At the December 2 Houston County Commission meeting, the board considered a proposed ordinance aimed at regulating commercial solar projects. The ordinance failed to pass, with Commissioners Kurt Zehnder, Bob Schuldt, and Greg Myhre voting against it, and Commissioners Cindy Wright and Eric Johnson voting in favor.
If the ordinance had passed, the board would have needed to take action on updating the Comprehensive Land Use plan.
During opening public comments, Beth Esser, development representative for OneEnergy Renewables, explained that the company has been “working with MiEnergy Cooperative and the Allen family on a proposed solar project on their farm, which would tie into the nearby substation and serve MiEnergy customers.” At the end of her comments, Esser posed the following question to the commissioners, “Can you approve an ordinance that respects both prime farmland and landowner rights?” She believes that they can and hopes they will reinsert the language to allow solar on prime farmland if agrivoltaics are incorporated into the project.
Houston County Environmental Services Director Amelia Meiners and the commissioners emphasized several times that the proposed ordinance was not drafted in response to the Allens’ request for a commercial solar field on their farm.
Landowner Sheri Allen stated, “We stand the ground of landowner’s rights, and that we should have the ability to do what we want on our prime land.” Her husband Andy Allen shared that they want to continue farming, and they want to grow their farm for their sons. “It is in my heart,” he added.
Ryan Herman mentioned that commercial solar fields offer more diverse opportunities for farmers. Mark Klinski asked the commissioners what “prime agricultural land” means, noting that he failed to find an answer in the soil survey referenced in the ordinance. He also said he feels that “big ag is pushing their agenda for big crops for their own big profits.”
All five commissioners said they supported the 25-acre requirement, noting it would be cost effective for developers.
Commissioners Zehnder, Schuldt and Myhre are not in favor of telling farmers what they can do on their property, and prefer applications evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Commissioners Wright and Johnson stressed that the number one goal of the comprehensive land use plan is to protect prime farmland, a priority that emerged from survey results collected during the comprehensive land use plan’s recent update.
After voting down the ordinance, efforts will continue to revise its language, and the updated version will be brought back to the Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners for approval.
The commission also noted that the current moratorium ends on December 31. According to Meiners, any applications submitted for a commercial solar field after the moratorium ends will be automatically denied.
The agenda was approved as written, as were the board minutes from the November 25 meeting.
The consent agenda was unanimously approved, which included the approval of a $10,000 operational enhancement grant from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs for the County Veterans Service Office (CVSO).
In other business, the board:
- Approved Cloud 1 Services LLC request for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to build a telecommunication tower in the Agriculture Protection District of Hokah Township.
- Accepted a $10,000 rural health grant from Medica to support the county’s dental access program for one year.
- Renewed the child support cooperative agreement with the Minnesota Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF). According to Public Health and Human Services Director John Pugleasa the two-year agreement “sets forth roles and responsibilities covering the administration of child support, establishment of paternity, and medical support liability programs.”
- Approved payment of bills totaling $435,704.83. There were no questions for Finance Director Carol Lapham, who explained that the payments were “pretty standard.” It included the county’s insurance payment of $253,786.68 for December.
After the county coordinator’s updates and the commissioners’ reports, the meeting was unanimously adjourned.
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