PILOT GROVE - Residents of Pilot Grove and Cooper County deliberated two solar farm projects being constructed in the area Wednesday night.
The meeting attendees met with the Cooper County Commission at the Community Building in Pilot Grove. The meeting— only the latest in a series of similar public forums —got underway around 6:30 p.m. and wrapped up nearly two hours later.
Renewable Energy Solutions, or RES, is the contractor for a large solar farm and battery storage unit planned to be constructed on the Crestmead and Mayfield farms. Another, smaller facility operated by Azimuth Renewables, would be located to the south of the I-70 rest area in Cooper County. Wednesday's meeting centered mainly on the larger, RES facility.
This facility would sit astride County Road A, using property that is part of both Crestmead and Mayfield farms. The site is just a seven minutes' drive from downtown Pilot Grove.
The most contentious point discussed during the meeting concerned the county negotiating a Chapter 100 agreement with the developers and the state. According to the County Commission, attaining a Chapter 100 agreement would provide safeguards for the project which would not otherwise be possible.
"If we don't have a Chapter 100, it's the Wild West for the solar company," said George Monk, presiding commissioner of Cooper County. "Chapter 100 gives the community, through the commission, the opportunity to negotiate setbacks, screenings, and payments, and it guarantees that the money stays in the county."
According to the commission, if the owners of the solar facility sold it to another company, the new ownership would still be bound by the Chapter 100 agreement — addressing some attendees' fears about corporate sale.
Monk spoke the most of any commission member during the meeting. The gathered crowd of over 20 people began tense and boiled over quickly. Personal insults and arguments between participants and the County Commission were heard multiple times throughout the meeting.
Residents of Cooper County complained that the Chapter 100 agreement would do little to assuage their other fears. Diminishing property values as a result of the construction and power generation were another common refrain. Still others pointed towards water pollution and industrial runoff.
"EMFs, decibel noise, radiation, forever toxins, heavy metals ... These are detrimental not only to our environment, our water, our soil, our land values, our neighbors," said one participant. "Their health is at stake."
One attendee noted that RES was a foreign company, being based in the United Kingdom.
The commission's transparency was also a major point of contention. Just eight minutes into the meeting, a participant shouted "We don't trust you" toward the County Commission members.
KOMU spoke with several participants at the meeting who opposed the solar project, but declined to be identified or interviewed on camera for fear of retaliation.
The meeting came to a close around 8:20 p.m., after some participants walked out in protest. By that time, there were no further questions asked when the commission opened the floor.
Monk said that in spite of the raucous environment, he viewed the forum as a good meeting.
"There's a vocal contingency, but they've been vocal before, and that's okay," said Monk. "I just wish they were a little bit more respectful."
One attendee, who spoke against the commission's conduct, told KOMU they expected additional meetings like Wednesday's as the project continues to move forward.
