they'll do is they'll take reference
points. So if we think of um this
[46:06] project um let's just use Tilton C road
as an example. uh maybe they'll have
[46:11] like call it half a dozen reference
points from that road at a 10 foot
[46:16] height level. So they'll take into
consideration from that reference point
[46:22] at 10ft height level what's the glare
look like there and if there is and
[46:27] it'll also tell us like what time of day
is it like the daytime you know or is it
[46:32] during the sunset is it western basin or
eastern basin and at that point when we
[46:37] get that those reports back then we go
through different mitigation strategies
[46:42] so if let's say something showed yellow
glare to the east we would maybe more
[46:47] vegetation taller trees, uh maybe put
some kind of fence screening in front of
[46:52] that area. So, there's there's multiple
ways we can go about mitigating glare
[46:57] and it is one of our priority items as
well developing project.
[47:03] » I know some of the some of the concerns
obviously out there I had a actually one
[47:09] of my employees wrecked on a motorcycle
out there and lost his life. But uh I
[47:16] look at different heights obviously. So
you say 10 foot, you know, some we got
[47:20] tractor kids, we've got, you know, even
the kids the
[47:25] um semis, combines, and there's all
kinds of different. So I I would like to
[47:30] see when you do a study like that is to
get the different very nice.
[47:36] I think that would be especially for the
community that we're in. That would
[47:40] help. Good thing.
>> And again, just just to make sure we're
[47:45] on the same page, I would recommend
using the term glare because, for
[47:49] example, the FAA has a regulation that
says you can't there can't be glare if
[47:56] you're if you have solar panels near an
airport. Um, and they used to again,
[48:01] it's a it's a the term of art is glare,
not other types of Yeah, I can
[48:07] understand. The birds get confused too
when they're flying around because why?
[48:12] You're not a bird, but I think that
another another
[48:16] [clears throat]
[48:20] 13.
[48:27] So, we'll go to 14, which is lighting.
I'm sorry. I had some lighting.
[48:35] So,
Oh, sorry. I'm I'm gonna get off of
[48:40] there for a minute. Um, as far as the
lighting, so u I think just a few things
[48:46] that I kind of thought about was that u
you know some of the terms of maintain
[48:52] lighting. Uh one of the situations we
had in town was a a business uh that had
[48:58] some some lights but they weren't on and
then it was it dependent on who had them
[49:03] on. Uh so you think of safety and and
things of that nature. So basically we
[49:07] have to get terms in there. I feel that
you maintain it. It's okay to put up a
[49:11] light bulb. We don't put a light bulb in
it. Doesn't matter.
[49:14] » So that type of thing. Uh and I'm once
again just thinking of of the things
[49:18] that we dealt with with other people. um
for example um and then on 15 um you
[49:26] know on the cooling system I don't know
a whole lot about it but going back to
[49:30] that whole containment and runoff and
and things of that nature um and liquids
[49:36] you know uh stuff like that and maybe
that would be something that maybe a a
[49:41] concrete barrier or some type of
retainment barrier around the the
[49:44] cooling system uh or something might
need to be
[49:49] looked at or something of that nature.
So, um I've looked into enough of this
[49:54] stuff that make me dangerous and then
sometimes I cough it and other times I I
[49:58] don't know what the hell I'm coughing
up. But I'm just saying some of the
[50:02] things I see just trying to bring up
thought processes.
[50:05] » Yeah. I mean the you know location of
cooling systems for these projects would
[50:09] be at the inverter locations
uh and then at the project substation
[50:15] that's where the cooling fans would be
um
[50:19] substation equipment wise I will get
more detail on how they mitigate these
[50:24] concerns. I do know that with the
inverters um there are trace amounts of
[50:31] mineral oils in them and to catch those
upon any kind of issue there's you know
[50:37] they have a they have something that
catches the oil under it right so
[50:43] [clears throat] um there are some
mitigations to that um but I think I
[50:49] need to get a little smarter on what
type of fluids exist within the
[50:55] substation itself. So I can address that
better.
[51:01] » Um and then the only other thing I had
on that was I think it's from the last
[51:05] meeting we talked about chemicals and
and things like that sitting around and
[51:11] a time frame of how long they sit, when
when to get rid of them, that type of
[51:16] thing. That was just something else. an
example of someone that you had old oil
[51:22] in your garage, you know, that you you
drain out of the tractor, you know, for
[51:26] example, and it's sitting there um it's
out of sight, out of mind, but it
[51:30] doesn't mean that it's gone,
>> so to speak. So, I guess that was kind
[51:34] of the thought process behind that.
>> I guess I might have done work
[51:39] substation so forth. Um, some of those
transformers hold 600 gallon, 800, 900
[51:45] gallons of oils. A lot of the cooling
oils recently have gone to biodegradable
[51:52] vegetable oils, soybean oil, but some of
the transformers have some really toxic
[51:58] oils that you don't want
seeping in the ground.
[52:03] » Sure.
>> Okay. So
[52:05] » maybe a good
>> So I think you should require
[52:08] containment
you know unless the transformers are
[52:12] definitely
[52:16] [clears throat] using vegetable.
>> So I think that's something we could
[52:20] actually get into detail about. Um you
know the the main power transformers are
[52:27] generally one of the longest lead items
in in the supply chain. Uh, so we
[52:33] ordered that transformer over a year
ago. So what I'm getting at is we could
[52:38] ask the manufacturer about details about
>> I'm assuming newer transformers. I'm
[52:42] assuming it's using
>> some kind of oil, but yeah, we'll get
[52:47] I'll get the information on that and
come back here next time.
[52:51] » Some really toxic stuff that's actually
hazardous waste to [snorts] get rid of.
[52:56] And if there's and if there is anything
concerning in that regard then you know
[53:00] we should be talking about to your point
how do we contain and mitigate that.
[53:04] » Yes.
>> I can
[53:10] so on any substation that's designed now
it's not designed by local building code
[53:15] it's designed by the national electric
code and there will be usually 200%
[53:20] containment um with concrete. So if
let's say the transformer is 800 gallons
[53:25] of fluid, we have a 1,600 gallon
containment there for that. It's
[53:30] impermanent of concrete. And I've been
electric business for last 22 years. I
[53:36] don't know where I can find a
transformer that had PCBs anymore. You'd
[53:39] have to get one that was, you know,
maybe 30, 40 years old, polycllorinated
[53:44] by phenals. They just don't make them
anymore. Um, not that anyone that would
[53:49] go on a project of of this magnitude all
mineral oil and to try to get one with
[53:55] bad stuff. I think you'd have to go out
of your way and be deliberate about
[53:59] getting one from a less people country.
I haven't seen one in 22 years.
[54:09] Thank you. [clears throat]
>> Um 17
[54:14] uh power and communication lines.
>> Um just another clarity question here.
[54:19] Uh just asking for clarity around um
power running between it inverter banks
[54:25] or panels.
>> They want the um we would like the
[54:29] wiring all to be at least 24 in
underground.
[54:34] » Okay. All wiring across the project
>> panels all wiring will be minimum 24 in
[54:43] underground.
>> Okay,
[54:44] » those are the Maris.
[54:59] » Yeah, that's
[55:03] so
Yes. Um [clears throat]
[55:07] you're right. Um so
[55:11] one area of the project that we would
prefer to design where cables are not
[55:17] buried is the connections between the
panels. So you know they're in strings
[55:22] of call 100 panels to connect all those
together above ground. They're not, you
[55:29] know, they're like literally a few
inches below the panel itself. It's a
[55:34] call the cap system. They keep it, you
know, kind of taught across the across
[55:39] the whole string and once it collects
all the power from the whole string of
[55:43] panels, then it will go underground
and through the inverter. Um, so,
[55:50] um, I think, you know, if you could say
with the exception of a cap system or
[55:54] something or or the connection cables
connecting the panels
[55:58] together,
yeah, we're we're absolutely fine that
[56:04] we're able to do that area
[56:12] and we can show examples of this as
well.
[56:22] Where are the wires? I'm sorry. I'm not
familiar. Where are the wires you said
[56:25] are going to be connected above ground?
Like where are they at on the solar
[56:28] panel?
>> Um, so
[56:32] starting with my example here,
>> if this is the panel, uh, it would be
[56:37] about right here.
>> So, it's pretty close to the
[56:40] » It's pretty close. I mean, maybe I'm
exactly, let's call it a range of here.
[56:44] » 6 in,
>> something like that. Maybe 8 to 12 in
[56:47] long
>> off the ground or under
[56:49] » under the panel.
>> Okay.
[56:50] » Yeah.
>> Tie to the framework.
[56:53] » Yeah.
>> They just basically change between
[56:54] panels. Bunch of wire ties to the
framework.
[56:58] » Do are you guys concerned about moles?
Because we have a cemetery out there and
[57:01] there's a terrible mole problem.
>> I'm just telling you.
[57:04] » And I have a mole problem at my house.
That's why I left. I'm sorry. Um I do
[57:09] not know about this area, but it's
something to think about for sure.
[57:14] Anything
[57:20] else on that? 17
[57:30] 18
Dr. Rose.
[57:34] » Yes. I think this one, you know, our
response is really just more geared
[57:38] towards being properly to maintenance if
needed. What we were told from
[57:42] engineering on this item is that
anything below 4 in of depth to clear uh
[57:49] would cause more damage to the access
road itself
[57:54] than what it's trying to achieve as good
before that. Um if you'd like a
[58:00] suggestion for us from us, we can
certainly come back with one.
[58:03] » Well, what if we say something like not
to exceed 4 in
[58:13] I suggest not sure if a if a um first
responder has to go out there and
[58:18] there's 4 in of snow and all of a sudden
they fall
[58:22] » because the snow's not removed now all
of a sudden I I'm happy
[58:28] let alone them right so I mean I guess I
look at it from if you to use your term
[58:33] of risk management you know plowing snow
and maintaining the roads and that's
[58:37] what we do around We have to fill
potholes. We have to do we do it all the
[58:41] time. So if you're going to uh in a lack
of any better words put safety ahead of
[58:47] plowing snow and making sure a road then
I I don't care for that.
[58:52] » Okay. Um would be my opinion personally.
Um
[58:58] understood. Um we can go back and have
another discussion with our team around
[59:03] this. Try to push them to see
down there.
[59:12] Thanks
as the uh wildlife passage.
[59:19] I think the concern with this one is the
lack of a definition as to what a
[59:23] wildlife passage is. Um and
uh for starters, I think I understand
[59:30] that the objective, but we're not sure
how that would work in practice. And
[59:35] again, as I
commented about earlier is is this going
[59:40] to is this singling out solar as a as a
use or would this be applied to other
[59:46] uses? Um so having having greater detail
about what what a wildlife passage is
[59:54] would help possibly with the design. Um
uh other concerns would be that the safe
[1:00:03] DNR already uh handles things like this
when it comes to certain categories of
[1:00:08] wildlife threatened and endangered
species. So you you run into a potential
[1:00:13] preeemption issue there. Um but yeah, I
think that it getting a little more um
[1:00:19] detailed when it comes to definitions or
using an existing definition uh that say
[1:00:25] is is already built into IDNR's
uh code and lexicon like uh you know
[1:00:32] Illinois nature preserve commission
protected land state parks etc.
[1:00:39] » Um in response you've said it probably
two or three times now about
[1:00:43] discriminating against them. This is not
what
[1:00:46] » trying to do open dialogue with them but
I mean you made it clear so I understand
[1:00:51] » that this would be another example.
Yeah. And I understand. Um so also when
[1:00:57] you you say others uh it says here like
residential subdivisions, grain
[1:01:01] elevators, blah blah blah. They're not
1400 acres. So I sold it for either. Um
[1:01:06] so when you're, you know,
>> you're not disclosing animals, you know,
[1:01:12] in a in many animals and in something
like that. So I get what you're saying.
[1:01:17] I know from a legal standpoint, but it's
not that we're trying to single single
[1:01:21] you out. I
>> No, no, I understand. But I I just I'm
[1:01:26] um
you could have alternative uses in this
[1:01:30] area that um maybe they're not 14 acres,
but they're really big warehouses. I
[1:01:36] mean, go up to Joliet. Look at look at
what they're doing south of of Joliet.
[1:01:41] They're really big large facilities.
>> Uh so that's all I'm trying to say. So I
[1:01:47] yeah it may not be apples and oranges
with respect to this project but it it
[1:01:51] could be with other
[1:01:55] » and if any other project came down
through there and we thought there were
[1:01:59] safety concerns or whatever we're going
to have the same
[1:02:04] » same uh questions for them. We're have
the same concerns.
[1:02:09] » We haven't had that. So what you're
saying is
[1:02:14] » like
>> you're assuming
[1:02:18] » right but I think you have to my only
point is it should be applied to other
[1:02:24] uses.
>> Sure.
[1:02:39] I know
[clears throat]
[1:02:44] » on uh 20
>> uh fencing landscaping.
[1:02:52] Yeah, I mean I think it we somewhat
optimize this already. I think if it
[1:02:56] just kind of you just need to lower the
fence a little bit to better also align
[1:03:00] it with with Catelyn as well so the
project can just have one height on the
[1:03:05] fence line.
>> Maybe Katlin can raise theirs to our
[1:03:08] level [laughter]
that way.
[1:03:15] » I agree.
>> It could be that way too.
[1:03:19] And and if you know gentleman's
suggestion of of the you know
[1:03:24] barb wire you know that that's fine as
well. Maybe it's 8 ft plus that I don't
[1:03:28] know maybe there's you know I feel like
>> I mean compromise 8t barb wire maybe.
[1:03:34] » Yeah. Yeah.
>> Compromised.
[1:03:36] » Um I think the mayor's intention with a
10ft chain link fence is what he is
[1:03:42] wanting is for feeasant quail
populations so that predators can't get
[1:03:46] in.
[1:03:50] Okay.
>> Okay.
[1:03:54] » Okay. And it can be his opinion. I mean,
it's just like I have an opinion. That's
[1:03:57] that's okay.
>> Um and I guess you know he can probably
[1:04:02] explain a little bit more to his
thought.
[1:04:05] » And he he also mentioned barbwire.
>> Okay.
[1:04:09] And just so I guess we're all kind of on
the same page with the whole like the
[1:04:13] intention here is to like have some kind
of screening around the fence, right?
[1:04:18] Like um you know there's those like
fences that have like the green
[1:04:21] screening on top of it.
>> Something like that is what the
[1:04:24] intention here is. Okay.
>> Yeah, understood.
[1:04:27] » Well, I mean
>> good point. I personally like the wood
[1:04:31] fence, you know, when you when you look
at I know it's more
[1:04:35] » Yes. Yes, I know it's going to be more
expensive and things like that. But it's
[1:04:38] it's one of those things when you stop
and you think about, you know, your wind
[1:04:41] tunnel, your noise, your your looking,
your all that type of stuff, your best
[1:04:46] case scenario is that
>> uh I guess one thing to note on the
[1:04:50] higher fence plus the opaque kind of
layer onto it is that um that will
[1:04:56] require a greater wind load.
Um, so you know the the the corners
[1:05:03] generally of the fencing will have some
level of like concrete poured in that
[1:05:07] area. In this design it would require a
little bit more. So just wanted to kind
[1:05:12] of like bring that to your awareness as
well, but we're okay with implementing
[1:05:17] that. [clears throat]
>> Um,
[1:05:21] some of it I had on here
[1:05:26] the fencing acts like a wind sail.
So I I get if it's don't the panels do
[1:05:32] the same thing or
>> the gas sterile
[1:05:37] correct.
>> Yeah. Yeah. No, it's
[1:05:43] a fair statement. Um I I don't know what
the wind loads of the fencing would be,
[1:05:47] but I do know that the wind loads of of
the the
[1:05:51] panel system itself is around 170 to
105.
[1:06:02] » [clears throat]
>> treatment of sir.
[1:06:14] And then as far as
[1:06:24] on the uh
I know you had that you requested the uh
[1:06:32] artist match the industry standard but I
don't I like a little standard above
[1:06:35] myself just I'm an image guy but um
anyway the uh 35% dead I have I kind of
[1:06:44] agree it's kind of hard to there's no
>> for that but I think with with um with
[1:06:51] the right wording in there and things of
that nature that if it's
[1:06:54] » you know it's got to be you know you
want to look and it goes back
[1:06:58] » we're on the same
>> we're on the same page here I think we
[1:07:01] just need a better set of like how to
define what needs to replace
[1:07:06] » um and after I read this actually I did
speak with a couple people I think there
[1:07:11] is some kind of methodology to
I don't know. I'd have to find out
[1:07:15] again. But yes, we do. We can do that
[1:07:24] on the I skipped one. I'm back 21 now.
So, this is the weed policy plan. Uh
[1:07:33] what's what is your plan for we?
>> So, all of the projects do have a weed
[1:07:40] management plan. um
along with you know the vegetation
[1:07:46] management plan, dust mitigation plan,
dirt or construction etc. um
[1:07:51] it will be a part of this as well. Uh so
you will have a weed management plan and
[1:07:56] if you so desire you could come to the
board for approval of that prior
[1:08:00] construction.
>> So so you just I mean like are you
[1:08:04] mammals or what?
>> Um generally there's spot treatments
[1:08:09] that are done. Uh I'm not sure about
other kind of treatments during
[1:08:14] operations.
>> I just wonder some some are using
[1:08:17] animals and sometimes
>> uh in our uh so in the project in Kaboo
[1:08:22] County we are starting a pilot sheep
raising program
[1:08:26] um
there won't be sheep there until about 2
[1:08:31] years after construction uh to allow for
the pollinators to grow. Um but we are
[1:08:37] doing a sheep grazing program on about
160 acres there. This however does
[1:08:43] require um land owner uh it requires
agreements land owners as well. So
[1:08:50] there's layers to it where may not be
fully within our control.
[1:08:56] How many I mean
>> how many sheep come? I have no idea.
[1:09:01] Tiffany
could cause a snow problem
[1:09:05] » if you have too many.
>> Quite possibly.
[1:09:08] » How big is how big?
>> Excuse me. The room
[1:09:13] county project. Yes, it's 150 megawatt.
Uh there's a total of 360 there.
[1:09:19] » How many sheep would you have? that I do
not know how many sheep are needed, but
[1:09:23] I hear the sheep crazy folks for solar
are doing really well these days and
[1:09:28] they can't find enough of them.
>> The sheep or goats?
[1:09:31] » Uh, I think she can't be. It's a certain
type of sheep.
[1:09:36] I don't know the type itself
specifically,
[1:09:39] » but yeah, it's like
[1:09:44] cross from a sheep arm and it smells
horrible,
[1:09:50] » especially
[1:09:56] just
>> you said. So, you said there's going to
[1:09:58] be something between you and the
landowners. Is that as far as them
[1:10:02] taking care of these animals? No, who
would be doing all that stuff?
[1:10:06] » There are certain provisions in the
lease that need to be changed to be able
[1:10:09] to allow us to do it.
>> Um, so there's a component of this that
[1:10:13] requires the land owners cooperation and
some land owners don't want it. Um, you
[1:10:18] know, for whatever reason that they
have. So
[1:10:21] » that that's that's all I was kind of
trying to refer to as like there's
[1:10:24] » no I'm just wondering who's going to
take care of these animals.
[1:10:27] » Um, so there are companies um, so
there's actually a
[1:10:33] uh solar grazing association. There's a
national one, but I believe there's also
[1:10:38] one in Illinois, too. It's basically
just these um companies that have a lot
[1:10:44] of sheep, and they will go from solar
site to site and put them out there for
[1:10:50] I don't know how long it takes. I don't
know if it's like an 8 hour process or
[1:10:53] if it's an 8 day long process.
>> Oh, so they just put them out there for
[1:10:56] a few hours and then they take
>> I don't know. I don't know if it takes a
[1:10:59] few hours or days. It's temporary.
[1:11:04] » That's what I wanted.
>> And then they collect them and then just
[1:11:06] take them to
>> Oh, okay. I got
[1:11:09] » It's like a live bunch of live.
>> I did too.
[1:11:16] » There's one of those
[1:11:20] required fencing.
>> Um, it does also require panels.
[1:11:27] It requires the piles to be taller. So
to the question of you know how tall are
[1:11:32] the animals and files in a sheep grazing
scenario they would be taller. There
[1:11:37] would be a load out
load out where they can crowd
[1:11:44] they gra and they
>> interesting.
[1:11:50] » There is
there is what they call a shepherd that
[1:11:54] is a shepherd that's supposed to be on
site
[1:11:58] » and they going to play out poo poo.
[laughter]
[1:12:02] » Serious. That's where their smell could
have come from.
[1:12:04] » All right. So 22 uh noise level
>> for this one my recommendation would be
[1:12:11] just to stop after the first two
sentences because the first sentence
[1:12:15] says that uh regulated by the pollution
control board and the second sentence
[1:12:20] requires testing before during and after
construction. Um the remainder of the
[1:12:26] paragraph is the discusses standards
that are not consistent with the
[1:12:31] Illinois Pollution Control Board rules
which are quite complicated.
[1:12:38] I know for for example, sorry to
interrupt, but the Illinois Bush control
[1:12:42] board rules don't apply to construction.
[1:12:48] » Well, the mayor suggested maybe pile
drivers only be used from 8 to 3 because
[1:12:53] they're extremely loud.
[1:12:57] » Let me go back with that. That may be
possible if it's just members, but
[1:13:02] » union too, right? So they're probably
off
[1:13:24] » anything else on uh
>> uh not
[1:13:30] » the only thing I had I know I read were
[1:13:35] It was in relation to a wind farm, but
the noise dec
[1:13:43] [clears throat]
of people and this is more operational I
[1:13:47] think at this point than it than it is
in during construction phase. So, um I
[1:13:52] think looking at some of that, uh along
with the the fence and the the other
[1:13:57] stuff, we can we can assist with
keeping the noise level down to
[1:14:04] 40 or something.
>> Of course. And so, as as part of our
[1:14:07] application, we'll submit a a noise
study. Um and so we similar to the glare
[1:14:14] study, our goal is to mitigate any
excessive noise outside of the project
[1:14:18] fence line. And for the noise levels to
be at normal levels
[1:14:24] that you know if you're living on tilted
cap like whatever nighttime noise you're
[1:14:28] getting you should be the same thing.
>> What about a sound barrier fence?
[1:14:35] » What are they doing?
>> It's a thing.
[1:14:37] » Well, I think the sound barrier wise be
more of a go back to wood, wouldn't it?
[1:14:41] I mean versus a chain link or something.
>> I I don't know.
[1:14:45] » They got I think they got along the
highways. off like the
[1:14:49] » like sound barriers
>> or something.
[1:14:51] » Yeah. Off of the homes close to the
highways.
[1:14:54] » I see. And you know the big you know
with wind farms they have very big
[1:14:58] turbines. They're always moving. So
there's a level of noise that those
[1:15:03] create that solar doesn't really have.
Um I mean our projects will be using a
[1:15:09] tracking system or the other projects
that we do use a tractor system that do
[1:15:14] have movement from east to west. but
it's such a minuscule movement that it's
[1:15:20] not a sound that you'd hear from the
road. Um, the main thing that makes
[1:15:26] noise on the project are the inverters
and those are intentionally located as
[1:15:32] central to the parcels as possible. So,
away from the roads and central to the
[1:15:37] parcels. It's a key part of our
project's design to mitigate those.
[1:15:42] And just to follow up on your question
about the decimal levels, the Illinois
[1:15:46] blues control board regulations, there's
a table in the in the state code that
[1:15:52] lists the applicable decel numbers.
They're actually quite restricted
[1:15:58] particularly at night. I think it's
around 41 42. The good news about solar
[1:16:03] facility is that it doesn't produce
electricity at night. So it doesn't make
[1:16:08] a lot of noise at night.
[1:16:12] Yeah, I read one one of the articles and
stuff on it.
[1:16:31] » Before I get to 24, I had one on 23 on
dust control. Um what's the
[1:16:38] ideally what what kind of dust control
would you be doing?
[1:16:47] » Uh I would like to speak in detail about
this. This is not something I know in
[1:16:51] terms of like what practices are used
for dust control. What I can do is
[1:16:55] provide you with a dust plan that we
have for some other project like Gibson
[1:16:59] City. I'm sure we have one that we can
take off the shelf. I was just it water
[1:17:04] is it you know chemical
>> I know they do some watering I know that
[1:17:08] mainly there's a lot of watering done
yes I do see that during construction
[1:17:12] I want to speak more on it these guys
have any other methods that they use but
[1:17:17] yeah
>> perfect
[1:17:21] um
[1:17:25] 24
[1:17:30] testing
So I've already said what before a
[1:17:34] couple of times what I won't uh know
singling out issue but there are lots of
[1:17:41] things that produce
um we're exposed to in this room right
[1:17:47] now. Um I think that I will just say
that if you look at the um I guess I'll
[1:17:53] call them third party studies that look
at this issue um the setbacks from the
[1:17:59] uh project should be sufficient to uh to
make make sure that EMF levels are u low
[1:18:09] enough to where it's you know not any
different than surrounding areas. Uh, so
[1:18:15] I think if you're going I I think it's
unnecessary to require testing, but it's
[1:18:22] also I would just say if you're going to
require testing that it's probably makes
[1:18:26] more sense for them to test, you know,
outside the project uh where somebody
[1:18:32] could be exposed.
And I don't know if that's the intention
[1:18:36] or not from the I don't it's not clear
to me what the testing potentials mean.
[1:18:42] Um, well, the mayor mentioned somebody
in his family has a pacemaker.
[1:18:49] So, what if somebody with pacemaker gets
close to it, will they be affected?
[1:18:56] » Not sure. But I mean, I I would think
that if they go inside the fence line,
[1:19:01] which they shouldn't be, they may be.
>> Yeah.
[1:19:04] outside the fence line they should be
safe because outside the fence line's
[1:19:08] supposed to be
>> I think a good question it's a good
[1:19:13] question because what if the MS is
responding and that person has a
[1:19:15] pacemaker
>> for example what cause something
[1:19:20] » right right
>> yeah and that's be a bad idea
[1:19:24] for there's a a warning sign requirement
you're going to have to have signs
[1:19:28] anyway so that's something that would
seem reasonable
[1:19:34] I didn't think about that before.
[1:19:43] » Ask a question.
>> Sure.
[1:19:45] The mayor of community the farmer magnet
and this was wind turbines I believe at
[1:19:54] the story goes has a pacemaker
and the turbines
[1:20:01] left
[1:20:05] affected.
So,
[1:20:10] how
you talk about somebody maker, whatever.
[1:20:14] How do I make somebody old that is
affected by this? Because you can say,
[1:20:22] well, it shouldn't affect you because
you're outside of the project or you
[1:20:25] live so far away from it. But there are
some of us that are very susceptible to
[1:20:33] sounds and lying energy and that kind of
stuff. For example, I could go in a
[1:20:38] jewelry store and most people can't hear
their lights. I can hear their lights.
[1:20:46] So, how do we make somebody whole that's
live in their home forever and never and
[1:20:52] maybe their well is affected or their
quality of life is affected because of
[1:20:57] this energy wave, you know, energy.
And then I've read stories where you
[1:21:04] have electricity flowing through the
ground. There's ground current that's
[1:21:08] not supposed to be released and it's
affected livestock, people, etc., etc.
[1:21:14] How do we make those people?
That's not right. Something like this to
[1:21:20] come in and then disrupt my life or
somebody else.
[1:21:30] So I've heard about this
stray voltage issue with livestock
[1:21:36] before.
Um
[1:21:40] this is
from back then when I was re when I
[1:21:45] researched into this topic. This is a
problem of distribution level community
[1:21:50] solar projects. It happens with
distribution level infrastructure near
[1:21:55] water sources.
Um
[1:22:00] There is a University of Minnesota study
on this
[1:22:06] topic. Um
that's with regards to the stray
[1:22:12] voltage. I mean with the EMF topic, you
know, it's I think
[1:22:18] for first we need to determine if there
is even an issue here. Um,
[1:22:26] and you know, that's maybe something we
need to go back and look into in terms
[1:22:29] of like EMF levels inside the fence
line. I think we're all kind of agreed
[1:22:34] on the outside issue, but on the inside
issue, seems like we need to go back and
[1:22:41] get some more data with regards to that.
So, collectively,
[1:22:46] we can put something forth if needed or
or not.
[1:22:51] So, is this the this first solar one
you're putting up? The first solar?
[1:22:55] » It's the first time EMF has come up as
an issue.
[1:22:57] » Is it? No. But I mean, is this the first
time it's ever been put in? I mean,
[1:23:03] » is this is this the first solar one?
Because you guys had other solar farms
[1:23:06] » for Yeah. No. So,
>> so what what have you had issues with
[1:23:11] those?
>> No. No, not in this context.
[1:23:17] » If I could add that. So, is set up as a
special use
[1:23:22] um which I think is the intent. um one
of the standards will be that they have
[1:23:28] to demonstrate that the use will not um
impede the uses on neighboring
[1:23:33] properties.
And again, I think one of the things
[1:23:38] they'll be prepared to submit is uh
evidence that from studies that show
[1:23:43] that that once you get outside the fence
line, like I don't know what the number
[1:23:48] of feet is, but uh that there's it's
really not the level of EMF is not uh
[1:23:54] sufficient to affect human health.
[1:23:59] » Well, electrical engineer
panels themselves are DC. There's not
[1:24:05] enough
[1:24:14] close.
But then I guess my question is once you
[1:24:18] step back up on your transmission lines,
>> you get around those popping
[1:24:27] there's
EMF there.
[1:24:34] Um
not sure right now the voltage level of
[1:24:39] the transmission line that we expect
here. I would assume it's
[1:24:45] more than 69 less than or equal to 138
kilovs.
[1:24:50] » Yeah.
>> Um
[1:24:54] » yes single monopole I would just expect
maybe 138. Um there I guess the question
[1:25:02] like you know what's the what are what
are the requirements for other
[1:25:06] transmission lines here you know what's
looked at there what's their process
[1:25:16] on the rest of that
>> [snorts]
[1:25:32] » working on 25 clean solos
panels.
[1:25:38] Um, last time you guys mentioned storing
this stuff in a type of building. Um
[1:25:44] what's the I mean what's your average
I'm I'm requesting that basically put
[1:25:51] some sort of record keeping and time
frame on again because go back to the
[1:25:55] oil in in the garage type of thing and
I'm just picking up on some of the the
[1:25:59] comments that were made but what what
were I what's the plan to do you store a
[1:26:05] lot of stuff or do you get rid of it
right away or what's what's the thought
[1:26:08] process behind some of this on say
broken panels or things like that.
[1:26:12] » Sure. And I think so for our next
meeting, I could get a very detailed
[1:26:18] breakdown of this. From what I know, you
know, we store certain numbers of
[1:26:23] modules. Um we serve certain other
equipment
[1:26:27] uh on site, at what level at which we
store, I'm not sure, right? I say 5% of
[1:26:33] modules, is it 2% of the panels? You
know, that's what I'm not sure about.
[1:26:38] But yes, we do have um extra equipment
stored to be replaced when needed. Um
[1:26:47] » and what do you do with the damaged
ones?
[1:26:52] » Do not know. Do not know. That's pretty
important.
[1:26:56] » Five 10 damaged panels. You know,
>> we've had
[1:26:58] » I will definitely look into that.
>> We've had storms around here. Maybe you
[1:27:01] could talk to Ki.
What do you do better? I mean that would
[1:27:06] be if I was in your position
>> and I didn't know
[1:27:10] » that question I think I would be
questioning these people that's had
[1:27:13] damage and like
>> definitely
[1:27:14] » because that is a big thing that's a big
thing is what happens to these pandas
[1:27:20] we asked that same question September
5th 2025 at the library we didn't have
[1:27:27] an answer then still I'm just wondering
are you have you tried to train it
[1:27:32] almost
what I mean, have you tried to figure
[1:27:37] out game plan for that or how you were
going to do it? Because that's been
[1:27:41] seven months ago and
>> I'm sure you get that question at every
[1:27:44] meeting. You got to
>> it's it's so
[1:27:49] our first operating project is Gibson
City. Um, and that went into operations
[1:27:56] very recently. So, [clears throat]
when the question was asked months ago,
[1:28:01] we definitely did not have that
information. I think now that that
[1:28:06] facility is operating and there's an
operations and maintenance plan in
[1:28:09] place, I can go back to that team now
and say and ask this question again and
[1:28:14] say, "Hey, what happens in this
scenario? What do you guys do
[1:28:18] » with this equipment?" I can definitely
do that and we will definitely have an
[1:28:22] answer whether it's a nice answer or
not, but I will come back with an answer
[1:28:27] on this.
>> Pretty hard. So, you may even have
[1:28:32] up there.
>> All right. Did you have damage up there?
[1:28:35] » Um, very slightly from what I hear.
>> They would have had to have some kind of
[1:28:40] » Yes, there's definitely a plan for this.
Yeah, I just want to get the right.
[1:28:44] » Is it actually the city actually
functioning and operating fully or is it
[1:28:49] still under construction?
>> It's construction is complete.
[1:28:54] It's gone through the energization
process which is like when they're
[1:28:57] testing it out and everything and it's
going When is it physically feeding into
[1:29:02] the grid?
>> End of May.
[1:29:04] » End of May. Okay. So, it's close.
>> Yes.
[1:29:07] » But it hasn't actually got to that.
>> No, they're just they're testing it
[1:29:10] right now.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:29:14] I can say there's a lot less damage
panels now from hail and storm events
[1:29:18] because there's new SCADA software that
will uh ties into the National Weather
[1:29:23] Service and it actually takes the panels
and puts in the wrong direction. So
[1:29:28] hail's coming from this way hits the
back of the panel. No damage back. It's
[1:29:34] really just this year that technology
has come
[1:29:37] » and so there's less there's less stuff
to get rid of. So you're saying like
[1:29:40] Kinki didn't have that evidently?
>> Probably not
[1:29:43] » because that was a big mess there.
>> If you put a you put a project COD
[1:29:50] commercial operation date any time prior
to 20 this year it doesn't have that you
[1:29:56] can go back and retro it but
>> yours are going to have it.
[1:29:59] » So this one
>> this one will have it city has it. Um
[1:30:03] there's only really like two main
companies in the industry that are doing
[1:30:07] this in a in a in a very good way.
>> Yes.
[1:30:12] » They call this stoone leather sto and
this is actually becoming like a
[1:30:18] requirement for insurers at this point
that because it's
[1:30:23] » reason I didn't know that was going to
put on this plan but I know is going to
[1:30:27] because otherwise you can't get
insurance and it's it's a negligible
[1:30:31] cost. is software.
>> What what size hailstone are those
[1:30:36] panels
with stand?
[1:30:39] » That's not an answer I know, but I can
definitely get you the answer.
[1:30:42] » I can tell you PepsiCo, their
requirements
[1:30:46] were asking for like an inch and 3/4 and
there was no, this was 6 years ago
[1:30:51] probably.
>> Nobody made a panel that would meet
[1:30:53] that.
>> They were trying to drive the industry
[1:30:56] standard up
>> to that
[1:30:58] » and and this happened to be a fixed
system that didn't rotate.
[1:31:02] So it not get hit as hard.
>> But
[1:31:08] » that's something you might want to look
at is put a minimum spec on
[1:31:12] you know panels panel squeezed
[1:31:21] glass.
>> Yeah, that's correct. And we do source
[1:31:27] from what? tier one manufacturers. Um
you know you look at the tier one
[1:31:34] manufacturers
always looking for as much domestic
[1:31:43] approach um for the project in Koh's
county that's going to start
[1:31:48] construction in August.
That one is actually um at a higher
[1:31:54] domestic content percentage uh than
Gibson City is for example. So I just
[1:31:59] use that as an example to say as the
industry continues to enable domestic
[1:32:05] manufacturing on different
layers of this supply chain, we are
[1:32:10] constantly looking for more and more
domestic components here.
[1:32:15] » So where do you actually
>> uh the panels that we use in Gibson
[1:32:20] city? So, I'm going to say assembled in
the US. Um, you know, and by that, you
[1:32:26] know, the steel, the glass, that's all
US made. It's really the cells inside of
[1:32:33] the modules.
That's where a lot of the that's where
[1:32:37] there isn't a lot of domestic
manufacturing capacity.
[1:32:41] » Most of that comes from China, right?
>> Correct. Yes. Or or actually like um
[1:32:46] » Indonesia,
Taiwan,
[1:32:49] » Vietnam,
>> Vietnam,
[1:32:53] » China. Yeah, it's like Vietnam,
Indonesia, Taiwan. Um
[1:32:57] » I can't remember if I asked you guys
this before, but do you have to follow
[1:33:01] the fiat?
>> Yes, of course.
[1:33:05] China.
>> That's why exactly
[1:33:07] » what what
>> that's why there's that's why China as
[1:33:11] well. Like that's another reason why
there's been times.
[1:33:14] » Okay.
>> But where are you where are you
[1:33:16] expecting to get once for this project?
>> I mean it would it without like
[1:33:21] committing to it would be somewhere like
Indonesia, Taiwan,
[1:33:25] you know, India maybe, Vietnam.
Becky, you have
[1:33:31] » I have a question. Um what's going to
refer to when Apex
[1:33:38] has a lot of province in the state and
they at hearings will frequent well all
[1:33:46] the time say if a storm is coming the
national weather service tracks this if
[1:33:52] they issue a storm warning they're going
to shut down those turbines
[1:33:58] there seems to be a disconnect however
because they never shut down their
[1:34:03] turbines so I'm hearing earth say well
we're going to you know be in contact
[1:34:08] with whatever the National Weather
Service,
[1:34:12] but then what is the process and what is
the guarantee that you're actually going
[1:34:18] to act on that morning? Because we know
what some of these other women in energy
[1:34:24] companies, they're not acting on the
war.
[1:34:29] I think which is the way I understand
just this is one of those things I can
[1:34:33] make sure I understand what you're
saying but with the SCAD system it's a
[1:34:36] it's a program that will automatically
say hey there's a storm coming and we're
[1:34:42] going to rotate panels to the opposite
side to your
[1:34:46] » require human intervention to do that.
>> No no it's actually there's a do radar
[1:34:52] that's set up it's not actually national
but it senses it itself and penalties
[1:34:58] for not doing it is you got a bunch of
flustered pants and your insurance
[1:35:01] companies saying I won't cover it. So I
know Apex very well. I don't know why
[1:35:06] they don't shut down the turbines but
earth is not building turbines and if
[1:35:09] they wouldn't do this it would be the
same thing as you leave your wife I left
[1:35:14] my wife's new car outside in the hail
storm. It would be silly for me because
[1:35:18] then she would tell me I got to go buy a
new car and that's the same thing. The
[1:35:21] penalty would be pretty stiff um for not
doing it.
[1:35:26] Didn't you testify inex?
>> Nobody
[1:35:31] else.
[1:35:36] They were my customer at one point, but
I've never testified.
[1:35:45] » [laughter]
[1:35:47] » transition on that.
[1:35:51] » Number 27,
uh, facility ownership and viability to
[1:35:56] have access to property.
>> Yeah, I think, you know, we're
[1:36:00] absolutely okay with this. We would just
prefer that it has like a quarterly
[1:36:05] cadence or something like that rather
than, you know, hey, I want to come out
[1:36:08] there today. um you know so so our MC
team can plan for it and prepare and do
[1:36:17] all that. Um I mean I think you know if
if if the village is very adamant on it
[1:36:22] we could probably do
an order but I just I guess it's a bond
[1:36:27] request as well. I think the issue is
just one of notice like giving certain
[1:36:31] notice so that
>> that it's a safety issue right they want
[1:36:35] to make sure that nobody
>> is injured but I got property I give
[1:36:39] 24-hour notice hey I'm a beard tomorrow
>> right
[1:36:42] » 24 hours and I was staying up there was
a reason we needed
[1:36:46] » it would be yes
[1:36:57] on
D29.
[1:37:02] It's not on the but you go to your
there's just a word miss there
[1:37:09] I think it's the very last it says
something about data shall be on a week
[1:37:13] weekly basis basis it just doesn't
provided or something
[1:37:20] » just got
>> can we I mean I think just weekly
[1:37:24] reporting of this might be a little did
we I don't know if we made any
[1:37:28] suggestions for this one before at the
moment.
[1:37:32] » I think monthly would be preferred, but
I'm not like, you know, stuck on that
[1:37:38] concept. I just think
>> sorry 29
[1:37:41] » process
[1:37:52] information data shall be blank
[1:38:06] » work together. Yeah.
[1:38:16] » Oh, I see. You're saying the reports on
a quarterly basis,
[1:38:21] but the data inside has to be weekly.
[1:38:31] » The information shall be submitted. I
think you guys are supposed to provide
[1:38:36] » gather it weekly and then show it to us
quarterly.
[1:38:41] » Oh, got it. Okay. Yeah, I wrote reported
in that little blank area. So, I think
[1:38:45] it's gathered on weekly. So, we gather
the weekly data but reported on a
[1:38:49] quartis. Okay. Something just
>> Yeah. Yeah, that works.
[1:38:57] » Um, one thing I I read somewhere else
too that on these this would be under um
[1:39:04] road use and things u on the road repair
plan especially during construction and
[1:39:10] things of that nature is it uh you know
all the roads being used obviously
[1:39:15] taking a a toll with construction and
things so uh would you be against
[1:39:20] improving the road after everything's
done so if it's just to use example it's
[1:39:25] gravel now going to tar and chip it you
know when we're done is that potentially
[1:39:32] something How does that work?
>> So, generally, you know, we we have the
[1:39:36] transportation impact analysis done. Um
[clears throat]
[1:39:41] » the we we will actually start that
earlier on around the 30% design
[1:39:46] process, but we will continue to update
that as we get to our like issue for
[1:39:51] construction designs. We do that because
the contractors generally figure out
[1:39:57] more. they get closer to understanding
fully how many loads and at what weight
[1:40:02] is they're going to be moving as we get
closer as they advance the designs. Um
[1:40:06] so all that being said you know
generally the process that we go about
[1:40:11] it is road commissioners will assess
we'll use an outside consulting company
[1:40:17] generally we ask the road commissioner
if they have a preference of a company
[1:40:21] that we we should use for that work that
they use as well so that they trust um
[1:40:27] at which point you know we'll execute
the road use agreement and generally the
[1:40:30] process with that is we will take video
footage and photo footage of the roads
[1:40:34] before our traffic activity has begun.
If there is any from the transportation
[1:40:41] impact analysis, if there's any roads
that were identified as needing to be
[1:40:46] upgraded to carry that load, those will
that'll be a part of the preconstruction
[1:40:51] road work. So, we'll come in and and
we'll do whatever work we need to do on
[1:40:56] the roads that we'll be using to handle
those loads. Uh and then of course we
[1:41:01] have during construction maintenance
requirements to keep the rooms in good
[1:41:06] condition and then afterwards we will
also have a post construction repair
[1:41:11] scope as well. Um to your question more
specifically
[1:41:17] there are certain scenarios where yes
we've kind of come in and created a
[1:41:22] better road than what we found before.
[1:41:28] » Um
We have letter F special use permit
[1:41:37] going to E.
>> This is the one about recycling.
[1:41:47] So, I mean on this one it's it's you
know it's
[1:41:55] we don't want to
we don't know how we can enter into a
[1:42:00] recycling agreement for a job that's
going to be done 35 years from now. How
[1:42:05] do they even price that for us? How does
that even happen? Um that's the first
[1:42:12] questions. Um, now
are there solar module recyclers out
[1:42:20] there? Yes, there are. Were they there
10 years ago? Maybe you could find one
[1:42:26] somewhere. Maybe in Arizona. There's a
few now. I mean, there's not like dozens
[1:42:30] of these companies anyway. There's some
out there. They are doing the recycling
[1:42:35] work. And you know there isn't really
many utility scale
[1:42:40] uh you know solar power plants that
haven't been recommissioned yet. Um so
[1:42:45] all that is to say that you know there
is this market it's starting to grow.
[1:42:51] It's getting matured. A lot of the
equipment that is going to recycling in
[1:42:56] these modules it's you know glass steel
plastics. Um the main part is recycling
[1:43:04] the cell. That's that's the big issue
there. Um
[1:43:09] I mean I think
you know we could
[1:43:14] we could try to commit to some language
that you know doesn't tie us to having
[1:43:19] this before the SUV but you know that'll
that'll say like best efforts to do a
[1:43:24] recycling agreement close to
decommissioning.
[1:43:27] Um but yeah we just don't think it's
even possible to get this kind of
[1:43:32] agreement in place right now. So I guess
my question would be is then what about
[1:43:36] with your recent gifts to city? Where
will those go?
[1:43:40] » So they I mean for you know
>> and that's only been a commission how
[1:43:44] long?
>> It's not even it's not even
[1:43:46] » Yeah. Exactly. So they wouldn't be able
to enter into that right now. Yeah.
[1:43:50] » So I mean what if you don't have an
agreement or that's not been a proactive
[1:43:54] thing that's been put in place. How do
you know where you're gonna I mean and
[1:43:58] what say that even if there's only
minimal or there's few what if it was
[1:44:03] the whole entire project?
>> What would that look like? I mean and
[1:44:08] you're now sitting here trying to figure
out where you're going to take this. I'm
[1:44:11] sure there's damage panels that were
construction that showed up damaged in
[1:44:17] wherever they were
cuz I was hearing the same thing that
[1:44:22] you had. You know, like you're saying,
hey, it's hard to hard to give the, you
[1:44:26] know, an estimate in in 35 years. It's
also hard for me to say, well, 35 years
[1:44:33] now it's your problem. You know, I I
want to make sure that we we have
[1:44:38] something in place. You know, if I'm not
here, I'm probably going to board in 35
[1:44:42] years.
[1:44:45] » I mean, you know, what I know about
these is that, you know, the
[1:44:48] manufacturers of the panels guarantee
still 82.5% efficiency after 35 years.
[1:44:55] So, there is a secondary market for
these. Um, I mean, we, you know, what if
[1:45:01] there's a
what if there's a buyer in, I don't
[1:45:04] know, some some African country or
something that wants this project's
[1:45:08] panels in 35 years because of their
efficiency and why would we tie
[1:45:13] ourselves into a recycling group agreed
to 35 years before that? Um, I mean, I
[1:45:18] think [clears throat]
of course, yeah, you know, the invention
[1:45:22] is to get rid of the equipment in a
acceptable way, but we just don't see
[1:45:31] how we can contract recycling
specifically 35 years from now.
[1:45:36] » There could be some kind of use for it
as well. It's not like it has to be
[1:45:40] recycled and you know thrown away.
>> Well, I think the biggest concern is you
[1:45:45] guys have no answer for something was
damaged today. You don't have no answers
[1:45:50] on this stuff. is an answer I'm going to
get you next week because
[1:45:54] » I hope so because this is like I don't
know how many meetings I've been at and
[1:45:56] I've seen you guys never have an answer
because you
[1:46:01] you rent a building out for a party. One
of the big things you're going to want
[1:46:06] to know is who's cleaning this stuff up.
>> You know what I'm saying? That's one
[1:46:10] that's a big part of the project
>> and that's a part of the demission plan,
[1:46:14] right? Like that's what the
decommissioning plan decommission is
[1:46:18] for. I mean, if we're talking about
bleeding it up,
[1:46:21] » I'm talking about when there's damage,
>> what happens after it leaves is a
[1:46:25] different panels fail over time. You
have to they do every year they're going
[1:46:30] to do a fly drone. They'll tell you
which panels are put out, which ones
[1:46:34] aren't, and they'll be replacing panels
a few years down the road.
[1:46:38] » This isn't
>> that's without a hail storm or windtorm
[1:46:42] or tornado.
It's going to create a big mess. And
[1:46:46] that's our biggest thing is there's no
answers to if something happened today.
[1:46:51] » Well, that's what I was alluding to is
that you know you think storage building
[1:46:54] somewhere and what's the plan to you
know it's it's hard to you don't have
[1:47:00] the answer for that. I know you're going
to get appreciate that and I look
[1:47:04] forward to it.
>> It's almost like this project all you
[1:47:06] guys do is focus on getting them in and
getting them running. You don't you
[1:47:10] don't focus on any of the effects of it.
That's what the problem is.
[1:47:19] » So 35 years my grandchildren will be in
their early to their 40s and families of
[1:47:27] their own.
What are we leaving for? That's the big
[1:47:33] question. What are we leaving for future
generations to have to clean up or deal
[1:47:39] with? It would be like anyone in this
room. If your parents when you did some
[1:47:45] big project that you inherited stuff you
inherit holding mass what are you doing
[1:47:53] you don't have the money grand
but you and so I know they have
[1:47:59] decommissioning plans but I don't think
that's a guarantee so that is the big
[1:48:05] question I totally agree with what is
the end result that we can't see
[1:48:11] » you can't make
years. I mean, you got to have that to
[1:48:14] start day one.
You could have pastor day two when it's
[1:48:20] your foot up. Good to happen. Well, just
like you said with Gibson City, it's not
[1:48:23] even up in Indiana.
>> Yeah, absolutely. You don't know.
[1:48:28] There's no you can't say 35 years from
now is when the problem.
[1:48:32] » So, in respect to you mentioned that you
will get us. So, we'll look forward to
[1:48:36] that.
>> Okay. Great.
[1:48:39] » Um
A couple things as far as I have before
[1:48:43] we jump to to K. Um, are any of the
employees that would be uh employed at
[1:48:52] at Ethan Gibson say for for this matter
certified in fire training or
[1:48:59] on site at all times or anything? I know
some of the con conversation we had
[1:49:02] before and I I didn't get anything from
my fire chief as far as a report. So, I
[1:49:06] apologize for them not getting that and
having all the the information. Um but
[1:49:12] uh we talk about you know trying to get
on site and we're going to bring them to
[1:49:16] the fence for example stuff like that if
somebody's hurt or or anything. So what
[1:49:22] is your training or what is what's the
thought process behind all that?
[1:49:28] So
we
[1:49:31] do have a training program that happen.
It's not an earthrise specific program.
[1:49:38] Uh it's
[1:49:42] It's it's run by
this old fire chief somewhere up in
[1:49:49] Willow County area. I'm not quite sure,
but they do train oneweek trainings in
[1:49:54] Florida for solar power plants
specifically.
[1:49:58] Um, so we do have that um that we can
look into as well.
[1:50:07] What else do you want?
>> I mean, the application comes with an
[1:50:10] emergency response plan. Um that plan is
developed in coordination with local
[1:50:16] fire departments and police departments
so that um they are aware of what the
[1:50:23] project is and what sort of procedures
there are behind the project and even
[1:50:26] before then we will meet with fire
departments to explain the project and
[1:50:31] understand what sort of needs they have.
I know with Gibson City they said that
[1:50:35] they need specific types of extra
equipment to deal with fire safety and
[1:50:39] those are conversations we'll continue
to have so that they are well put to
[1:50:43] answer your question about whether
police will have that specific fire
[1:50:47] training they will not be like you know
they're not part of the local fire
[1:50:51] department or anything like that but
they will have the knowledge of the
[1:50:54] emergency response plan um as well as
like basic first aid in order to like
[1:50:59] carry out their job appropriately.
[1:51:03] What if you say they have a full fire
department? What if the plan is when we
[1:51:10] all have volunteer fire departments and
there are no volunteer firemen
[1:51:15] able to respond to a call? What is going
to be the protocol? How do we address
[1:51:21] this situation?
I think that's a along the lines of some
[1:51:27] of the questions I'm asking because in
all due respect to area departments uh
[1:51:33] is usually the the first ones on scene.
So, a lot of times when I I hear we've
[1:51:39] had conversations and things and like I
said, I have an internal problem not
[1:51:42] getting information, but as a board
member and and the resident of Tilton,
[1:51:50] I need to make sure things are in place
that, you know, our department is going
[1:51:53] to be out there uh more than likely
first on scene even though it's somebody
[1:51:58] else's area. we mutilate the stuff all
the time and we're we're the first
[1:52:02] engine at many places uh because of our
our team. Um,
[1:52:09] so that's some of my concerns and just
so you understand where I'm coming from
[1:52:12] from some of the the questions
[1:52:21] » as far as uh I don't know in location as
far as with Gibson City or anything but
[1:52:26] any anything that you've looked at
before, but
[1:52:29] » as far as cemeteries and sacred places
and things of that nature, what's what's
[1:52:34] the thought process behind there? You Do
you have anything? We've we've conducted
[1:52:39] um a lot of different environmental
studies, cultural being one of them that
[1:52:44] identifies cemeteries.
>> Some developers may choose to develop on
[1:52:49] top of things like wetlands, but earth
rises. Um what's unique about earth
[1:52:54] rises, we go full avoidance. So full
avoidance of cemeteries and we set back
[1:52:58] from cemeteries. Um we completely avoid
developing on top of wetlands and we
[1:53:03] avoid areas of cements as well.
>> How far are your setbacks from
[1:53:08] cemeteries normally?
>> Typically be about 50
[1:53:15] to 100
>> because we have a cemetery and about 15
[1:53:19] years ago our mayor went down there and
what was it about 100 ft away from the
[1:53:23] cemetery graves?
>> I'm grave.
[1:53:28] » Yes. There's like two cemeters up there.
[1:53:39] » And I mean this kind of borders our
cemetery.
[1:53:42] » Yeah, I know. I'm aware and I've run
into this situation unfortunately at
[1:53:47] least.
>> You did your grade?
[1:53:52] » No.
[laughter]
[1:53:57] All work stops for a really long time.
[laughter]
[1:54:08] » One thing I noticed that I've noticed
anyway when I went down 74 is the bald
[1:54:15] eagles. There's a couple real close. Um,
so I don't know if there's anything in
[1:54:21] your plans or if you've already looked
at some of that if there's, you know,
[1:54:25] » we run a threat endangered species
report. Um, in addition, I know you've
[1:54:30] seen the footprint and include it's
adjacent to some areas that are
[1:54:33] forested. We are not intending on
cutting out any trees or destroying any
[1:54:37] existing habitat for this project.
>> No, there are
[1:54:40] » and there are procedures in place like
if a nest is stopped, etc.
[1:54:47] regulate the state level um require like
setbacks etc stop working in that area
[1:54:55] that kind of thing
>> how far is a setback from an active nest
[1:54:59] » that I do not know that's that's a
>> definitely a question that's a question
[1:55:05] that could definitely be answered
>> next time for sure
[1:55:08] » depends on the species
>> golden gold
[1:55:11] » or golden eagle either one
>> not correct
[1:55:14] » there's also that protective bats That's
probably for
[1:55:20] » actually eagles
>> all of that is heavily regulated. They
[1:55:23] have to go through US Fish and Wildlife
Service as well as DNR.
[1:55:26] » Sure.
>> I was just curious.
[1:55:28] » I understand that. I just want to know I
know I think on a turbine it might be a
[1:55:32] mile and a half unless they change that.
I was wondering on slower what the set
[1:55:38] is.
>> That would make sense I guess for a
[1:55:42] turbine
>> because the movement and everything.
[1:55:49] I know you me being by 74. Actually,
they're out there in the field all the
[1:55:53] time. I mean, you know, quite often, so
I don't know if they're straight down
[1:55:57] the road.
>> Yeah, they're out there, especially at
[1:56:00] the end of harvest. I mean, I know there
was probably and I probably got I've got
[1:56:04] a picture just not too long ago where I
took there was three or four, but
[1:56:08] they're in the field.
[1:56:12] U going on moving on to uh letter K,
special use permit
[1:56:18] drainage tile.
>> So just a couple issues on this one. I
[1:56:21] think I addressed it at the last
meeting. The first one is that there's a
[1:56:25] requirement to um get approval from the
neighboring land owner under the
[1:56:32] Illinois drainage code. If I want to put
in a new drain tile as a mutual drain,
[1:56:38] uh I mean I can if I have to, I can go
under under certain circumstances,
[1:56:42] there's statutory uh provisions that
allow me to go to court to uh require
[1:56:48] the neighbor to get to allow me to uh to
go over their property to uh to to drain
[1:56:55] well. Uh so getting approvals I don't
think I I would just ask you to check
[1:57:01] and make sure that's consistent with the
element drainage script. The second
[1:57:04] issue that I think I addressed
previously was that um with in terms of
[1:57:09] repairing drain tile or um making sure
there are proper gradients during the
[1:57:15] operation of the facility. The AMA
allows for the project to reroute the
[1:57:20] drain tile around the out to the
perimeter perimeter of the project. The
[1:57:26] flow has to be maintained, right? The
existing flow has to be substantially
[1:57:30] maintained, but it contemplates that
you're um that you may end up uh
[1:57:35] interfering with the existing drain tile
system. That's why the the drain it it
[1:57:40] it it contemplates that the the the
system would be redesigned so that it
[1:57:45] flows around the facility to accommodate
the existing flow. And so I just want to
[1:57:51] make sure that this provision doesn't
conflict with that um provision in the
[1:57:56] game. So you're saying basically if if I
I have a field that runs straight
[1:58:00] through it, your AMA will tell you that
you can stop it on this part, run it
[1:58:05] around here and connect it to the other
side.
[1:58:08] » Yeah, in I mean yes, but most of the
time if you've got a main tile line,
[1:58:12] it'll stay it'll be avoided. Um they'll
keep a lane for it. Um, but for the
[1:58:19] laterals, you know, they'll, especially
if they're old and made of clay, they
[1:58:22] may uh just end up um making them
obsolete and design another tile system
[1:58:30] that goes around the perimeter of the
project. And again, if you read the the
[1:58:34] language in the AMA, it expressly allows
for that. And that's all I'm saying is
[1:58:39] let's not do something here that um that
interferes with the ability that the
[1:58:46] what the what they aim on laps
>> doesn't have a tile of agricultural
[1:58:51] field
they run lap you know but they
[1:58:57] [clears throat]
>> if I went in
[1:59:01] » well talk to the talk to the Illinois
Farm Bureau because they they drafted
[1:59:04] that language
>> if I went in on a main and or laterals
[1:59:10] with someone who put a project on their
property and my The vein or laterals
[1:59:18] that I helped pay for were damaged.
I would want them fixed yesterday. Plus,
[1:59:25] I would want them fixed by someone of my
chief, not by someone of that project's
[1:59:31] chief.
>> Under, as I said, has the flow has to be
[1:59:36] maintained under the Illinois drainage
code. The land owner or the project
[1:59:40] would have an obligation to maintain
that flow.
[1:59:44] And I speak from experience. I said
experience. He worked on a wind farm for
[1:59:48] a while. When they
[1:59:52] » just please let me finish. When they cut
the tiles
[1:59:58] and he had a fit, he was instructed you
are just to fill them in. That's why I
[2:00:04] made the point if my tiles were cut or
my names,
[2:00:08] I would want a say so on and who was
repairing
[2:00:13] » and I think that's a lot of trust.
Go ahead.
[2:00:18] » All I'm asking is to make sure it's
consistent with what's allowed in the
[2:00:21] name of because that's required by state
[2:00:28] and it's and the solar Oh, and this is
what I want to say. The solar AMA
[2:00:32] language is different from the wind AMA
language. Again, the wind AA does not
[2:00:37] allow it has to be repaired within I
think 14 days. The solar AMA allows
[2:00:44] gives an option to go around the
perimeter of the different parts of the
[2:00:48] » and how long do they have to have?
>> Again, it it gets at the end at the end
[2:00:54] of the day, there's a there's another
provision that covers deconstruction. I
[2:00:58] mean, I I would just encourage you to
read the the solar, but there's another
[2:01:01] provision that uh that covers
deconstruction that um requires repair,
[2:01:07] etc.
>> Aren't you here to answer questions?
[2:01:10] » What's that?
>> That was a legal question she asked, I
[2:01:12] believe. And I thought that's what you
were here for instead of telling her to
[2:01:16] go read something.
Well,
[2:01:20] I mean you if you if you was not
[2:01:25] it would be it'll be repaired
immediately. Like I know the people that
[2:01:28] I'm associated with nobody's going to
leave a dry towel and I don't think
[2:01:33] you'd have any problem putting in there
the ordinance
[2:01:36] and you know solar solar does like solar
projects do like no issue with well
[2:01:41] drained site. um solar panels become
less efficient uh if there's pools of
[2:01:47] water under them. Um so it's in it's in
our best interest to to maximize our
[2:01:53] electricity production to maintain good
drainage on the site and you're required
[2:01:57] to do that under the drainage code with
respect to your neighbors.
[2:02:02] I think her question was just about how
fast are you going to prepare them
[2:02:06] » really fast again
>> and is that what's under I mean are we
[2:02:12] going to put that in here how long they
have to get them prepared
[2:02:15] » and I think part of part of it may be
coming from because it says in here in
[2:02:18] part of your rebuttal uh to this is
saying allowing only 14 days for
[2:02:22] draining power is unnecessarily
emergency. So if you're going to say
[2:02:27] that that's probably what people are
asking for
[2:02:32] » 14 days immediate
>> but he says it's going to happen.
[2:02:45] Yeah.
[2:02:56] Yeah, I think decommissioning.
[2:03:05] » It's on the next page.
[2:03:15] » So, How long is it going to take you to
install the field?
[2:03:19] » 12 to 18 months.
>> Okay. But you're saying that it's um it
[2:03:25] needs to take more time to take it down.
>> We're saying 6 months is not enough time
[2:03:30] or could not be enough time potentially
depending on which season of the year
[2:03:35] this work starts especially. And so
we're just asking that that be aligned
[2:03:40] with the agricultural impact mitigation
agreement to allow for 12 months.
[2:03:49] related to construction season and the
rest of it to
[2:03:53] » like if you start decommissioning in
April like today it'd be great start
[2:03:58] decommissioning 6 weeks ago it was 30°
that's a little bit different
[2:04:04] » I don't think be any decommissioning
going on between November and February
[2:04:08] in central Illinois
[2:04:12] weathering
[2:04:15] You said full installation could take 12
18 months from beginning to operation.
[2:04:22] » Okay.
[2:04:29] L5
additions to
[2:04:34] » um we would just request that the A+
requirement A minus um still
[2:04:41] in the same category as AM
defined it's just a lot it's a lot
[2:04:48] easier to find institutions to supply
that a
[2:04:52] » well I think that the main concern is we
need to know that you're established and
[2:04:55] financially healthy enough for a 35 your
project.
[2:04:58] » Got it. Yeah. And I mean if if a you
know if a bond is preferred over a
[2:05:04] letter of credit like if that assurance
more so that could work I think we'd
[2:05:09] prefer that here we prefer an A minus
for the bond rather than a plus.
[2:05:16] » Okay.
>> And I also guess I look at it from if I
[2:05:19] got State Farm you know if I want to go
to A minus and get the J then you know
[2:05:24] my coverage might not be as as good. So
I guess that's the put an analogy of
[2:05:30] where I was looking at the A+ rating 35
years from now you know whether you have
[2:05:34] it or you don't have it for example I
want to make sure that we've covered
[2:05:41] [clears throat] I don't want to go to
the general
[2:05:44] » got
nice thing about the decommissioning
[2:05:47] plan is that there's enough metals on
the project that would more than cover
[2:05:53] like the cost of decommissioning called
a construction project to just remove
[2:05:57] the site make it look a farm ground
again that's more than paid for by the
[2:06:01] steel the copper aluminum that's sitting
out there. So speaking from experience
[2:06:06] um as the village if somebody said well
they were A+ today and then they went
[2:06:11] away and you know some folks in08 right
and they no longer exist you know AIG
[2:06:17] barely survived the backup is you got a
boatload of metals out there that um
[2:06:24] » that you can't recycle.
>> Oh yeah you can recycle
[2:06:28] » maybe the poles and stuff. What are you
going to do with panels?
[2:06:31] » Well the panels aren't where the money's
at. money sitting.
[2:06:34] » I know what I'm saying is early years
when those would still be
[2:06:40] » what I'm saying there's enough metals
there I could show you the math on just
[2:06:44] commodities I don't know what
commodities going to be in 35 years but
[2:06:47] there are a lot of things that AI
replace metal and copper aluminum aren't
[2:06:52] on that list so there's a backup plan if
you will if the world goes to an end and
[2:06:58] the A+ insurance that you have today
goes to D minus tomorrow You got to back
[2:07:03] the plan.
>> You're saying all that will cover labor
[2:07:06] and the disposal of the panels?
>> Absolutely. I do the New York Minute.
[2:07:10] I'm just telling every you give me the
plant, I'll take care of it. And I would
[2:07:13] tear the whole thing down myself. That's
what I did for 22 years.
[2:07:19] Lots of out there that are recyclable.
I know it gets confusing sometimes too
[2:07:26] when you know they're the landfills
consider the the panels and things dirty
[2:07:31] and you know too dirty for the landfill.
So, you know, it starts making you you
[2:07:36] think
>> that would be 30 years ago that's
[2:07:39] inaccurate. The could have been
accurate, but in today's panels, there's
[2:07:44] there's not much in a panel that is
undesirable for a recycling effort.
[2:07:49] Honestly, for him, because he's got an
easy recycling plan, but they're pretty
[2:07:54] easy to recycle. There's not bad stuff
in them anymore.
[2:07:57] » So, are you saying like the ones that
they're putting in our landfill will
[2:08:00] take them?
I don't think you put them in land. So
[2:08:04] they grab the gra aluminum and copper
out of them. Then you put the rest in
[2:08:09] the land the glass.
>> But will will our landfill take it?
[2:08:13] » I don't.
>> No,
[2:08:14] » that's what I said. I don't speak for
anybody's recycling. I just know that
[2:08:17] there's not bad stuff in them and
they're recyclable.
[2:08:21] » I knew the last the closest place was
Texas, but
[2:08:24] » you know, like he said, the scene has
grown over years, so there's more people
[2:08:28] I don't know. I mean, there's places in
Illinois.
[2:08:30] » I do know that I I do know that there is
like this like wind turbine graveyard in
[2:08:35] Texas that they don't know what to do
with. I think it's because of the
[2:08:40] materials that those blades are made out
of. I mean, it's it is substantially
[2:08:44] different material wise, I would think.
[2:08:49] Um so yeah to to Chris's point like you
know again it's it's it's aluminum glass
[2:08:56] um copper
right and then poly silicates. So that's
[2:09:01] that's what our panels are comprised of.
We don't use any type panels you know
[2:09:07] toxic legion
>> within the panels that we use.
[2:09:14] » Anything else on
[2:09:19] letter credit escro account.
>> Um I think our request here is that this
[2:09:26] be issued that we issue this prior to
building permit instead of at special
[2:09:31] use permit. Um you know one good reason
for this is just simply design
[2:09:38] advancement. Um generally, you know,
when we come to permitting entities, we
[2:09:44] will approach when we're around the 60%
design phase or maybe 30%.
[2:09:49] Um as those designs advanced,
the numbers on the decommissioning gets
[2:09:56] more and more accurate home data. So
when we come for the building permit,
[2:10:00] that's when we have our issue for
construction designs. That is the
[2:10:03] certain number. And so that's why we
just request that that be that become a
[2:10:09] requirement of the building permit.
>> So you would show that to us before we
[2:10:14] issue the building permit.
>> Correct. The decommission plan. Yes. The
[2:10:17] security asking for was to make sure we
saw before the permit was issued.
[2:10:23] Special use permit.
[2:10:27] » So we are asking that it be not a part
of the special use permit but a part of
[2:10:31] the building permit.
>> Right. She want you want to make sure
[2:10:34] heating plan was before the building
permit.
[2:10:37] » Okay, got it. Yes.
[2:10:43] » Um and then we just had one more. It's
the item M.
[2:10:46] » Y um we just request that the special
use permit be for 35 year term. Projects
[2:10:52] are financed on 35 year terms. That's
kind of just like the baseline. The
[2:10:58] panels are guaranteed 35 year terms. So
it all kind of just ties into the 35
[2:11:04] year term.
>> How long is the lease with the land?
[2:11:10] » Uh those go up to 50.
>> What you currently have is
[2:11:14] 25 or 35?
>> It's 50 but it's not a base fix. So
[2:11:21] » it's not a base though. It's
>> what is the initial lease?
[2:11:27] » Initial lease is 30 years with two year
ascensions.
[2:11:32] 30 years ahead.
[2:11:49] Happy to keep discussion.
[2:12:02] » You want me to stand up or can I sit
here?
[2:12:05] » Sit there.
>> Okay. I'm confused and I've been
[2:12:09] confused
since before this started
[2:12:13] and then after hearing some of the
comments made, it didn't help my
[2:12:17] confusion. I'm confused because I
thought Tilton for the betterment of
[2:12:22] Tilton was trying to improve their
ordinances to cover this is a new thing
[2:12:30] this huge industrial solar. So you're
looking at that you're looking at you
[2:12:35] know you have the covers coming in and
all that. you're looking at a broad
[2:12:39] scope of things
and yet I feel like sitting through this
[2:12:46] it's more of let's see if we can tailor
our ordinances to meet Earthrise's
[2:12:54] expectations.
Earthrise doesn't live in Tilton and I
[2:12:59] feel like you all represent the people
of Tilton. I think you're trying to do
[2:13:04] the very best that you can for Tilt. we
are
[2:13:07] » and I understand their interest because
they want to become part of this
[2:13:12] community in this area but I don't know
that it's I understand you all have to f
[2:13:20] follow the law but I don't know that you
have to
[2:13:25] how do I say this message necessarily do
what they instruct you to do
[2:13:30] [clears throat] because you're trying to
represent solar maybe some community
[2:13:36] solar
maybe some warehouse. You're trying to
[2:13:39] look at the whole thing.
It keeps coming back to just Earth price
[2:13:45] in this industrial 1,400 acre solar
plot. So, that's why I'm a little
[2:13:52] confused because I feel like you all do
have the right to set ordinances for
[2:13:57] your community. And since the laws
change and technology changes and
[2:14:03] everything else, you're constantly
before the lawyer commented, "Well, you
[2:14:07] didn't have that before." No, because
this is a whole new thing. That's why
[2:14:11] you didn't have it before. You're trying
to address that now. And I don't know,
[2:14:15] I'm not the greatest at explaining how
what the point I'm trying to get across.
[2:14:20] So, I hope you guys understand my
muddled the direction here.
[2:14:24] » So, let me let me try to summarize it.
what from what I understand what you're
[2:14:28] saying and I can understand that you
know it seems like at this point we're
[2:14:32] talking with earth representative on
some of their thought processes to what
[2:14:38] we we had with an ordinance um and it's
it's not a scenario that we're here
[2:14:44] trying to compromise with them or
anything else. It is new. We're trying
[2:14:48] to understand it. I'm I've learned so
much in the last few months uh with this
[2:14:53] probably more than I even want to know
to be honest with you. Um but in order
[2:14:58] to protect and serve the citizens of
Tilton, I have to have these
[2:15:04] conversations because it makes me
understand where not only where they're
[2:15:08] coming from, but also how does it affect
the village? How does it affect like
[2:15:13] we've talked about 35 years of
decommissioning? They have no idea.
[2:15:16] they're six years old, seven years old
in in their in their process with the
[2:15:20] company. I have no idea either, but we
share that that situation. He can't tell
[2:15:26] me and I can't tell you either. So, now
we have to get to a a point of the the
[2:15:31] risk management portion of it as you
used earlier of to try to make a
[2:15:35] decision.
>> Do they understand it's more to it to
[2:15:39] you guys than just making them happy? I
mean,
[2:15:43] » I'm sure I got to think. I mean, don't
I'm not sitting there trying to make
[2:15:47] anybody happy. I'm trying to understand
what I'm doing
[2:15:50] » so I can make a decision, an informed
decision on something. Um, I do it at
[2:15:55] work every day, you know, so I have to
make sure that I understand what I'm
[2:15:59] doing before I try to go fix it.
>> And I appreciate all the time you all
[2:16:03] effort you've put into this.
>> And I appreciate all the comments
[2:16:05] because it's more thing it creates
dialogue. Sometimes it gets going where
[2:16:09] you don't like to hear things like we
talked about earlier, but hearing it
[2:16:12] from Yeah. you know, somebody that's in
the field, for example, doing something
[2:16:16] makes maybe a little bit more sense. And
same thing with, you know, you being an
[2:16:20] engineer telling us that the
transmission lines are hum, you know, it
[2:16:23] makes a lot of sense to us because we
doesn't we don't know any different.
[2:16:25] » And we appreciate all you guys because
you guys have been dealing with this,
[2:16:29] Becky, and and you know, or in your
area. So, you guys have a lot more
[2:16:36] knowledge than we do on this.
>> Yeah.
[2:16:40] » So, to say that to to summarize that
whole thing. And so to sum to summarize
[2:16:44] it up is that the point of these
meetings is not to okay you tell me what
[2:16:49] you don't like so I can make it right.
>> It's to try to understand where they're
[2:16:53] coming from as well as everybody else.
So then when we try to make an informed
[2:16:58] decision on what's best for our town.
>> Okay.
[2:17:01] » So that's Thank you.
[2:17:06] » Um anything else? And and if we had
another project that that was wanting to
[2:17:11] come out there, we would we might have
ordinances where for instance we have we
[2:17:15] have um issues that come up in town. We
have to make new ordinances,
[2:17:20] » right?
>> This is this is new. This is new. This
[2:17:22] is why we have to have ordinances.
>> So yeah,
[2:17:25] » so to compare this to what ordinances we
already have for other stuff or don't
[2:17:30] have is not even
it's not something you can even do.
[2:17:37] Everything comes uniquely with risks,
benefits, allies.
[2:17:40] » That's right.
>> With that being said, does anybody else
[2:17:44] have anything?
>> So, I want to appreciate, first of all,
[2:17:48] I want to thank you all for coming to to
have dialogue without any type of,
[2:17:53] you know, no pun intended, but punches
being thrown. Um, it's nice to have
[2:17:58] » it's nice to have that, you know, to be
able and I think ultimately that's what
[2:18:02] we wanted tonight. So, I appreciate
that. looking forward to the other
[2:18:06] things that you had to bring back to the
table.
[2:18:09] » Yes. Do you know when the next meeting
will be?
[2:18:12] » I do not.
[2:18:18] » Thank you.
Motion to
[2:18:21] » Oh, I have a motion to adjourn.
[2:18:25] Yes.