YOUNGSTOWN — About a dozen people spoke at a public hearing this week in the Mahoning County commissioners’ hearing room on possibly restricting construction of large solar and wind power-generating facilities in unincorporated areas of Green Township.

The speakers, including all three Green Township trustees, were given about three minutes each to talk about the proposed restriction, which was made possible under Ohio’s Senate Bill 52 in October 2021.

On Thursday, the commisioners also announced that they will have a second public hearing 6 p.m. Oct. 30 at Greenford Christian Church. The Green Township trustees requested the ban in a resolution they approved earlier this year.

Another speaker was Christian Holencamp of Lake Jackson, Texas, who works for Alpin Sun, a company proposing a solar project for Green Township.

Alpin is “a large solar developer with over 10 years of experience,” according to its website. “We originate, design and permit sustainable and cost-effective solar projects for public and private utility and large corporate entities.”

Holencamp said a reason for promoting solar projects is that the United States has been experiencing “more and more (electricity) blackouts, more and more brownouts nationwide and in different regions because the (power) grid is being taxed.”

Green Township Trustee Mark Stepuk said he and others have been researching the issue for nine months because 18 was raised in Columbiana County, where county commissioners last month added four more townships to the list of places where such a ban is in place. That brings to 15 the number of townships out of 18 that now have a ban.

The Kensington solar project in Franklin Township in southern Columbiana County is not affected by the ban because its plans alreadyhad been submitted before the commissioners approved the Franklin Township ban, according to the Lisbon Morning Journal.

“It is my position is we are not against solar development,” contrary to what some people are saying, Stepuk told Mahoning County commissioners.

He saidGreen Township trustees have tried to educate the public that the issue before the commissioners is whether to ban 50 megawatt solar facilities or larger in Green Township.

He said he believes developers would need at least 250 acres to install such a facility. “We’re not looking at residential” solar panels, he said. “We’re looking at the large-scale solar farms that are going to take up our farm land.”

“We think there is a use for them, just not on usable, tillable farmland,” Stepuk added. He said he wonders what will happen to food prices if solar farms use up too much farm acreage.

Stepuk said he has spoken with 200 property owners, mostly of larger properties, and he estimates at least 90 percent oppose solar farms.

He said the commissioners could come to Green Township and meet with residents to see that “they are adamantly against” allowing large solar projects.

He wonders why the solar companies don’t look at using landfill spaces or brownfield developments, including some in the Youngstown area.

He said residents are concerned about the negative effect on property values near a solar farm. “I’ve heard the term ‘eyesore’ about 50 times last week,” he said of the people he has spoken to.

There are also health and environmental concerns. He is concerned about the effect on the community if a strong wind or tornado brought down solar arrays “This thing is going to get scattered everywhere,” he said. “Who cleans that up?”

GREIERS

Husband and wife Wayne and Sarah Greier of 11421 Washingtonville Road were the two Green township residents who spoke against banning large solar and wind projects.

Wayne Greier said his family has been landowners in Green Township more than 40 years and has farmed on his land his whole life. But he nearly died of COVID-19 and spent 80 days in the hospital.

“I am at a tipping point as to whether I have to sell off the family farm or find another option,” he said of the couple’s financial condition.

He said he has talked to a solar company that “met my needs the best. It will not just go to a vacant lot. It will not go to houses, but I can still keep agriculture there. We can farm, and we will still be able to run sheep” and keep bees, he said.

He said having solar panels on his property for 40 years will provide benefits to his farmland.

“We are giving the land benefits of giving it a break for the next 40 years. We are keeping this together where it’s not going to be houses. It’s not going to be a strip mall. It’s not going to change what it is other than I’m farming a different style.”

He said a factor is the “carbon we are going to reduce, whether you believe in climate change or not. We need energy in this country. We need energy in Ohio. How are we going to do it? We need to look at every option possible, whether it is wind, solar, coal, gas. I support all energy. I want energy independence.”

Sarah Greier said she has been living in Green Township 20 years. She ran the farm equipment while Wayne was sick and said lots of people at the meeting helped them get through Wayne’s illness.

GREEN OFFICIALS

Randy Chismar, Green Township fiscal officer, said he is “conflicted” on the proposed ban on large solar and wind projects, saying there will be some economic benefit for the area.

“I would be more confident if there was an inflation factor built in or if it wasn’t based on estimates of the megawatts the company gives,” Chismar said.

He asked the county commissioners take note that the Greiers were the only proponents of solar farms who spoke at the meeting who are from Green Township. “They are not bad people. They are trying to do what they can for their family farm, and everybody in the community understands that,” he said.

He said during conversations with people at sporting and other events, “Nobody else in Green Township wants” a big solar project.

“And at this point, of the 3,500 people in Green Township, 99.8 percent of them do not want to see solar panels in Green Township. Whatever the reason — fear, stubbornness, conservatism. It doesn’t matter. They don’t want to see the panels.”

He said the “people in Green Township moved there to see cornfields. They moved there to see apple orchards. They did not move there to see solar panels.”

“Is it the way of the future? Perhaps. It’s not the way of Green Township’s future.”

Township Trustee George Toy agreed that a township trustee’s job is to do what residents want.

Trustee David Slagle said he is “opposed to taking any farmland and turning into an industrial or commercial property of any kind.”

He said he is opposed to big solar and wind projects in the township “because I want to see it farmed. I don’t want to see it go to residential (construction) either.”

A PROPONENT

Taylor Christian said he grew up in Green Township, and his parents still live there, but he now lives in Boardman and works for NextEra Energy Resources.

“I am speaking as a Mahoning County resident,” he said.

He has worked in the renewable energy field since 2020.

“Over those three years, I have seen countless farmers and landowners benefit from partnering with developers,” he said.

“Time after time I have heard from landowners, farmers, that leasing some of their land made it possible to keep the rest of the farm in their family. And at the end of the project’s life span, the Ohio Power Siting Board requires that the land be returned to the way it was before the solar farm went in,” he said.

He is familiar with Ohio S.B. 52, he said. “It gives you another pathway rather than an outright ban. It gives you time to work with the developing companies and figure out if they are good neighbors or not. As someone in the industry, I will be the first to say there are some really great developers and there are some really not so great ones.”

He said that in addition to generating electricity, renewable energy projects generate revenue for local governments — “between $7,000 and $9,000 per megawatt per year” that can be used to help township residents.

He also has seen that money “transform” school districts in a positive way. He said more and more companies are attracted to areas with locally produced renewable energy. He said banning solar farms could result in loss of opportunities “for our youth to find jobs. I’ve seen friend after friend have to move away. I would like to raise children in this community.”