Yorkville aldermen OK solar farm compromise plan on divided vote

YORKVILLE – A second solar farm will be developed in Yorkville after all, now that aldermen have approved a compromise plan reducing the size of the project by nearly a half.

The Yorkville City Council was split 5-2 on a series of votes Oct. 10 that will allow Colorado-based Turning Point Energy to construct the solar farm in the Bristol Ridge area.

The 5-megawatt facility will occupy a 54-acre site on the east side of Cannonball Trail along the north side of the BNSF Railway.

Deleted from the proposal was a development of more solar arrays on a nearby 42-acre parcel to the north which aldermen said was too close to residences.

At their July 25 meeting, with a proposal for development of both parcels as a solar farm on the agenda, none of the aldermen were willing to call the plan for a vote.

Turning Point Energy went back to the drawing board and decided to eliminate the north parcel, which convinced enough aldermen to change their position on the project.

In a series of four votes, aldermen approved an amendment to the annexation agreement for the property and rezoning to an agricultural designation, along with a variance and special use permit to allow its use for a solar farm.

Voting yes were aldermen Craig Soling, Joe Plocher, Rusty Corneils, Daniel Transier and Ken Koch. Voting no were aldermen Chris Funkhouser and Seaver Tarulis. Absent was Alderman Matt Marek.

The annexation amendment required six affirmative votes from the eight-member council, leaving it to Mayor John Purcell to cast the deciding vote in favor.

Soling and Corneils said after the meeting that elimination of the north property from the plan was the key for the rest of the project gaining their support.

“I didn’t care for the [north parcel’s] close proximity to residential,” Soling said.

Tarulis said he voted against the plan because he does not support solar power and believes power-generation is best served by nuclear plants.

“We’re headed in the wrong direction with solar,” Tarulis said.

Funkhouser also expressed support for nuclear power, but indicated his no vote was based on the specific proposal. He worried about stormwater runoff and decommissioning costs if the project is a financial failure.

“I don’t see the benefit or value to the community,” Funkhouser said later. “We have to look out for residents.”

Earlier this year the council approved a 18.5-acre solar farm on the far northwest side of the city.

Massachusetts-based New Leaf Energy is developing that solar farm on the north side of the BNSF Railway on the east side of Beecher Road for a 5-megawatt, freestanding facility with an array of 9,700 solar panels, producing enough electricity to power about 850 homes.

Turning Point Energy’s Bristol Ridge solar farm is estimated to produce enough electricity to power 1,300 homes, Director of Project Development Scott Osborn said.

About 25 of the 54-acres will be mounted with 14,000 solar panels, with much of the rest of the property used for supporting infrastructure including electrical switches and meters, Osborn said.

An access road from Cannonball Trail onto the property also is included in the plan, he said.

The power-generating farm will sell electricity to ComEd for what are described as “community solar projects,” to which residential customers anywhere may subscribe, Turning Point Energy Vice President of Development Michelle Carpenter said.