Drainage board indefinitely delays approval for Engie in eastern Howard County

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It seems that sun and water don't mix, at least in eastern Howard County. A proposed drainage plan for the solar farm developed by Engie hit a major roadblock last week, as the county drainage board indefinitely delayed approval.

The drainage board hearing, held April 21, was attended by a small crowd of concerned citizens, most of them living adjacent to or near the proposed 1,800-acre solar project. But any remonstrance they presented was trumped by even greater concerns expressed by the board itself.

Board president and Howard County Commissioner Jeff Lipinski set the ground rules for the hearing. Commenters were required to sign in to address the board. All comments were to be directed to the drainage board; not to Engie. The board could request a response from Engie as a result of comments made. And all comments had to be directly related to drainage.

Board member and Howard County Commissioner Jack Dodd added another restriction to the comments, stating "We want to hear whatever people have to say, but we don't want to hear it 10 times. So, please don't make it repetitious."

Tom Schoder, developer of the proposed Emerald Green solar farm, was asked to speak first, presenting any alterations to the plan. He disclosed that all aspects of the project meet the county's 2023 drainage ordinance requirements, and the plan had been approved by Howard County Surveyor Greg Lake.

Schoder contended that the perennial vegetation cover the project will plant throughout the solar farm will improve drainage as compared to row crops, and even more importantly, the amount of topsoil to be disturbed or removed had been greatly diminished.

"Early on in our project design, we had about 344 acres that we were looking at site grading," said Schoder. "We quickly learned in talking to landowners and the surveyor’s office that this number was too high. So, we went back to the drawing board.

"We are looking at procuring a new racking system, and this new racking system is fully incorporated into our design. This system dropped that acreage from 344 down to down to 17 acres.

"The less we're moving around soil, the more soil stays in place, the better the vegetation on site establishes, and the easier it is to return back to agriculture when the project is decommissioned."

Schoder also pointed out that as much as 400 acres of the proposed solar farm could continue to be used for crop farming throughout the life of the project.

After Schoder's presentation, Lipinski sternly addressed Engie with concerns about the road conditions surrounding a solar farm in Cass County, which is operated by a different company, but may use the same construction contractor.

"Those roads are horrific," said Lipinski. "I've driven them myself. They're mud holes. They're not roads. They're not gravel. They're not pavement. They are mud. That won't fly here.

"I don't plan on answering 20 calls a day about roads out in eastern Howard County. So, how can you assure me and this board that those roads will not be in that condition?"

Schoder sought to reassure the board that the Emerald Green project will follow local road use agreements and keep the roads in good repair.

"We have it written in our road use agreements and our drainage agreements," said Schoder. "We will have regular meetings with each of those staffs to review the project and how construction is progressing. So, if any issues arise, we will ensure that our contractor addresses them very promptly.

"We will also hire a third-party construction monitoring group, and they will also be monitoring. We'll also have our own site manager there, holding them to a high standard."

Lipinski also noted that the contractor on the Cass County project is cleaning the surrounding roads by pushing the waste material into the ditches along the roads, causing drainage disruptions. Lake confirmed that activity was taking place.

"They are using a scraper and a broom on the roads daily, as required, but they aren't picking the material up," said Lake. "It's just getting blown off the side of the road, which is then, in turn, filling the conveyance where we shouldn't have mud, because we have water running through it.

"If you have your BMPs in place as they should be, and all your perimeter controls, there shouldn't be that type of activity occurring."

Lipinski then made a motion to amend the ordinance governing the solar project, stating that Engie would provide all adjacent landowners a drainage outlet in cases where drainage tiles connected to the solar farm are not working to intended capacity. Those tiles are to be replaced within 60 days of discovery.

That amendment was adopted by unanimous vote.

Citizens seeking to comment then stepped to the microphone to expressed concerns about potential drainage issues. Lake responded by explaining that no drainage system is designed to fully mitigate very large precipitation events, such as an eight-inch rain, but the design of the solar farm should slow the run-off of excess water, reducing the burden on the drainage system.

Lake also pointed out that the Roberts Drain, which serves a large portion of the land involving the solar farm and surrounding residents, has been in disrepair for decades. While a total reconstruction of the drain is not being considered, a "major maintenance overhaul" is needed.

"This project obviously sped up that timetable, but we are going to get it done before this project would start," said Lake. "We've been working with Grant County because we have Grant County land in that watershed.

"We're going to have a town hall meeting, and then we'll have an assessment increase that will go into that watershed for cleaning up some of the problems."

Lake further explained that many of the drains in Howard County suffer from underfunded maintenance. Drain repairs are funded by local tax assessments placed on landowners served by the drain. To make the necessary repairs to the Roberts Drain, regardless of the solar project, landowners will have to pay, as the annual repair assessment hadn't been adjusted in 50 years.

Lake estimated it might take four to five months to establish the repair plan, coordinating with Grant County. The assessment and the work would then follow. This timetable played into a motion made by Howard County Commissioner and board member Brad Bray to take the matter under advisement and issue a continuance for approval of the solar project.

Dodd urged Engie and the surrounding property owners to have further discussions about how they might contribute to a long-term drainage solution.

"I'm not sure that we can come up with a perfect solution ... but I believe in the power of talking," said Dodd.

The drainage board voted unanimously to take the project under advisement and gave no timetable for when the matter would be reconsidered.