By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
After initially voting against solar regulations in December, the Great Bend City Council approved the original ordinance at their first meeting in January. The three-mile zoning jurisdiction around Great Bend now has similar regulations as the rest of Barton County for solar development.
Councilmember Alan Moeder noted before the 5-2 vote in favor of the regulations that keeping the same 1,000-foot setback throughout the entire county was best.
"I had a lot of people call me after the previous meeting when it got cancelled," said Moeder. "They were all fine with the county regulations. They were not in favor of the solar project, but they were fine with the county regulations. I also had people very much in favor of solar, and they were complaining to me that nothing was done."
The 1,000-foot setback keeps any solar development distanced from the property line of a tract with a residence.
While no conditional use permits have been pulled yet to construct a solar plant, Acciona Energy has shown interest in constructing such a development northeast of Great Bend. In a presentation last February, Acciona Director of Development Adam Stratton noted the two proposed solar plants would produce 150 megawatts from each project.
Councilmember Tina Mingenback abstained from voting on the regulations in December but voted in favor of the ordinance in January.
"I took it upon myself to talk to some people who live out by the college," said Mingenback. "I needed to get some education. Everyone wants some sort of regulations. I think it's good to follow along the lines of what the research the county has done and make it simple. If people have to come to us for approval, once you start having different numbers it just gets confusing."
Stratton mentioned the solar powered electric generation facilities would provide approximately 30 long-term jobs for Barton County. The solar farm would be expected to pay an average of $1.6 million in property tax back to Barton County each year.