Oswego trustees meeting as a committee of the whole recently requested further details about a proposed solar farm on the west side of Route 71 in an unincorporated part of Kendall County near the village.
Turning Point Energy is looking to develop a community solar farm on approximately 39 acres of farmland it would lease on the 6800 block of Route 71.
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, village officials said.
Although no vote was taken at the meeting March 18, three trustees appeared to have concerns about the solar farm plan.
Village staff members said they would seek additional data and information about screening for the facility, possible glare issues from the solar panels and also seek renderings from the developer.
If the board decides against annexing the property for the solar farm, trustees could request a letter be sent to the county with recommendations for the site, village officials said.
“My only thought is it’s the farmer’s land. He can do what he wants for the most part with the land,” Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said.
Kendall County cannot impose regulations on solar farms that are more restrictive than state regulations. However, Oswego as a home-rule community can place more requirements on the proposed development if the property was annexed, village officials said.
Turning Point Energy is a privately-owned company founded in 2014 with projects in Maryland, Delaware, Maine and California, company representative Rory Walker told trustees.
“Community solar is for residents unable to put solar on their homes,” Walker said.
Anyone in the county could subscribe to the solar program for what is typically a 5% to 10% reduction in their current utility bill, he said.
Turning Point Energy is proposing to lease the property from the owner for an initial 25 years, with three five-year extensions possible.
There are two paths for moving forward with the project, the representative said.
“The village would agree to entertain the idea of working with Turning Point or provide a letter saying they are not interested and in that case the site would remain in Kendall County,” Walker said.
The project would be comprised of 12,000 solar modules, he said.
The village has been approached before with solar farm projects in Oswego’s planning area. However, this is the first proposal that is on the outskirts of town on land that is unlikely to develop in the near future, village officials said.
Staff is generally supportive of solar farms, Oswego Village Planner Rachel Riemenschneider said in a report to trustees. While solar farms can provide a benefit by generating green energy into the grid, the solar farm itself does have drawbacks, she said in the report.
The proposal itself would not contribute to the “improvement of the roadway network” or generate any substantial property tax revenues, Riemenschneider said. In addition, projects of this kind require overhead power lines to transmit energy to the grid, the village planner said.
“I’ll be the first to say I would not be in favor of a solar field,” Trustee Karin McCarthy-Lange said.
The village would get roughly $7,500 in tax money over 25 years from the development, Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo told trustees.
“It sounds like it’s not a benefit to the village,” McCarthy-Lange said.
The downside if the village doesn’t approve annexation for the project is that Oswego would have no control over the site if it remains in unincorporated Kendall County, she said.
The proposed site would generate green energy, Trustee Karen Novy said as far as a positive from the project.
The location of the proposed solar field could make it difficult for surrounding land to develop since the solar farm would not provide utility extension to neighboring properties, officials said.
“The downside from a development perspective is that annexation and development follow utilities. There are no utilities right now that’s why we are not seeing development,” Di Santo said.
“When development occurs, the village requires that development extend and stub utility connections to the neighboring properties to assist in their future development,” Riemenschneider said in her report. “A solar farm does not require utilities and therefore they are not extended to the neighboring site creating an area around the solar farm that ends up being too costly to development.”
For any other project that seeks to annex into the village, Oswego would require that they extend their utilities across the frontage of the property, Di Santo said.
“Since they would not, theoretically it creates a dead zone where it prevents annexations further from the site from happening,” Di Santo said of a solar farm. “If you approve this, it may be even longer before we see any development happening in the area.”
The village’s comprehensive plan identifies the proposed site as eyed for a combination of residential uses and open space.
Trustee Tom Guist said a proposed solar farm could potentially discourage development across Route 71.
“I am not sure a solar farm would draw a developer’s interest given their subdivision would be across from a solar farm,” Guist said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.