The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Crews began clearing trees at the site of a proposed solar farm just south of Oquawka along Illinois Route 164 Monday morning which has gotten many area citizens in an uproar.
Speaking with Henderson County Chairman, Brad Flatt, and Vice Chairman, Bill Knupp, only a special use permit has been approved by the county board. A build permit still must be approved by the county before construction may begin.
In December of last year, the Henderson County Board held a special meeting and approved the permit if certain conditions were met by the company.
“There are about 27 different resolutions that they have to abide by…quite frankly, at this point our lawyer out of Peoria is doing a lot more on that then what (the county board) is. He is handling the legal process along with the state’s attorney,” said Flatt.
“They have met most of the conditions already… To get the actual building permit to construct, they have to prove that they have met all those conditions,” said Knupp
These 27 conditions are mostly set by the state of Illinois.
“We added some (conditions) in addition to what is required by the state. You can’t add much that the state doesn’t approve because the state is all for solar energy, so our hands are kind of tied,” said Knupp.
The 40 acres, previously owned by Doris and Luigi Spinillo of Galesburg, was sold to a company in New York, NY, Shasta Terra LLC, earlier this year.
“I’m sure, here very shortly, we are going to hear back from both our attorney and their attorney and the company itself,” stated Flatt.
In 2023, during a lame duck session, JB Pritzker signed into law HB4412 that made it harder for local governments to block solar and wind projects.
The law, which went into effect on January 27, 2023, prevents any local ordinance from being more restrictive than the state standards.
“In January of 2023 a lot of the local control was taken away by the state…. If (Shasta Terra) gets their permits and everything, our hands are tied.
“We are trying to work with the company but there is hardly any local control on this project or any other solar project.
“You go through the state instead of the county…. The state stepped in, and they handled the permitting and there is very little at the local level we can do,” stated Flatt.
Many local citizens are not happy to see the tall pines being replaced by solar panels.
“I myself feel that those trees that are there are probably doing more for the environment then what those solar panels ever will,” said Knupp. “But that’s just my opinion.”
“There are a lot of people in the Oquawka area that didn’t want it there. Maybe it is a good location, maybe it’s not, it is across from a substation.
“Regardless of what we on the board or anyone else thinks, most of it is beyond our control,” said Flatt.
Trees were being cleared south of Oquawka on Monday at a property recently acquired by an LLC with a primary address in New York, NY.