OREGON — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Ogle County Board approved three amendments to the Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone that would see it increase in size, including one that would see the addition of Constellation’s Byron Nuclear Plant as the facility plans for capacity upgrades in coming years.
The Lee-Ogle Enterprise Zone (LOEZ) is designed to stimulate economic growth and businesses located or expanding in the zone may be eligible for certain state and local tax incentives, such as sales tax exemptions and property tax abatements. The expansion of the LOEZ to include the land for the three projects will be considered by many boards and councils within the zone over the next several weeks, LOEZ Administrator Andy Shaw said.
The land added to the LOEZ for the Byron Nuclear Plant amendment would total 171.92 acres. Constellation is planning to invest more than $355 million in the Byron Nuclear Plant to increase its capacity and is seeking support from the LOEZ.
The Byron Nuclear Plant produces 2,347 megawatts of electricity each year and employs over 600 full-time employees. Constellation's investment to increase power output will include six low-pressure turbines, two high-pressure turbines, and electrical system improvements.
Constellation Manager of Local Government Affairs Ryan Tozer appeared at the county board meeting to support the amendment. He said the LOEZ would expand to capture the footprint of the Byron Nuclear Plant.
"We have a generational planned investment to replace the turbines," Tozer said. "The bigger turbines will capture more steam air, rotate more and produce more megawatts. We will do the project in four separate windows and each window we'll increase employment by about 500-600 contractual employees."
The capacity expansion project is slated to start in spring 2026 and be finished completely by 2029. Tozer said Tuesday the improvements will extend the life of the Byron Nuclear Plant until approximately 2080.
"This is major job retention and will keep the plant here for another generation," Shaw said.
The Ogle County Board voted back in August to rezone 524 acres of land owned by Constellation around the Byron Nuclear Plant from agricultural to industrial as Constellation considers attracting industrial development such as data centers. Increased capacity would aid in development, as data centers use large amounts of power and seek to locate near power sources.
The board also approved an amendment to the LOEZ that would see 17.21 acres of land added into it for a project at HA International in rural Ogle County west of Oregon on Devils Back Bone Road south of Pines Road. Ha International has proposed an expansion at its existing plant, bringing to Oregon an improved production line from a company site in Ohio.
The expansion would include a new building to manufacture a product called feeders to be used by the metal casting industry. The anticipated $10 million project will create 17 new manufacturing jobs in the short term with a hope for 56 new jobs over about 10 years.
The final approved expansion amendment involves a project called Fun on 52 and Pub & Patio in rural Lee County on sites between Amboy and Sublette totaling around 10.61 acres. The same ownership is developing the separate entertainment sites in an area of Lee County with heavy visitor traffic including Woodhaven Lakes and many campgrounds in that area.
Fun on 52 would be a family-oriented amusement complex with golf activities and go karting. Pub & Patio would be a bar and grill restaurant near the gate to Woodhaven Resort. The timeline for the completion is late 2025 for Pub & Patio and late 2027 for Fun on 52 with about 20 new jobs at each location. Both projects total $6 million.
The LOEZ currently has 1,516.67 acres of unused space available for expansion amendments. If the three expansion amendments are approved, 1,316.93 acres will remain available in the LOEZ for future amendments.
Zoning
The board unanimously approved three zoning items related to wind and solar energy facility siting.
The county's commercial application fees for wind and solar energy energy siting and operating were increased from $25,000 to $100,000 during the meeting by two ordinances. $100,000 is the maximum application fee the county could charge.
Board Vice Chairman Patricia Nordman said the county wanted to make sure its fees were comparable to other counties and that it was charging the same amount for wind and solar.
The board also approved a resolution updating its Land Evaluations and Site Assessment (LESA) system policies. LESA is a land evaluation method for cropland and integrates soil survey interpretations for important farmland classes, land capability classification, and either soil productivity or soil potential ratings.
Nordman said the update will include more soils to integrate into the math system it considers when wind and solar proposals are made on farmland in the county.
Road & bridge
The board unanimously approved road & bridge resolutions including a joint funding agreement for a $640,000 Tower Road overlay project from Water Road to Montague Road. The county's share of that project will be $160,000.
The board also unanimously approved a preliminary engineering services agreement for a Sumner Road bridge project for $67,727 with Willett, Hofmann & Associates.