Although no formal vote was taken, Oswego village trustees meeting as a committee of the whole recently were generally not supportive of a proposal for a community solar farm on approximately 39 acres of farmland the developer would lease on the 6800 block of Route 71.
Turning Point Energy approached the village with a proposal to develop the solar farm on the Route 71 site, which is in unincorporated Kendall County.
Annexation of the site to the village would require a super-majority vote, meaning five of the six members of the Oswego Village Board would have to be in favor of the move.
The developer can apply for approval of the project through Kendall County if there is not support to annex the site by the village, Oswego staff members said.
Turning Point Energy has proposed to lease the property along Route 71 from the owner for an initial 25 years, with three five-year extensions possible.
“I am someone who believes in the value of renewable energy. I have solar panels on my roof and I drive a Tesla. I take pride in our carbon-negative household,” Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said.
However, Kauffman said he has concerns overall about the location of the proposed solar field and the longevity of its use.
“I am concerned we are locking ourselves in an array for 25 years and when development inevitably returns, we can’t do residential or commercial (at the site). That’s my chief concern,” Kauffman said.
Turning Point Energy representative Rory Walker presented some renderings and a site plan for the property to trustees. The plans include a buffer of evergreen trees to be planted at approximately 16 trees per 100 feet on the edge of the property.
However, village staff would suggest the applicant provide a buffer with a mix of evergreen trees, canopy trees, ornamental trees and shrubs, staff members said in a report.
The proposal includes a “grazing plan” as part of long-term maintenance of the site. An outside company experienced with managing sheep at solar facilities would oversee that part of the proposed project, village officials said.
Turning Point Energy is a privately-owned company founded in 2014 with projects in Maryland, Delaware, Maine and California, Walker told trustees.
Trustee Karin McCarthy-Lane questioned the company’s involvement over the span of the operation of the solar field.
“We do not own and operate the assets,” Walker said. “We develop them to a point and turn them over to investors.”
“My concern is who would own these and what happens when it is time for the site to be decommissioned and who would pay for that,” McCarthy-Lange said.
Walker said there would be a decommissioning agreement between the system owner and the village if Oswego decided to annex the site.
“You guys set this up and then just leave?” McCarthy-Lange said.
“We do all of the necessary work to build the project. We do not physically construct it, nor do we own and operate it,” Walker said.
Walker said there are long-term investors who own solar field projects.
“I cannot speak to one but there are a handful of them that could be potential owners,” Walker said.
McCarthy-Lange said she has concerns with a long-term lease.
“One of the things we learned as we watched the Dominick’s location have a lease that had continuous extensions to the point the village could do nothing and the property sat empty and unused for over 10 years,” she said. “I would not want to see the same thing happen where we have development coming around this site and we can’t do anything because you have it locked for 40 years.”
The array would be on about 23 acres, Walker told trustees.
“I am not hearing a whole lot of support for this,” Kauffman said at the meeting.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
