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Logan County Board
September Workshop Meeting
[September 13, 2025]
On Thursday, September 11th,
the Logan County Board met for their monthly Workshop meeting. This
meeting took place in the second floor courtroom of the Logan County
Courthouse starting at 6:00 p.m. The Administrative Assistant
Madelyn Hinton was printing off some documents for the meeting, so
the meeting started closer to 6:20 p.m. Ten of the twelve board
members were present. This included Vice Chairman Dale Nelson,
Hannah Fitzpatrick, Michael DeRoss, Jim Weebecher, Keenan Leesman,
Bob Sanders, Kathy Schmidt, Joseph Kuhlman, Kevin Knauer, and Lance
Conahan. Absent were Chairman JR Glenn and Gil Turner.
The meeting started with Nelson, who was leading the meeting,
calling for a moment of silence to remember the victims of September
11th. After the moment of silence, Nelson asked Schmidt to lead the
room in a prayer. Schmidt prayed over a variety of topics, including
the victims and families of 9/11, Charlie Kirk and his family,
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, and the members of the board as
they conduct business.
Nelson then opened the floor for public comments, asking those who
wished to speak to keep their comments to three minutes or less if
possible. The first comment was by Brittney Krebsbach with Pivot
Energy. Krebsbach stated that she was present this evening because
the board was going to be voting on Pivot’s complaint resolution
plan for the solar project they are going to be developing outside
of Atlanta. She also informed the board that this complaint
resolution plan received unanimous approval from the Planning
Commission.
After Krebsbach’s comments, Paige Cowley of REV Renewables was
invited to give a presentation on the Sugar Creek solar farm that
they are working on developing. Much of what was presented was
previously reported on by LDN in an article from the
Zoning and Economic Development meeting from last week . There
was some new information provided to the board. Cowley discussed the
noise impact on local residents, showing a map of a study that was
conducted. The map showed the distances from residences that the
panels must be placed to follow noise laws both during the day as
well as at night. They were far away from any residences that would
be able to hear them. Cowley also stated that vegetative screening
will be provided to block the panels from view of anyone living
within three quarters of a mile from them.
Nelson then asked about the noise levels, asking if the panels will
be running at night. Cowley stated that they would not be, but that
even if they were to, they would not be able to be heard by those
living nearby. Nelson also asked if the design on this project was
final, to which Cowley stated it was not. She did explain that REV
felt they were at the proper stage in the planning process to submit
their application. She also stated that the plans they are
submitting are extending the limits of space the permit they are
applying for will allow them to use. Leesman explained that
conditions can be added to the permit to help keep the design within
parameters that they want them to be even if they approve it.
After the presentation, there were
no more public comments, so Nelson moved on to the committee
reports, the first one being Building and Grounds. Committee
Chairman Conahan brought forward several items, the first being the
modernization of the exterior elevator in the courthouse. This item,
as well as the other two items relating to the courthouse that
Conahan brought forward, were previously published by LDN in an
article about the
Building and Grounds Committee meeting last week. The cost of
this modernization would be $182,710. It is needed for the Americans
with Disabilities Act compliance. Also, according to Conahan, the
money for this project is in the courthouse restoration fund.
The next item Conahan brought forward was fixing the base of the
dome. This item is a part of the courthouse restoration project and
will cost $374,470. Included in the repair is stained glass,
windows, the bell cradle, and roof repair, which includes
waterproofing the roof to stop the leaks that have been occurring.
The third item Conahan brought forward was a contract with J Tech to
service the courthouse’s geothermal system. Conahan shared that this
contract would be for $3,500 and the company would come out to
service the system quarterly. The final item Conahan brought forth
was a use of grounds request for Trick or Treat with the Mayor on
October 25th.
The next committee addressed was Executive and Personnel. Two items
were brought forward, both appointments. The first was an
appointment of someone to the Union drainage district 1, and the
second was to the Broadwell special drainage district 1. Nelson also
made an announcement that Hinton would be staying as the board’s
Administrative Assistant rather than taking a position at the
State’s Attorney’s office.
The next committee was Finance, whose Chairman is Schmidt. The first
item Schmidt brought forward was to get Bellwether to assist the
county in making their budget. This would cost the county two
payments of $6,000. Conahan shared that he spoke with someone from
the company, and they informed him that they usually do a “workshop
day.” Conahan stated that this day involves them coming to the
courthouse and meeting with all the department heads for about
thirty minutes each. They also encourage as many of the county board
members to be present as possible. Conahan shared that when he
informed them that they only wanted assistance making the budget,
and not for Bellwether to do it themselves, they stated that they
actually prefer it that way.
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The rest of the items that
Schmidt brought forward included a $6,500 donation to Work Camp
for Lincoln (click
here to read more on this item), a predictable fee schedule,
three tax sales, a salary increase for the public defender, and
a salary increase for the Sheriff. Many of these items were
already reported on from the
Finance committee meeting from last week.
The next committee addressed was Safety, of whom the Chairman is
Knauer. After a brief update on the jail expansion, Knauer
brought three items forward. These items were the Logan County
Paramedic Association (LCPA) requesting a payment of $100,000, a
new contract with the LCPA, and appointing Knauer to be
appointed to the Emergency Telephone System Board (this motion
was made by Sanders). All of these items were previously
published by LDN in an article covering the
Safety meeting from last week.
The next committee to bring forward items was Transportation,
whose Chairman is Wessbecher. Wessbecher brought up a motion to
approve an engineering agreement with Hanson Professional
Services to design the last section of the road project on 5th
street.
The last committee addressed was
Zoning and Economic Development. Committee Chairman DeRoss brought
forward the citing permit for Sugar Creek. Nelson mentioned that he
was not comfortable with voting for something that was not the final
plan, to which Schmidt agreed. DeRoss stated several options they
could take, stating that whatever they do they would have to do
within the confines of the law.
Kyle Barry, a lawyer present on behalf of Sugar Creek Solar, then
requested to speak. He stated that Logan County’s ordinance does not
require energy projects to have full designs when applying for a
citing permit. He also stated that this is not something that the
board has required for previous energy projects that were approved,
bringing up the Mulligan solar project. He also stated that REV will
not be allowed to build outside of the area that is approved, even
if the plans do change.
The committee consulted Zoning and Economic Development Officer Al
Green, who was present at the meeting, to speak on this. Green
shared that there are certain aspects to planning energy projects
that cannot be fully known before a citing permit is approved.
The next item DeRoss brought forward was changing the current fees
for permits for energy projects within the county. The new
suggestion was to charge $4,000 per megawatt versus the current
model of charging by the amount of land used or the height of the
wind turbines. Green confirmed that $4,000 is reasonable when
compared to other counties.
Next, DeRoss brought forward the complaint resolution plan from
Pivot Energy. Nelson asked about the response time to complaints, to
which Fitzpatrick informed him it would have to be within 2-5 days.
The discussion then turned toward data centers, with Nelson stating
that Glenn wanted to know what is being done with the ordinance
about these. Green said that there are currently two data centers in
the county that are “behind the grid,” or that produce only enough
energy to power their facility. According to Green, these facilities
technically do not require a decommissioning plan according to the
current ordinance.
The last thing DeRoss brought up was
the possibility of publishing information regarding laws around wind
and solar facilities for the public to have access to. This way, the
public would be more informed about these projects and what the laws
the county has to follow when one is being proposed. He also said
that they could inform the public on what to do about them and who
to contact if they are having issues with them.
With all business taken care of, Nelson moved on to announcements,
to which he apologized for missing something in the moment of
silence earlier. He stated that he forgot to mention the victims of
the Colorado school shooting and wanted to correct that. Another
moment of silence was then taken. After this, with no other matters
to attend to, the meeting was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
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