Unannounced road closure incenses emergency responders

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Last week, a 68,000-pound delivery of equipment was made to the solar farm under construction in eastern Howard County. The wide, heavy load turned out to be more than could be handled quickly due to weather conditions. As a result, a county road was blocked for more than an hour.

This incident was a violation of the agreement between the solar farm and Howard County, which states that any road closure must be reported to the county’s emergency dispatch center. No such notification was made by the contractor, referred to as Blattner.

But the Howard County Board of Commissioners decided not to penalize the company for the violation, causing a stir at its meeting on Jan. 20. The commissioners, who had been notified of the violation via email, asked Howard County Surveyor Greg Lake to investigate. He disclosed his findings at the board meeting.

“They are state-permitted wide loads,” said Lake. “They have permitted routes through the state to get here. The issue is, even though it’s a state-permitted load, (under the road use agreement with the county) if a road is going to be closed for an hour more, Blattner is to contact county dispatch and let them know that road is closed for that time period.”

Lake explained that the contractor did not notify dispatch of the closure, which lasted longer than an hour due to weather. The surveyor states that he had a conversation with the contractor and was assured that it wouldn’t happen again.

This revelation caused Brad Simone, an eastern Howard County resident who has fought against the solar farm since its inception, to question why the contractor was not fined.

“I would not fine them the first go-around,” said Lake. “That would be a possibility, but this being their first offense, normally, we don’t do that. But it’s up to the commissioners.”

The forgiveness didn’t sit well with Greentown Fire Chief Stan Oyler, who also has opposed the solar farm. He went to the microphone to express his anger.

“If there was an emergency in that area, and we’re not notified, and we take a direct route to where we’re supposed to be, and we can’t get through, that’s a problem,” Oyler said. “There’s no excuse for it. We cut this company so much slack, and we don’t hold them accountable for anything.”

Oyler brought up a second incident during which a contractor performing soil sampling for the solar farm project left the county roads muddy; also a violation of the road-use agreement. This prompted an empty exchange between the fire chief and Commissioner Jack Dodd, who repeatedly dismissed the contractor’s actions as taking place on private property. The back-and-forth did serve to further frustrate Oyler and Simone, however.

“That’s just an excuse,” said Simone. “That’s all that was. Had there been a fire, we could have lost lives out there. Why would we say, ‘Well, that’s their first offense, guys. We’re sorry. They’re not going to do it again.

“No, we need to have somebody out there monitoring this project every day they’re out there working, because I’m telling you, I live out there and I see it. They’re not following your rules every day.

“The problem is you want the people who don’t want the project to police it. They’re tired of it. They’re 100-percent tired of this project. Now you want us to call you when there’s a problem. We don’t want to do that no more. That’s not our job. We don’t want the project. We’re not going to help you out ... You don’t care. If you cared, you would be monitoring.

Commissioner Brad Bray, who represents eastern Howard County and is a member of the Greentown Fire Department, shared Oyler’s frustration.

“I believe we need to be notified anytime the roads are blocked out there,” said Bray. “Dispatch needs to know. So, what do we gotta do to fix that?”

Dodd agreed that there was a failure and offered the possibility of consequences in the future if the contractor blocks or closes roads and does not notify the county.

“If it happens again, I think the consequences would be severe on our end,” said Dodd. “All we can do if it happens again is impose some pretty severe consequences, as severe as we can. And trust me, we would. That’s what we can do.”

Oyler pressed further on the issue, citing a timeframe granted by the Howard County Board of Zoning Appeals for a special exception regarding drainage that enables the solar farm to exist.

“There is a special exception that’s been approved in that BZA meeting in March 2023,” said Oyler. “The night that special exception was approved, they asked for an 18-month extension. So that would have given 30 months to bring the project to the county.

“They’re at 33 months now, and they’ve not brought anything to the drainage board or the planning commission for approval. The ordinance says they have one year. We give them 33 months or 30 months, and nothing’s been approved. Can you help me out? Who’s going to recommend this to go to the back to the BZA to pull the special exception?”

The commissioners did not respond to Oyler’s question, and after the meeting he approached Dodd.

“Who are you working for, Jack?” asked Oyler. “Are you working for big business now?”

Dodd referred Oyler to Howard County Attorney Alan Wilson with any further questions.

In other board of commissioners business, the board received a year-end report from Howard County Treasurer Christy Branch concerning tax revenues.

Sitting as the Howard County Board of Finance, the commissioners were told that 98.5 percent of taxpayers made good on their 2025 spring property tax installment, paying $62,038,437.48. That rate declined in the fall, with just 92.5 percent of taxpayers submitting payment, resulting in $58,234,980.07 collected.

Commissioner Jeff Lipinski, who serves as the president of the board of finance, asked Treasurer Christie Branch why there was a drop-off in payments in the fall. She responded by saying some taxpayers submit payment for their entire year in the spring.

Branch also recapped the results of the county’s tax sale of delinquent properties. She stated that $400,352.03 was collected in the sale, resulting in 137 tax lien certificates changing hands on October 17, 2025. Of the parcels offered for sale, 75 were not purchased.

Revenue from the county’s innkeepers’ tax also was reported to the board. The county collected $1,396,147.84 in 2025, not including December revenue. The innkeepers’ tax revenue is administered by the Kokomo Convention and Visitors Bureau, and much of it is earmarked for the financing of the hotel and conference center currently under construction in downtown.

The county also collected $69,612.03 in delinquent property taxes, recovered by a collection agency contracted by the county. Since 2018, the county successfully has recovered $688,695.71 in delinquent taxes through collection efforts.