DANVILLE — The Danville City Council approved special use petitions for a pair of Soltage co-located fire mega-watt solar energy facilities along Lynch Road across from Thyssenkrupp’s location.
This project is east of Soltage’s solar facility near the intersection of Voorhees and Michigan, that has been online for more than six months.
The petitions had already been approved by the Danville Planning and Zoning Commission on March 5, and both of these projects will cover 58 acres on a 68-acre lot, with a vegetation screen buffer. There would be a total of about 24,000 single access trailer solar panels, none more than 11 feet off the ground. The project is planned to produce electricity for 40 years before being decommissioned.
The special use petition passed on a 10-3 vote with Alderman Tom Hightower, Alderman James Poshard and Alderwoman Caroln DeToye voting no, while Alderman Rick Strebing was absent.
There was considerable debate on the top, in part, because the solar projects are part of an “enterprise zone,” with the city and Vermilion Advantage working to attract major industrial development to the area.
Alderwoman Tricia Teague voted for the project, stating that Soltage had agreed not to take the tax abatement that the enterprise zone had called for … and the new solar power being sold to Thyssenkrupp would give them major help with the cost of manufacturing their crankshafts. She didn’t think it was wise to turn this down for something else that might never come.
Also passed during the Wednesday City Council meeting were the proposed contracts for the tearing down of the old Studio 25 site at 124 and 128 North Walnut, the old Millikin Dry Cleaners site at 605 and 615 North Vermilion, and the old Downtown Chart Records and D.C. Fitness sites at 125, 129, and 131 North Vermilion; all of which were approved last week by the Public Works Committee.
The Council also approved the item passed by Public Works concerning environmental remediation work along the south side of Fairchild, between North Vermilion and Hazel Streets.