In an effort to learn more about solar farms before they cause additional controversy, the Wright County Board imposed a moratorium on new solar farm applications after a public hearing at its May 10 board meeting.

 

Three weeks earlier, the board adopted a resolution imposing an emergency moratorium. That decision was based on the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission as they were in the process of amending the county’s ordinance.

 

At the April 19 board meeting, Assistant Wright Co. Attorney Greg Kryzer said his office was recommending the moratorium to prevent applications being approved during the process of amending the ordinance, which could potentially lead to different people being treated differently.

 

That resolution led to the six-month moratorium imposed May 10. During that period, the goal is to get a group of people together to discuss the solar farm issue and make recommendations to amend the county’s ordinance.

At the May 17 board meeting, Planning & Zoning Administrator  Sean Riley told commissioners he had a list of potential candidates for the group. The following week, Riley presented the board with a list of 15 candidates.

 

The list includes two members of the planning commission, two county commissioners, two township supervisors, a representative from Wright-Hennepin Electric, a Delano city council member, two citizen representatives and five people from the private solar industry.

 

Riley said Dan Bravender is one of the representatives from the planning commission. The two private citizens are Harlan Anderson and Leander Wetter. 

 

The first meeting took place May 27. Subsequent meetings will take place every other Friday at 10 a.m.

 

“I called around to everybody on the list and it doesn’t seem to be a conflict with a lot of people,” Riley told members of the board. “I’m a little concerned about the size of the group just being workable and discussing the issues. I can’t guarantee we might have somebody drop out or the two commissioners might feel there are some adjustments needed.”

 

Commissioner Pat Sawatzke said between the people on the committee, there should be enough to get to the heart of the issue.

 

“There’s enough that if two people miss we’ll still have plenty to have a meaningful discussion,” he said.

 

A moratorium on solar farms was  voted down by the Sherburne County Board last April. At the time there were similar concerns about allowing solar farms while planning and zoning was working on its ordinance.

 

The county approved amendments to its ordinance last August, and three solar farms were approved this spring.