During Monday’s County Commissioner meeting, County Attorney Jim Clevenger updated members on the amendments to the Solar Energy Ordinance.
Clevenger will meet next week with Plan Director Ty Adley and Plan Commission counsel, Derek Jones to discuss zoning amendment regulations for small, residential systems and to discuss regulations for larger, commercial solar farm systems. The county attorney has been in contact with Barnes & Thornburg concerning assistance on the regulations for larger systems and he believes they can present options for how Marshall County may want to address regulations on the large systems.
Last month the commissioners heard opposition from several citizens how are concerned with the large solar farms that are currently attempting to lease farm land in the southern part of the county. The commissioners also have concerns, not so much with the solar farms but the decommissioning of them in the future and whose responsibility it would be to bring the property back to an agricultural state.
Clevenger said while the Plan Commission will be making a recommendation to them, he plans to include them early on so they can enact regulations more timely.
