Community news and information for Pipestone, Minnesota 507-825-3333
Friday, June 12, 2026
This area east of the city of Pipestone’s tree dump off of North Hiawatha Avenue is the proposed site of a solar array. The City Council recently denied a request to extend a lease period for the solar array that expires at the end of the year. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
Pipestone City Council members during their June 1 meeting voted not to extend a land lease and solar easement as requested by New Energy Equity LLC.
The company had originally entered into a lease with the city in 2021 and planned to build a 1-megawatt solar garden on about 8.5 acres of city-owned land east of the city’s water treatment plant north of Pipestone. In 2024 the City Council approved an amendment to the lease that relocated the yet-to-be-built solar garden to an area near the existing solar array on North Hiawatha Avenue and east of the city’s tree dump, so it could sell the original site to Hord Farms Holdings for use as a truck wash facility.
In information presented during the meeting, the company indicated that the project has been delayed by Xcel Energy and that it wanted to extend the lease period, which City Administrator Stephanie LaBrune said expires at the end of this year, to Dec. 31, 2028. The company offered a $2,000 development period extension payment. There would also be a $5,000 per megawatt break ground bonus once construction begins and once the solar array is operational the city would receive $15,000 per megawatt per year with a 2% increase each year.
Mayor Dan Delaney said the property is used as farm ground now and he didn’t support using it for a solar array. He said it could also be used to expand the new tree dump site if that was ever needed.
“My opinion is we do have solar panels available in the community and, to me, that’s not a good use of agricultural land at this point,” Delaney said.
In other business:
•Cal Farmer requested that stop or yield signs be considered at the intersections of Third Street Southeast and 10th Avenue Southeast, which is an uncontrolled intersection. He said traffic moves fast through that area and there have been some close calls. He also presented letters from others who live near that area who supported stop or yield signs. Delaney said the City Council would look into the matter and consider the request at its next meeting.
•The Council approved a low bid of $790,255 from TE Underground, LLC for the lead service line replacement project planned for this year. Four bids were received for the project. The highest was $1,698,950 and the engineer’s estimate was $694,570. The project will be funded by a $1 million grant from the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority.
•The June 15 City Council meeting was moved to June 22 due to the expected absence of three Council members.
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