A proposed five-megawatt commercial solar farm located just outside Morton has a new life.
In a series of votes Wednesday following a closed session, the Tazewell County Board rescinded its Aug. 28 denial of special use requests for the solar farm by Unsicker Sun, and approved the requests and the settlement of a lawsuit filed by Unsicker Sun.
The solar farm will be built at the intersection of West Birchwood Street and Unsicker Road on land owned by the Getz Land Trust.
While there were no public comments by board members regarding their actions, the votes by the 17 board members present at the meeting were not unanimous even though the county likely would have had to pay a substantial amount in damages had the lawsuit, filed Nov. 25 in Tazewell County Court, been adjudicated.
The county board went against state law in denying the special use requests.
As it stands, the county and Unsicker Sun are responsible only for their own attorney fees and costs connected to the lawsuit.
Special uses for the three parcels on the solar farm site are required because the area is in an A-1 (agricultural) zoning district.
Board members Russ Crawford, Nick Graff, Michael Harris, Dave Mingus and Eric Schmidgall either voted "no" or "present" on votes that were part of the rescind/approve/settlement package. Board member Jon Hopkins abstained on each vote.
"Yes" votes were cast by board members Mark Goddard, Jay Hall, Kim Joesting, Greg Longfellow, Greg Menold, Deene Milam, Max Schneider, Greg Sinn, Cathryn Stump, Joe Woodrow, Aaron Phillips and Schmidgall.
Board members Kaden Nelms, Nancy Proehl, Tammy Rich-Stimson and Eric Stahl were not at the meeting.
Phillips takes Atkins' place
Phillips joined the board Wednesday, getting sworn in by Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman after he was appointed to a District 3 seat vacated by Bill Atkins.
Atkins, a former Washington resident, served on the board for six years. He resigned in December after being hired as the city attorney in Moline.
Phillips lives and works in Washington and he's the treasurer of the Washington Community Foundation. He's a certified public accountant and a founding member of the Phillips, Salmi & Associates accounting firm, located on the downtown Washington square.
He grew up on a farm in Bureau County and is still active on the business side of farm operations. He and his wife Jamie moved to Washington in 2001 and have raised their two children there.
Curbside recycling grants approved
The board approved five curbside recycling grants Wednesday for county communities:
• $90,916 for Pekin.
• $50,000 for East Peoria.
• $27,000 for Washington.
• $23,175 for Morton.
• $14,000 for Creve Coeur.
Also, $59,908 was allocated by the board for recycling collection programs in rural villages and townships.
County elevators getting a lift
State-mandated elevator upgrades will be done at four downtown Pekin buildings owned by the county.
The board Wednesday approved proposals totaling $43,877 for elevator work that will be done at the Tazewell County Justice Center, McKenzie Building, Tazewell Building and Old Post Office. The work will be completed before annual elevator inspections are done in September.
Veterinary sterilization services
Tazewell County Animal Control can utilize veterinarian-reduced fee spay/neuter services after being given authorization Wednesday by the board.
State law bans an animal control facility from adopting out a dog or cat unless it has been sterilized, or there's a written agreement to sterilize the animal within 14 days.
Toboggan Avenue drainage
Low bidder Phoenix Corporation of the Quad Cities will be paid $607,599 for Toboggan Avenue drainage improvements from Brownfield Road to east of Brownfield.
The county board approved the low bid Wednesday from the Port Byron-based company.
