Solar Panel Controversy Is Not Going Away

The controversy concerning solar farms in Jeff Davis County doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
While the Jeff Davis County Commission voted recently to ban any further solar farms from coming into Jeff Davis County, that vote may not be appropriate as it is questionable if a county can legally bar any industry from locating in a county.
At last Wednesday’s meeting of the Joint Development Authority of Jeff Davis County, Hazlehurst and Denton (JDA), the group of citizens who are opposing any more solar farms being established in the county was present again. The group has attended meetings of the Jeff Davis County Solar Committee, the JDA (twice) and the County Commission and is still not satisfied with the answers they have been getting.
When group member Becky Hutto asked the JDA members Wednesday how that group will address the county commission’s vote on banning solar farms, attorney Andy Ramay, who represents the JDA and the county commission, said the commission’s vote was subject to legal approval from him and that approval has not yet been given.
Ramay added that he expected to have a decision in the next week or two, as he has to contact attorney Dan McRae who has been assisting the JDA with legal matters. McRae is a partner in the Atlanta office of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, a national law firm, and is known for his expertise in finance and incentives.
With that, the JDA members got down to business and approved minutes from previous meetings and tabled approval of financial statements.
The authority then briefly discussed a proposal from NextEra solar company and agreed to table the matter until the group has the full proposal and maps of the project from NextEra.
JDA Chair Jimmy McLeod explained that the JDA is charged with bringing in industry, jobs and economic growth to Jeff Davis County and NextEra has requested a tax abatement to bring economic development into the county. He said any such abatement request must go through the JDA before the county commission can consider approving abatements. It was explained that, while a portion of the company’s taxes are abated initially, the county commission and the school system will received $30 million dollars in taxes from the company over 30 years. It was also explained that there is no abatement on the land itself, as the abatement applies only to the equipment the company installs on the land.
Grant Gainer, whose family owns the land on which NextEra proposes to place a solar farm, explained that his family owns 2,800 acres in the area and 1,100-1,200 acres would be going into solar with the NextEra proposal. He added that the NextEra proposal was a $28.5 million project and the county and the school system need the tax money on the value of the project. Gainer also said the plans call for a 300-ft. boundary between the solar panels and the adjoining properties.
The Gainer land is primarily bordered by forestlands owned by German investors, and the Rogers Farm, but added that there were a few homes bordering the property, including the Milton and Gail Coleman property which is buffered by a stand of 10-year-old pine trees, 300 ft. from that property.
While opponents of the solar farms argued that the county needs “real industry” and jobs, Gainer explained that he had served on the JDA for 25 years, saying that attracting jobs was a difficult tax and the labor force in Jeff Davis County “is already stretched.”
Solar opponent Bill Watson countered that the there “are no real jobs in Jeff Davis County” and expressed concerns that the county has been shrinking in recent years.
JDA member Wanda Marchant expressed her concerns that solar farms were taking up valuable agricultural lands saying “we can’t eat solar panels.”
After more discussion the authority voted to table the matter.
Moving on, the authority discussed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Silicon Ranch, which has already installed solar farm phases in the county, and Attorney Ramay said he and McRae had discussed the MOU and agreed it had met all of the JDA’s requirements. That MOU included $8 million to repair McCall Road and over $500,000 for vegetation to be planted to buffer area residents from the solar farms.
Ramay explained to those attending the meeting that, at the time the solar farms were initially approved by the county commission, the county had no land use ordinance which led to the solar farms being installed without sufficient buffer zones. Realizing how the lack of a land use ordinance had led to the intrusive nature of the solar farms in the Denton-Snipesville area, the Jeff Davis County Solar Committee recommended that the County Commission adopt a land use ordinance that the solar committee had prepared. The commission approved the suggested land use ordinance but it was too late to prevent problems in the Denton-Snipesville area from the Silicon Ranch projects.
Gainer added that the JDA has the ability to require certain things before they give a company an abatement. That way, the JDA can avoid problems like those being experienced in the Denton-Snipesville area.