By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post
PRINCEVILLE – Here comes the sun. Or here comes to Princeville a solar-energy project, to be more accurate.
During its meeting Jan. 3, the Village Board authorized Trajectory Energy Partners to transform a 17-acre plot in northwest Princeville into a 2-megawatt solar farm. Construction is expected to begin late this year and finish in early 2025, according to Kiersten Sheets, a Trajectory project-development manager.
“I personally think it’s going to be a big benefit, a big asset to our village,” said Jeff Troutman, the Princeville village president.
The solar array along West North Street near Princeville Township Cemetery is expected to generate at least $16,600 in first-year property-tax revenue, an increase of more than $14,000, according to Highland Park-based Trajectory.
First proposed in 2018 and revived about two months ago, the solar farm received an OK in late December from the Princeville Zoning Board of Appeals. Trajectory contacted neighboring property owners and homeowners, about 60 in all, by mail and/or in person to address potential concerns.
“We do make concessions,” said Sheets, whose firm also is developing a solar installation in Brimfield. “We try to be good neighbors. We try to be very transparent and explicative.”
None of that necessarily meant Village Board approval was automatic, although Richard Schoenbeck proved to be the only one of the six trustees to vote against it.
One neighbor, Martin Fairchild, expressed concern about six 35-foot poles that abut his residence along Shawn Street, at the northeast edge of the solar development.
Those poles are to facilitate connections between the solar farm and the Ameren Illinois power grid. Each entity is responsible for three poles.
“We want to be clear that we do not oppose the solar farm, but we want to make sure all equipment is situated appropriately,” Fairchild told the board.
Fairchild found a sympathetic ear in Trustee Ron Delbridge. Delbridge said he supported the project, but the poles and connecting wires might be problematic. Ameren requires some wiring to be above ground, according to Sheets.
“That’s just unsightly,” Delbridge said. “I would not want that in my backyard. … There’s got to be a compromise, somewhere, somehow. If they don’t, then where are we left (with)? Unhappy homeowners?”
Sheets said Trajectory will work with Ameren to move the poles farther south, behind a stand of trees, and perhaps try to bury additional lines. She made no guarantees, but she and Troutman suggested Ameren is open to suggestion.
The board also plans to draft a letter to Ameren that supports moving the poles.
“We’re going to rely on Ameren’s word,” Trustee Donald Peterson Jr. said.
Trajectory estimates the solar installation will provide Princeville subscribers more than $40,000 in utility-bill savings annually.
Before trustees considered solar-farm approval, Troutman told them the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office deputy who is dedicated to 40-hour-a-week patrols in Princeville resigned from the force late last month. Vince Cogdal worked in the village for about a year.
Until a new deputy is assigned to Princeville, others are to work overtime to fulfill the sheriff’s-office contract with the village, Troutman said.
Deputies also patrolled Princeville on New Year’s Eve at no charge. That shift was in addition to the regular, contracted patrols.
5-16-24
5-17-24
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