Linn County supervisors vote against delaying more meetings on Coggon solar project

CEDAR RAPIDS — Denying the request for a delay from the developer of a utility-scale solar project west of Coggon, the Linn County Board of Supervisors voted Friday to go ahead with holding more community meetings of the controversial project.

The three supervisors unanimously voted to keep the community meeting schedule the same as announced before — starting with meetings Monday, Thursday and Jan. 18. All will take place at 6 p.m. at the Linn County Fairgrounds in Central City.

“These dates have been published for some time and our communications team has gone through great lengths to ensure the general public is aware of what’s happening,” Supervisor Stacey Walker said. “We know this is an issue of great interest to the public and unless there is something catastrophic that is pressing, it seems to me that we ought to continue as planned with our schedule here.”

Supervisors Ben Rogers and Louie Zumbach agreed.

In November, the Linn County Planning and Zoning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the supervisors deny the solar project 3 miles west of Coggon. Members cited taking agricultural land out of use as one of the reasons, though some members said it seemed the project proposal met all the county’s standards.

The proposed facility is a partnership between Idaho-based Clenera and the Central Iowa Power Cooperative. Clenera Director of Development Tom Fitzgerald had requested a delay of holding more community meetings earlier this week, said Linn County Planning and Development Director Charlie Nichols said.

“They are addressing concerns made at the planning and zoning meeting as well as concerns brought up by supervisors in the past,” Nichols said during the supervisor meeting on Wednesday. “They would like a few more weeks to get all their ducks in a row before going to a public meeting.”

Fitzgerald said Friday the builder wanted to get negotiations settled with local labor groups before approaching the supervisors for approval.

“One of the crucial elements is making sure local labor is used for this project,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been in ongoing negotiations with local labor groups for weeks and we feel it's crucial for the project's success. We want that in place before we go before the supervisors on this matter.”

Nichols added that typically the county does approve delay requests from developers.

“This is different as there's been tons of media surrounding this. We’ve reserved a venue, audio equipment, and the visual team to be there,” Nichols told supervisors.

The project would take 640 acres of agricultural land out of use for up to 35 years if built, Nichols previously said at the planning and zoning panel meeting. The facility, called Coggon Solar, filed its application for the project back in July, calling for a project that can generate 100 megawatts during its 35-year-life cycle. The property is located south of Linn-Delaware Road, north of Hutchinson Road, west of Quality Road and east of Sutton Road.

Though the planning commission is appointed by the three supervisors, the supervisors themselves ultimately will have the final say after a series of three considerations at three separate meetings in which they will consider staff and planning and zoning committee members’ feedback.

The application includes an agricultural impact mitigation plan, vegetation management plan and a decommissioning plan that includes how the solar panels would be salvaged. According to the application, the panels will be recycled or sold on the secondary market after the project is decommissioned.

If ultimately approved, construction on the project is expected to last less than a year and originally aimed to begin in March 2022. Construction would require a monthly average of 100 to 200 employees, according to the project application.

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