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The Crete Village Board voted Monday on approvals to allow the construction of a 2,400-acre solar farm that will span parts of the village and unincorporated Will County, despite strong backlash from residents.
Earthrise Energy, based in Arlington, Virginia, operates a natural gas plant in Crete and plans to use that infrastructure to connect to the electric grid and provide solar power to an estimated 50,000 households in Illinois.
Following approvals at the county level, the company expects to begin construction in the Plum Valley area later this year and connect to the power grid in 2028.
The Village Board voted 5-1 to annex about 200 acres along the village’s boundaries and zoning it for agricultural use. Board members Katrina Seifert, Jamie Healy, Holly Milburn, Keith Miller and Stephen Johnson voted to approve the project while Steve Bruns opposed it.
The village intends to annex another 620 acres later, once they are contiguous with the village’s new borders. In total, the village will increase in size by 15% once both annexations are final.
Earthrise will seek approvals from Will County for solar farm development on the remaining land, starting with a special Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at 5:30 p.m. on March 18 at 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet.
Representatives from Earthrise Energy presented plans to about 50 people gathered Monday at the fire station connected to Crete’s Village Hall. They also answered residents’ questions, almost all of which were accentuated with concerns and general opposition to the development of long vacant farm land.
Earthrise Development Director Rob Kalbouss said in its first year of operations, the project will generate $2.3 million in revenue for local taxing bodies, including about $40,000 to the village of Crete and $135,000 to Will County.
The solar farm will be decommissioned after 35 years, with the village expected to receive $930,000.
“This is new revenue that (we) are going to offer local taxing bodies to provide the services that this community benefits from every day,” Kalbouss said. “Those public services will be better funded after this project.”
The majority of the company’s contributions, about 70%, will benefit school districts, according to the project website. Crete-Monee School District 201-U will receive $1.2 million in the first year of operations, Kalbouss said.
Kalbouss said the company has also committed to donating about $1 million to the Crete Fire Department, which will cover the cost of two ambulances needed as the village annexes territory. He also highlighted funding of scholarships and workforce development programs at Governors State University in University Park.
Despite highlighted benefits, meeting attendees voiced frustrations about perceived lack of notice about the solar farm and its affect on both their rural way of life and property values.
Cheryl Muszynski, a Crete resident, was one of several attendees who said she heard about the project through a community Facebook group and wishes the village provided more notice of the public hearing.
“I don’t feel like we’ve had any communication on this,” Muszynski said. “We should have a lot more people than this who are interested in the village or what’s going on.”
Chicago attorney Steven Becker, who said he represented a resident living near the project area, said Earthrise did not post signs providing notice of the project in the development area quickly enough under village ordinance. He said his client could have grounds to sue to stop the project.
Village Board members and Earthwise representatives defended their efforts to notify residents, including sending mailers and visiting 172 households near the project area to invite them to an open house event in October. Kalbouss said as few as five people attended that event.
“For you to say ‘we found out about this through social media’ — shame on everyone,” board member Milburn said. “Because if you think you’re getting the truth out of social media, that’s not true.”
Milburn highlighted a website created with project details and said residents are responsible for checking meeting agendas and minutes on the village website.
“The lack of communication is not valid when all of the information is put out there,” she said.
Joe Hiemenz, whose home lies in the unincorporated area that the village plans to annex, said the solar farm signals the beginning of industrial sprawl changing the lives of people who enjoy a peaceful landscape.
“You guys are going to vote for the beginning of the end of the life that we all really moved out here for,” Hiemenz said.
Pat Young, representing Operating Engineers Local 150 union, said the union support the project for its community benefits. The project should create several hundred temporary union construction jobs in addition to about 30 permanent jobs, which Young said will open up opportunities for youth.
“Not every child wants to go to college,” Young said. “Projects like this … give the kids that don’t want to go to college an opportunity to go to work.”
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
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