An agreement approved by the village board last week calls for an energy company to pay Monee a hefty “Community Benefit” fee when construction of their solar field begins.
Colorado-based Turning Point Solar has agreed to pay the village $250,000 “in accordance with (the) company’s desire to contribute to the welfare and betterment of the village and for the purpose of supporting community development in the village, and to alleviate the project’s overall administrative burden to the village.
Turning Point Solar plans to build a sun-powered energy field on Will-Center Road, approximately 1,000 feet south of Court Street on the east side of the road.
The company first approached the village in 2022, but the project was dormant until recently.
It will be the first solar farm in Monee and, while Illinois law makes it impossible to deny construction of solar farms, the village aims to mitigate any possible negative impact it might have locally.
State law establishes standards for county-level regulation, streamlining the permitting process for commercial solar facilities. Local governments can regulate solar development, but they cannot block it.
The board of trustees approved an ordinance allowing the solar farm and outlining regulations the village requires.
Village Attorney Larry Gryczewski told the board Turning Point has agreed to the payment after “further conversations.”
“The company has agreed to pay the village a quarter of a million dollars when construction starts,” he said.
“They also will agree to the site plan as we requested, and they’ve been very cooperative.”
A copy of the entire agreement covering the donation can be found in the information packet for the July 23 board meeting.
Trustees Scott Youdris, Heidi Gonzalez, Doug Horne, Michael Wilson, and Chuck Rakis voted “yes” to approve the agreement. Trustee John Henson abstained, but gave no explanation.
In another matter during that meeting, Henson urged residents to take precautions when installing swimming pools and to follow village requirements.
“It has come to the attention of the Village of Monee Building Services that there are numerous pools being added to properties here,” he said in his building service report.
“To install a pool, there is a permit required. This is for many reasons, but the main one is the life safety of the homeowner and the surrounding community residents.
“During periods of high heat and humidity, it is very refreshing to jump into a pool, especially if the pool or property is unattended-to.
“If there is a pool that is not behind a fence, or if all reasonable precautions have (not) been taken to secure it when not in use, they can be very deadly to everyone, especially to children.
“The Village of Monee has adopted codes to make swimming pools as safe as possible. (The codes require) safety barriers around the yard or around the pool top, ladders that are manufactured to be secured from use or removed when not in use.
“The electrical supply needs to be properly bonded for the pool system with a number of requirements to turn off the electricity for safety and first responder safety,” he continued.
“These safety requirements have proven out with a recall of five million soft-side pools made by Bestway, Intex, and Polygroup, due to a design that enables small children to scale the side of the pool. Nine children have lost their lives due to this. Information related to this recall may be obtained at the Consumer Product Safety Commission website (cpsc.gov).
“Please err on the side of safety while enjoying those pools, and even when you are not.”