Public invited to weigh in on proposed solar project in Squaw Grove Township

SYCAMORE – The public is invited to weigh in Thursday on a proposal to build a solar garden in Squaw Grove Township in rural southern DeKalb County.

The proposed solar garden will have its second public hearing after the DeKalb County Board voted to send the project back to the public hearing officer in June.

The public hearing for the project application, submitted by Ironwood Renewables, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at the DeKalb County Community Outreach Building, 2500 N. Annie Glidden Road, in DeKalb.

On June 21, a special permit request for the creation of a five-megawatt solar garden, to be known as Shenandoah Solar, in Squaw Grove Township was sent back to the public hearing officer in a 15-8 vote by the DeKalb County Board.

The original public hearing for the special permit request was held on April 27 after the county’s hearing officer reviewed the provided materials and testimony the petition was forwarded to the Planning Zoning and Development Committee of the County Board.

DeKalb County Board’s decision was made after a handful of comments against the project by members of the public during the June 21 board meeting. Many residents spoke in concern about the solar garden proposed placement on top of land inside the Devine Drainage District.

At that meeting Project Developer Hamilton Carrier said Ironwood Renewables know about the the drainage district the project ahead of the June 21 meeting.

“I want to acknowledge that we were aware of this Divine Drainage agreement, but that was, as noted the public hearing, the county itself was not even aware of this district. There’s an agreement that was recorded with the county somewhere, but we have not been yet to find it,” Carrier said.