ASHIPPUN — Officials in the Town of Ashippun are saying a hard no to a 25-acre solar operation proposed for farmland.
The town’s Plan Commission on March 5 unanimously recommended not approving the conditional use permit to the Town Board for the planned solar project near the intersection of Evergreen Road and Lincoln Road. When it met March 11, the Town Board agreed, following suit with a unanimous vote to recommend denial of the conditional use permit to the Dodge County Land Resources and Park Committee.
SunVest Solar LLC is seeking permission to operate the 5-megawatt solar facilities including solar modules, inverters, steel racking, fencing, and a weather station. The plans submitted to the county also include an outline of how it could eventually be removed and restored to agricultural land.
Troy Wendorf, who is on the Plan Commission and whose farm is adjacent to the land where SunVest Solar wants to build the solar farm, said he is “strongly opposed” to the plan and said it is not suitable for an agricultural farming community like Ashippun.
Plan Commission Chairman David Guckenberger said he hasn’t heard from anyone who is in favor of the project.
“It is overwhelming negative,” he said. “It is from some of our best farmland in the town.”
Wendorf also raised concerns about runoff, increased heat radiating from the farm and the effects on property values. If properties’ assessed values go down, that would result in a loss of revenue for the town, Wendorf said. The proposed solar farm would also be located across from the Oconomowoc High School farm.
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Jacob Van Domelen, senior project development associate for SunVest Solar, said the Ashippun site works well for a solar project because it’s close to existing distribution lines that have capacity, which would then allow for the “electricity to connect to the grid without needing major new infrastructure.”
Other factors for solar farm sites that are taken into consideration include a flat site that is clear of trees, wetland and other environmental concerns.
“Additionally, we have a willing landowner that is supportive of solar development interested in participating, which is an important part of making a project like this possible,” Van Domelen said.
The electricity that would be captured at the Ashippun farm would then go onto the local distribution grid, which, Van Domelen said, supplies power to homes and businesses in the area.
“That means the energy stays local and helps support grid reliability while meeting the growing demand for electricity in the region,” he said.
In response to residents’ concerns about the farm affecting area residents’ property values, Van Domelen said that won’t be the case.
“There are several studies conducted throughout the United States that show there hasn’t been consistent evidence that indicates any impacts, positive or negative, to property values for small, distributed generation-sized projects (up to 5MW),” he said.
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Do you support the effort to name a portion of CTH K in Washington County as Charlie J. Kirk Way at an estimated cost of $50,000? The Washington County Board Executive Committee voted to forward two resolutions in front of a packed house on March 18, one that would add the name to a portion of Highway K in the west-central part of the county and the other a proposed fund transfer to fund the process.
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