OVERVIEW … A presentation was given by Curt Judy from Connect Gen at the most recent Fayette CDC meeting. A slide shown during the presentation shows the scale of just how large the solar project will be.
By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The Fayette Community Development Corporation, or CDC, held a meeting on Monday, June 19th. The meeting began at 6:32 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer.
All members first moved to approve the secretary’s report and treasurer’s report before discussing current birthdays and July refreshments.
The following discussions then took place. McCarthy building was met with to plan the building of the new disc golf course in Fayette.
The current plan is for the project to be installed that Saturday, June 24th. The name of the new course was also discussed, with members moving to name the course Grove Golf.
Signs for the new course were also talked about with it being stated designs are needed for them and that research will be done as to what materials to use for the signs.
It was then stated that a meeting took place with Beth Thomas from HC3. There will be a meeting in July for a third-year contract.
Karen King also explained that the CDC will need to have tables out at the Bull Thistle, 150th celebration and Fall Fest.
An update was then given for Fayette’s upcoming 150th celebration. There has been a decision made on what t-shirts will be made for the event. Cookbooks are also out and 100 more have been ordered due to demand.
A Bull Thistle update came next with it being stated the liquor permit has been sent off. This year there will be ball games on Friday night and vendor applications are still being received. Flyers are going up around town as well.
Citizen of the Year will be decided soon as well as the king and queen. Ideas are being taken in by the Bull Thistle Festival.
A search is still underway for someone who would like to sponsor a bounce house at the festival. The pair is set at $660.00 so the sponsor fee would be $330.00.
Three judges were then picked for the Citizen of the Year Committee. The members have until the following Monday to decide who they believe should receive the honor this year.
Work is still being done to help the homeowner who lives at 400 North Fayette Street. The CDC has also received a call from an individual who would like to volunteer their time going through the village to collect trash and remove it. CDC members agreed that a certificate of appreciation could be given to them.
Following discussion of an additional item, a donation was made to 4-H in the amount of $100.00. The next CDC meeting will take place on July 17th.
Everyone present then heard from Curt Judy from Connect Gen as he gave a presentation about the new solar field coming in. This is a separate field that is not affiliated with the current Arche Energy Project from BP.
The following information was given by Mr. Judy during the presentation. The new Fulton County Solar Project will be a 200 MWac generating solar field, which is enough to power 45,000 homes.
It will take up 1,900 acres of land in Gorham Township near Fayette. This is equal to around 3 Fayette’s in size. The estimated completion date would be around 2026-2027.
The project will include solar equipment, an electrical collection and interconnection system and access roads which are designed to avoid and mitigate potential impacts, incorporating a wide range of environmental, social, and technical considerations.
The land has already been secured and surveys are being completed in regard to the land topography, wetlands, drainage tiles, environmental hazards, cultural and biological resources, and other features.
Archeologists have also been onsite surveying the land to search for anything that may be of historical value. Studies must also be completed before construction can begin.
Two studies have been completed which leaves just one more left to go. This survey, however, has been delayed and will not be seen until the end of this year or beginning of next year.
These studies are conducted in order to see what sort of an impact the new solar field would have on the grid.
Some more easements still have to be procured as well due to the route of the pole lines. Power from the solar field will travel to the interconnection located on County Road 23 and Highway 20.
The presentation also touched on possible project benefits such as tens of millions of dollars in payments to local landowners in the form of solar leases/land purchases, and tens of millions of dollars in property tax revenue over the first 30 years benefitting Fulton County, Gorham Township, the Gorham-Fayette School District, local fire department and other organizations.
Two hundred family wage jobs will also be created during peak construction times with 80% of those jobs being sourced from Ohio.
Additional topics such as screenings for residential areas and future decommissioning was also discussed.
Vegetative screenings will be put up around the site in order to make it appear as though the solar field is not even there.
Additional screenings will also be placed near residential areas to further ensure it is not seen. At this time, the project is only expected to last for between 30 and 43 years. At that point in time the project could either be reorganized and redone or decommissioned.
With decommissioning the site, it was explained that the land will be put back exactly the way it was found, and that all equipment would be removed from the site.
Furthermore, Mr. Judy stated that the State of Ohio would most likely request a bond be funded before construction begins that would ensure site clean-up if the company were to ever go defunct.
During the presentation opportunities were given to those present who wanted to ask questions. Some of questions and answers were:
–Will any of the energy produced from this help the town of Fayette and will it help to reduce electric costs?
The answer for both questions was no.
-Is this project affiliated in any way with the current project being built by Arche Energy?
The answer for that was also no, but that Mr. Judy was familiar with the project. He was then asked if the company will be using similar practices for construction Arche uses. Mr. Judy stated that it will be similar, but that they intend to limit soil disruption.
–During the construction of these panels and the placing of the metal sticks into the ground, is there going to be a lot of pounding noise for the 12-18 months of construction?
Mr. Judy explained that the posts will be rammed into the ground with a vibratory machine and that the work will last for 3-4 months.
This work will only take place on weekdays and will not begin before 8 or 9 in the morning and will end by 5:00 p.m.
-How do these panels hold up for lightning strikes, hail or tornados?
Mr. Judy stated that these panels were designed to be resilient to up to 120 MPH of wind gusts and that it would depend on the tornado. For hail, it is resilient for up to 1 and half inch hail traveling at a speed of 150 MPH.
Mr. Judy was asked if the location was to be destroyed by a tornado, would it be rebuilt. The answer given was that it would be rebuilt.
-What about a rash of cloudy days? How much less does it produce and will this effect taxes collected?
Mr. Judy explained that they have over 40 years’ worth of weather data for the area and that they have put together a model for how much sunlight an area sees. There will be cloudy days, but it will not affect the money being collected in taxes.
-Does the solar field emit RF interference?
Mr. Judy stated that he is not 100% sure but was fairly certain that it does not.
-Is this a done deal or not necessarily?
Mr. Judy explained that they would like it to be since they have invested a lot of money in the area already, but that there are still several things that need to happen in order for it to be a done deal.
“It will cost millions of dollars to plug into the grid and we need to get the permitting process done first before it can be a for sure project.”
With no other questions needing to be answered the CDC meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
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Source: The Village Reporter
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