Christina Landis came in to represent Amsterdam. She asked if there will be a meeting with Clearway, the Solar Company, and if he had an idea of when. John told her that there is a meeting to be held later today and they will hopefully have a date and will release that information as soon as possible.
She warned the Commission that Amsterdam is going to want compensation for being surrounded by these panels. John then reassured her that he had spoken to the Mayor and told him to inform the people of the huge impact of the streets and businesses.
John spoke with the Mayor about a possible sewer issue, asphalt on the streets, the park and much more.
Christina worried about the solar farms raising the residents electric bill, but John told her that these solar panels will be putting electricity into the grid so it will not affect their bill in any way. She then brought up the concern of the land value decreasing to which John told her that Clearway is willing to compensate for that.
Jim said that he would like to see the City of Amsterdam have their own meeting to come together and form a list of questions that they can give Commission so they can pass it along to Clearway so they can know what questions need answers at the town hall meeting.
John asked her about the sewer pump issue and if it ever got fixed and told her of some grants for the city and gave her contact information.
Jim told her to call him if she ever needs anything, as she’s had his number, and took her number down as well. He then mentioned that he really means it and he’s not just saying this because it’s an election year. He is tired of hearing people say that he’s “doing this and that” because he’s up for election. He would rather people not wait until last minute to call and then tell him he's only helping because he is running for reelection. He says that is “B.S” and explained that he has always fought for Amsterdam, Hume, Rich Hill, etc. this whole time. People have had his number for years and have never reached out. Jim encouraged Christina, again, that if she had any issues, she needs to contact him and not wait until last minute. He then claimed that even if he had not run again, he would still be fighting for them until the end of his term, as this is not about politics and the people should be able to tell that from everything he has done since he has been in office.
Jason Morris joined near the end of the meeting to observe and learn what is going on with the Solar Farms.
Jim then stated that he wanted it on record that John left towards the end of the meeting to attend another meeting that the other Commissioners were not aware of, dealing with Solar. Jim is tired of John getting up and leaving for other meetings during a scheduled meeting with the Commission.
Kelly Ast, with New Growth Transit, came and spoke to the Commission. They are transporting individuals across 22 Counties and are now Brokers with Medicaid. They have three Volunteers here in Bates County that have traveled 9,000 miles in less than 12 months, Bates County Memorial Hospital being the top destination.
They always try their best to get individuals from their home to their requested destination and back home. They had to pick up individuals that had no way to get home from their appointment because the OATS bus dropped off the individual and did not take them back home.
They run 7 days a week and will pull other recruits from surrounding counties if they need to. Dispatches are out of their office in El Dorado, Missouri. Each driver has a tablet that they log miles on to keep everything tracked.
Kelly shared some of the Individuals testimonies and told the Commission about Companies that sign them on to get their employees from home to work and back.
Jana Rosier, with Osage Valley Electric, came and asked the Commission about the progression on the EEZ Board. Jim updated her. John showed her SB849.
Barry Matchett, Head of External Affairs with Clearway Energy, came and spoke with the Commission and other individuals that joined. Homer Township Residents, West Point Residents, Chris Gach, and Jason Moore and Rock Marquardt.
Barry introduced himself and explained that there is an increase in demand for the grid located in Western Missouri. Whatever land they lease will not be full of Solar Panels, they use approximately 60-70 percent of the land. The land is under a negotiated period determined by the landowner with the privately owned company.
These Solar Farms are expected to last up to thirty years. After the life span has run out, there is an option for renewal if the landowner agrees and if the land was determined usable for another negotiated amount of time. If not, they will start the decommission process, taking down the panels, removing the eye beams from the ground, concrete pads will be removed, and the ground will be reformed. The cost of the decommission will be covered by the bonds that will be set in place, under the responsibility of the Solar Company. The decommissioning bond is suggested to be updated every five years that way there is certainty that there is enough to cover the decommission when the time comes.
If the Solar Company were to dissolve, all the debt and agreements will be sold, and the new project LLC would have to honor them.
Barry explained that there isn’t much of a fire worry, as there are only plastic covered wires being run on the back side of the panels and oil that runs in the transformer. If something were to go up in flames, there will be a team that is trained to deal with it until Emergency Personnel arrives to handle the situation. The expense of Emergency Personnel Response can then be covered by the Community Benefit Fund that will have Board Members that are Bates County Residents that will be able to decide what the money should best be used for.
Chapter 100 Bonds are very important. Without Chapter 100 Bonds, Bates County would not receive anything. Will this increase taxes? Yes, but Chapter 100 Bonds make sure that it’s a normal amount, and the State cannot touch it. These Bonds will be purchased by Clearway’s Investors.
Barry was unsure if Clearway paid property tax and sales tax, but he said he would get an answer.
The electricity that is produced goes into the grid and that same amount is bought and pulled out by Google. This doesn’t touch the surrounding electric bills; they will stay untouched.
If/When Bates County Sheriffs respond to these Solar Farms, they will only see any income from them on a county level. They only receive funding through sales tax.
Replacing these Solar Panels is an easy task. They are easily popped off and popped back on. The only two parts that move are safely engineered so there is nothing that can break these solar panels. If there is a wild storm that should happen, the panels will turn at an eighty-eight-degree upright position and the rain, sleet or hail will roll off and leave the panels undamaged. If anything is ever damaged, the on-sight team will take care of it as soon as possible, as there is a certain amount of energy that Clearway is expected to put out. Therefore, they need all the panels to stay in good shape and able to produce daily.
Everyone’s start dates are different, but they do have agreements already met and can start as soon as they’re able. They cannot disclose the expected amount of revenue, but Barry informed the group he did not know the amount anyway.
The Townships will be gathering a list of things that the town needs and things that are going to benefit the people.
They are expecting to be in working production by 2028.
This will not cause the La Cygne Power Plant to shut down.
There will be a town hall meeting held at Miami School District on the 27th of April at 6:30 pm.
Homer/West Point Residents came to meet with the Commission about Solar Farms. Barry was kind enough to stay and answer questions and reassure the Residents that have rightful concerns. He introduced himself once more.
Chad Wiley asked the Commission when the Decommissioning Bonds will be written, to which he was informed that they will be written with the Road Use Agreement. They previously had agreements with NextEra, a different Solar Company that was wanting to build Solar Farms in Bates County around the same area. He then asked about the property value and how these solar farms are going to decrease that. By Chads research, he discovered major decreases. Barry and John told him that his research was off pieces of land that were assessed differently due to it being from different cities, but Chad reminded them that 10% is 10%. John agreed and Barry told him that it is unsolvable, as of right now.
Chad then asked how the townships and the solar companies can get along. Barry told him that the Good Neighbor Agreement would be a start. Chad then pointed out all the restrictions and absurd things that the contract held. Barry acknowledged a few typos that needed changed but also told Chad to negotiate the contract and that they will work hard to make sure everyone benefits from this. One typo was 100 years when it should have been 30 years. Barry was asked if some people had already signed the contracts with the typos to which he said could be possible.
As others joined the meeting, some of the same questions were asked from last meeting like weather issues and fire hazards. Andy Dudley asked why there was no mention of silt fences, retention ponds and erosions issues. Barry informed him what the soil does and reassured them that very little soil is moving, and onsite workers will tend to erosion once they see it happening. Andy then informed Barry of how the soil works and informed him of his knowledge of the specific land they are putting these solar panels on, and Barry asked for his contact information and said he wanted to speak with him furthermore to learn more from him.
Judith Johnston asked the Commission when there was an environmental study done and when they caught wind that these Solar Companies wanted to come to Bates County, they informed her it was in 2023. She then asked why there wasn’t a single town hall meeting informing these residents about such matters. John asked why their neighbors and friends didn’t inform others, to which Linda reminded them that individuals who signed with these companies also had to sign an NDA and couldn’t speak about it.
Township residents want to see the Road Use Agreement before the Commission signs it.
Substation will be South of Lacygne Power Plant and will be built by Evergy. The energy will be transferred underground to the Substation. John will be here Wednesday to be of help during the next Township resident meeting.
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