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Yorkville eyes stricter solar farm decommissioning plans so city doesn’t foot the costs · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Yorkville eye's stricter solar farm decommissioning plans so city doesn't
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  Speaker 1: foot the costs. Written by Joey Weslow, this article is
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  Speaker 1: being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  Speaker 1: With more than half a dozen solar farm projects in
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  Speaker 1: consideration for the Yorkville area, the city is looking to
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  Speaker 1: adopt stronger decommissioning rules to better ensure panels are removed
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  Speaker 1: and the land restored after the owner's leases end. Projects
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  Speaker 1: like the twenty acre five megawat Beacher Road Solar LLC
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  Speaker 1: solar farm in Yorkville must contractually decommission the facility within
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  Speaker 1: six months after the solar facility stops being operational. That
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  Speaker 1: project will include eleven two hundred and one solar panels.
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  Speaker 1: Most negotiated solar farm leases are for twenty year terms,
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  Speaker 1: with the possibility for extensions leading up to forty years.
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  Speaker 1: The decommissioning and land restoration process can be quite expensive
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  Speaker 1: and intensive, including underground work. A five megawatt solar facility
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  Speaker 1: can cost between sixty thousand dollars and one hundred twenty
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  Speaker 1: thousand dollars to decommission, including restoring the environmental quality of
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  Speaker 1: the site according to the Solar Recycling Company. To better
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  Speaker 1: eliminate the risk of the price tag falling on the city,
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville is considering amending its city Ordinance. The amendment ensures
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  Speaker 1: the developers have one hundred and one hundred and twenty
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  Speaker 1: percent of the funding needed to decommission throughout the duration
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  Speaker 1: of the solar project. Financial assurance for the solar farm
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  Speaker 1: can be provided in the form of a performance bond,
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  Speaker 1: surety bond, or letter of credit. The financial assurance to
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  Speaker 1: decommission the solar farm must remain in effect for the
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  Speaker 1: life of the project until decommissioning has been completed. According
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  Speaker 1: to city documents, the proposed revisions are intended to ensure
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  Speaker 1: that adequate financial security is continuously maintained to gearan the
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  Speaker 1: removal of solar facilities and restoration of the site should
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  Speaker 1: the project be abandoned or cease operations. Christy Barksdale, Noble
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  Speaker 1: Community Development Director, set in city documents if a solar
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  Speaker 1: farm operator fails to maintain the one hundred and twenty
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  Speaker 1: percent financial assurance, the city will pursue the immediate decommissioning
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  Speaker 1: of the solar farm. The proposal will be discussed at
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  Speaker 1: the City's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on August twelfth,
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  Speaker 1: and likely during the August twenty fifth City Council meeting.
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  Speaker 1: Prior to approval, developers will be required to submit to
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  Speaker 1: the city a complete decommissioning plan containing financial assurance. Any
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  Speaker 1: non functioning solar panels must be decommissioned within thirty days
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  Speaker 1: unless the operator demonstrates to the city that repair operations
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  Speaker 1: are underway. According to the ordinance, the property must undergo
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  Speaker 1: environmental restoration that ensures the ground is returned to its
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  Speaker 1: prior condition. The decommissioning plan must include provisions for the
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  Speaker 1: restoration of the natural soil and vegetation. It must also
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  Speaker 1: contain procedures for the removal of structures, debris, and cabling,
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  Speaker 1: including underground materials. The city requires solar farm operators to
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  Speaker 1: update decommissioning costs every three years in reports certified by
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  Speaker 1: a professional engineer. Future of Solar in Yorkville area. In
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  Speaker 1: addition to the twenty acre Beacher Road Solar LLC Solar Farm,
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  Speaker 1: several other projects are in various stages of development across
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  Speaker 1: the city. The Beecher Roads Solar LLC Solar Farm is
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  Speaker 1: set for a site north of Cornails Road, west of
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  Speaker 1: Beecher Road, and east of Illinois Route forty seven. That
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  Speaker 1: project is an extension of the city approved thirty five
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  Speaker 1: acre Cornail's Road solar project by developers Necksamp LLC, which
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  Speaker 1: is directly east of the site of the five hundred
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  Speaker 1: forty acre project Steel Data Center. Another project is the
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  Speaker 1: twenty six acre five megawat Bristol Ridge one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: five solar Farm by developers Turning Point Energy LLC. The
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  Speaker 1: solar farm will feature fourteen thousand solar panels. The site
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  Speaker 1: is located east of Cannonball Trail and north of the
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  Speaker 1: BNSF Railroad. The project is currently projected to be finished
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  Speaker 1: by October twenty twenty seven. The city previously approved the
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  Speaker 1: twenty three acre five megawat Nex Samp solar Farm by
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  Speaker 1: Yorkville Renewables LLC, near the southwest corner of Galina Road
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  Speaker 1: and Route forty seven. The city has not said how
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  Speaker 1: the new ordinance will affect solar farm projects just outside
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  Speaker 1: city limits but within the city's one point five mile
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  Speaker 1: planning boundary. The city can object to the county on
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  Speaker 1: any projects in that range, as well as make rule
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  Speaker 1: suggestions or enter pre annexation agreements with the developers. Just
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  Speaker 1: outside the city is the USA Energy Independent Solar Farm,
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  Speaker 1: which is within the city's one point five mile planning boundary.
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  Speaker 1: The thirty seven acre site is located north of Cornails
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  Speaker 1: Road and east of Illinois Route forty seven. Also just
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  Speaker 1: outside city limits is the ninety three point four acre
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  Speaker 1: solar farm project by developers Aiment Road Solar LLC. The
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  Speaker 1: site is south of Amont Road, west of Route forty seven,
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  Speaker 1: and two miles from the Windttridge subdivision.