(Decatur County, IN) – The group that successfully fought a previous effort to place industrial solar installations in Decatur County has turned its attention to Cobia Solar’s bid to lease farmland in the Burney area.
Larry Hager is the managing partner for Decatur County Stop Industrial Solar and Wind, LLC (DCCSISW).
“Many of our families have been involved in ag for decades and generations, and we feel like that’s been a big part of the success of the county and our families, businesses, and what have you,” Hager said. “It’s very ag-oriented and to see something like this come in and what effect that’s going to have, we think that’s going to have a pretty big negative impact.”
Jason Kuchmay of Snider, Morgan, and Kuchmay has been working with communities dealing with this issue, and has been retained by DCCSISW. Kuchmay has represented residents of 30 other Indiana counties, and successfully stopped solar projects over the past four years, including in neighboring Rush and Bartholomew counties.
About 50 people attended a meeting on the issue at the Burney-Clay Township firehouse last Thursday.
The organization was successful in fighting a request from RWE Clean Energy for a special exception to place commercial solar energy facilities on 1,800 acres north of Greensburg.
The application was unanimously rejected by the Decatur County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in September.
Cobia’s request to proceed with the project could be on the agenda at the November 6 Decatur County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.
