At last week’s meeting, the Gilchrist County Board of County Commissioners revisited the Duke solar farm that is set to be built near the Alachua County line near High Springs.
The Board heard from members of the public and representatives from Duke Energy. Members of the public who wanted to speak had to fill out cards and were called to speak to prevent the carousel of speakers that occurred at the last meeting.
After hearing from both sides and receiving advice from County Attorney David Lang, the Board voted 5-0 to approve the solar farm.
The session was opened with Gerry Dedenbach of GHW Professional Consultants responding to questions that were raised during the Sept. 18 meeting and talking about the state statute that prevents the County from blocking Duke from building the solar farm.
Dedenbach said the statute was created and passed after Alachua County had successfully blocked two solar farms from being built near Archer.
The Origis solar farm that was referenced in the Sept. 18 meeting has been approved since the statute was passed.
The other site, a First Solar farm, was denied because it encompassed a historically Black cemetery.
Dedenbach said Duke’s application meets all of the criteria for Statute 163.
Dedenbach said solar farms have a smaller impact than most agricultural uses, and the farm generates no real heat, saying it produces less than a parking lot.
Responding to questions about sound, Dedenbach said standing next to the inverter, which would create most of the noise on the farm, sounds like a large air conditioning unit. He added that the inverter cannot be heard from more than 300 feet, and the inverters are at least 500 feet from the property line.
After Dedenbach concluded, the Board opened the floor for members of the public who had signed up to speak.
Several residents complained that the meeting Duke held to meet with them was held in High Springs and not in Gilchrist County, with several saying they did not attend because it was in Alachua County.
One person who went to the meeting was Amy Frelick. However, she said that Duke was unable to answer any questions she asked at the meeting.
Duke had promised to extend the buffer zone, designed to hide the solar farm from view, from 20 to 35 feet, but Frelick asked what good that would do if the largest trees planted in that area were two feet tall.
Dedenbach said Duke had agreed to plant larger trees, between five and six feet tall.
Scott Hosack argued that the County should make Duke agree to a performance bond so they will have to clean the site if it fails or once it is out of commission. It was said that it would not be necessary because Duke is already responsible for cleanup per the contract with the County.
Another concern was chemicals entering the water, either by cleaning the panels or leaking from the panels themselves.
Dedenbach said the panels were to be cleaned by rainwater alone, and the panels used on the farm would not include cadmium, a chemical used in older panels that has been shown to leak from the panels.
Board members also expressed concerns, specifically when it comes to the spread of these solar farms.
“Is that whole end of the county going to be a solar farm?” Commissioner Tommy Langford asked.
Danny Collins, a representative from Duke, said that the lines only have so much capacity, so, at some point, it becomes wasteful to build more solar farms or other power plants in one area.
Duke Energy’s Director of Renewables Development Vanessa Goff added that, as technology improves, these fields will get smaller.
The commissioners said they would be holding a teleconference with Representative Chuck Clemons on the issue in hopes of changing the statute and giving counties more power in these scenarios.
Residents also asked what benefit the farm would give the area, especially considering the power generated by the farm could go anywhere once it enters the grid and would not be limited to Gilchrist and Alachua Counties.
Collins said Duke has promised up to $100,000 for road maintenance. The solar farm would also bring in approximately $150,000 per year in ad valorem taxes over 30 years
County Attorney Lang said this was the state’s doing, but county governments were the ones who to took the heat.
“You’re the ones who bear the brunt of it because you’re the closest government to the people,” Lang said.
Despite the issues brought up by both the residents and commissioners, the BOCC voted to aprove the solar farm by a 5-0 vote.
That was not the only business conducted during last week’s meeting.
The Board approved the purchase of a new security system for the Courthouse. The total cost of the system is $93,875.
Of that, $54,000 would come out of Courthouse funds and the County would be liable for the remaing $39,875. The money would come out of the Courthouse budget.
County Administrator Bobby Crosby said the current cameras are outdated and difficult to repair.
The new cameras will take a picture any time someone swipes their ID card to enter. This would help to identify someone who has stolen an ID card to gain entrance to an area to which they should not have access.
As well as approving the purchase, the Board waived its bidding process in order to use the same security company, O’Cull Electric LLC, as they have been using.
The Board also approved allowing UTVs in the day park area of Hart Springs.
In order to bring your UTV into the park, you must purchase a permit for $10. Since they are not allowed on public roadways, UTVs must be brought in on a trailer. Once inside the park, the vehicle must remain parked. It cannot enter the trails or the campgroud area.
The operator of the UTV must be at least 16 years old with a valid drivers license and must be the registered owner of the vehicle.
The UTV must be titled with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and owners must provide proof of insurance.
This change goes into effect on Oct. 30.
The County also approved the repair of a fuel truck’s motor, which will cost the County $19,998.
The problem that occurred with this purchase was that it was not sent out to bid.
County policy dictates that anything over $15,000 must go out for bids unless the Board votes to waive the process.
Crosby said it was necessary to go ahead and have the motor repaired to keep the truck on the road, but the process of repairing the motor had been going on since January.
Commissioner Sharon Langford said she did not know about the repair until the Friday before the meeting and said there should have been an emergency meeting held to discuss whether they should waive the bid process.
The commissioners voted 4-1 to pay the bill, with Sharon Langford being the only “no” vote. Crosby received a verbal reprimand from the Board and apologized for not following County policy.
The commissioners said they accepted his apology at the end of the meeting.
The next County Commission meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Nov. 6.