OREGON — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Ogle County Board voted 17-4 to deny a special use permit for the construction and operation of a two-megawatt community solar energy facility in Mt. Morris Township at 8400 Haldane Road on 17.58 acres.
The special use permit was requested by DG Mount Solar of Juno Beach, Florida. Voting in favor of approving the special use permit were Board Members Wayne Reising, Joseph Simms, Susie Corbitt and Don Griffin.
"It's very good farmland," Board Member Marcia Heuer said.
The board has considered a number of special use permit for solar facilities in recent years. Back in December, the board narrowly approved a special use permit for a solar project between Forreston and Polo after previously denying that project due to it being on productive farmland. That petitioner changed its siting to less productive farmland and filed a lawsuit against Ogle County for the denial, stemming from a recent new state law that set statewide standards for wind and solar farm siting and took away previous local controls such as at the county level.
Rodeos
During the public comment portion of the meeting, the board again heard from individuals against alleged animal abuse that takes place at rodeos at 16989 E. Ritchie Road, a property in Ogle County south of Rochelle.
The rodeos have drawn concerns from Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), an animal activist group, which has asked the board in the past to revoke a special use permit for the venue to host events and has asked the Ogle County Sheriff's Office and Ogle County State's Attorney's Office to charge and prosecute those committing what they believe to be animal abuse at the Mexican-style rodeos.
The board heard from Steve Hindi of SHARK and Kelleigh Miller, a county resident, who asked the board to take action to stop steer tailing at the events. Steer tailing is a specific rodeo event where a rider on horseback chases down a running steer, bull, or calf and grabs onto the animal’s tail; the rider then wraps the tail around his leg, slamming the animal to the ground.
Last month, the Ogle County Board tabled a resolution in potential support of State Senate Bill 0045, which seeks to ban steer tailing. The resolution was tabled due to a desire to get feedback from the state's attorney and look into the venue's special use permit.
Representatives from SHARK have spoken at Ogle County Board meetings in the past. SHARK has been in contact with Ogle County Board members, State's Attorney MIke Rock and Sheriff Brian VanVickle in the past, providing video evidence of what it believes to be animal abuse.
"We're four years into this," Hindi said. "I had one board member insinuate that we've been pushy. Not when you're four years into it. These are violations of state laws. Do we respect our laws or do we not?"
Rules of order
The board voted unanimously to update its rules of order at the meeting. The update included language regarding the public comment portion of meetings, including when a group of individuals wishing to address the board on the same subject, the county board chairman may request and permit one spokesperson be chosen from the group and speak for a period longer than the maximum five minutes.
Under the update, comments must be directed to the board as a whole, not to any one member or official. Persons addressing the county board will not be permitted to make statements or remarks unrelated to the business of the board. The change also includes conduct language.
"Persons addressing the board shall refrain from statements, remarks, or conduct that is uncivil, vulgar, profane, especially to any public servant or citizen, or otherwise disruptive to the conducting of the board’s business," the new rules of order said.
On Tuesday the board did strike language from the proposed new rules of order that would have given the board chairman the ability to bar public comment speakers from further audience before the board if they made prohibited statements.
Viewpoint
The board voted 17-4 to approve a Viewpoint project for the county for $24,900 that will see it have video promotional work done. The work could also include an additional $3,800 for testimonial interviews. The video pieces would air on television and the county has already been working with Constellation on a sponsorship for the work and could see additional funding help from the Ogle County Economic Development Corporation.
Board Chairman Bruce Larson said the videos would be aimed at helping with economic development and the county would own the video content for other use locally and have it available for use by local businesses.
Voting against the approval were Board Members Aaron Mudge, Ryan Reeverts, Dean Fox and Jackie Ramsey.
Courthouse
The board heard an update from Long Range Planning Chairman and Board Member Don Griffin on ongoing renovation work at the historic courthouse.
Griffin said the building's basement is being refinished, with asbestos abatement completed and new flooring underway. The cafeteria section of the building will then see work before the other side of the building will see asbestos abatement, with work being done at night to not close the elevator and ADA-accessible portions of the building for too long.
Griffin said the work overall is "going quite well" and that roof repairs due to hail damage are being assessed and will soon be put out for bid.
