TIMBERVILLE, Va. (WHSV) – On Wednesday Night, another community meeting was held for Timberville residents to share opinions about a proposed solar farm.
Those in attendance had plenty to share with representatives of the Arlington-based Summit Ridge Energy company, which is proposing the project.
The project faced plenty of negative feedback during the initial meeting in October, and while the presentation from Summit Ridge might have changed for the 27-acre proposed project on Lone Pine Drive, the opinions of residents have stayed the same.
Residents telling the representatives at the meeting they are “coming here to sell us a lot of crap” and “you think you’re going to have a cakewalk going to the [Rockingham County] Board of Supervisors? You ain’t going to have a cakewalk.”
Despite residents’ disapproval, Ben Gillespie, land services director of Summit Ridge Energy, and the company remain committed to proposing the project to the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors in the next three to four months.
One member of the Board of Supervisors, Dewey Ritchie, was in attendance at the meeting.
“People should voice what they have to say,” Ritchie, the District 1 Supervisor on the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, said. “We as supervisors do listen and take into account what everybody says.”
When asked about his stance on the proposed solar project, Ritchie told WHSV that he has his thoughts about the project, but said it would be unfair for him or any of the Board of Supervisors to make a decision right now until all parties are heard during the process.
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