Putnam County Commissioners set to have final say on proposed solar farm

Weeks after the Putnam County Plan Commission and hundreds of residents endured a marathon five hour meeting, the Putnam County Commissioners will have the final say on a proposed rezone request of 2,000 acres near Cloverdale.

The meeting will be Monday, Oct. 6, at 6:30 p.m. in the York Building at the  Putnam County Fairgrounds.  

The rezone request comes from EnergyRe, who wants to bring a 300 megawatt 4Leaf Solar Project to Putnam County and locate it between Cloverdale and Jefferson townships on 2,000 acres. Last month, the Plan Commission voted 5-0-1 against the measure in front of a standing room only crowd. 

At that meeting, Lisa Zeiner, Plan and Building Director, said she received 78 letters and a petition that featured 386 people against the measure and only 25 in favor. 

During the Plan Commission meeting, there was a lot of discussion as to plans from EnergyRe to invest $72 million over 30 years back into the Cloverdale community and schools, something EnergyRe Senior Vice President Paul Cummings and Putnam County attorney Eddie Felling sparred over. 

"This will be one of the largest investments in Putnam County," Cummings said.

Felling countered by saying EnergyRe was wanting Putnam County residents to serve as "guinea pigs."

"They haven't completed any studies. There is no way the petitioners have proved the five categories they have to. Don't make these people guinea pigs for this experiment," Felling urged the Plan Commission. 

The land in question belongs to the Mann family. 

Both Robert Mann and Christopher Mann told those at the Plan Commission meeting they had received interest from 14 different companies looking to bring solar to Putnam County. The two said they opted for EnergyRe as a way to "diversify" their farming and improving the soil quality of the land. 

"Our door was getting knocked down by solar companies," Christopher Mann said. 

Plan Commission member Andy Beck, who is also on the County Commissioners, was responsible for the motion against the rezone request. 

Beck cited his belief in productive farmland and that it must be protected at "all costs." In addition, only 1.5 percent of the land would be able to be tilled, as well as a belief that natural gas and coal are better options over solar. Beck also stated that per IDEM, there would be 11 million tons of waste from solar panels. 

"When I ran, I stated I would not support solar," Beck said.