Douglas County commissioners vote to allow environmental testing for proposed solar farm; will now seek judicial review

Douglas County commissioners voted to allow a proposed solar farm to begin environmental testing on land in Grant Township amid pending litigation and opposition from the township board. The county’s next step is to seek judicial review on the action.

The 5-0 vote to approve all requests for environmental testing will now move to judicial review, as the commissioners want to ensure they are not violating an injunction that is currently prohibiting construction or land modification for the solar farm.

The Kansas Sky Energy Center, a 159-megawatt solar farm, would be built, owned and operated by Evergy with designs provided by Savion LLC, a division of Royal Dutch Shell based out of Kansas City.

Evergy submitted five temporary business use (TBU) permit requests to county staff in June to complete environmental testing on five sections of land with 13 subject properties included.

Damon Ray, an Evergy project manager, said testing now would allow the company to expedite the engineering and construction processes if the injunction is lifted.

In April 2024, the county commission — then consisting of Karen Willey, Shannon Reid and Patrick Kelly — voted unanimously to approve a conditional use permit for the project.

A group of plaintiffs, including Grant Township and affected property owners, sued the county in May 2024, alleging that the permit conflicted with county documents and regulations. They also claimed that Willey was taking improper behind-the-scenes actions to push the project forward. 

Chief Douglas County District Judge James McCabria issued an injunction in December prohibiting the start of construction on the solar farm. He said the injunction was intended to maintain status quo for the land during pending litigation. The lawsuit is still ongoing.

The Grant Township Board submitted a letter in opposition to Evergy’s requests for environmental testing Wednesday. One of their concerns, which their board treasurer presented during public comment, was that approval of any testing would violate the temporary injunction.

Nancy Thellman, owner of Juniper Hill Farm & Table and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, expressed disapproval of the TBUs for similar reasons during public comment. She said she felt the county made mistakes when selecting the proposed site for the solar farm.

“Remarkable opportunities were lost, some mistakes we already knew about before starting (the lawsuit), like the county ignoring the Kansas Department of Fish and Wildlife advice to move the project at least a mile away from the river,” she said. “Or the solar industry experts’ advice to allow as much as a 15% slope to the solar site, rather than just 5%, to increase solar energy production and have the added benefit of opening up more thousands of acres for solar siting.”

Commissioner Gene Dorsey repeatedly expressed hesitation and felt that the commission should wait for the court case to play out before making a decision.

Reid and Kelly, as well as county staff members, said the county had filed a motion for clarification to see if a TBUs would be prohibited. The judge said the commission should proceed with its decision-making.

“There’s a distinguishment between the role of the court and the role of the commission, and our decision today might very well be challenged or changed or further commented on within that court venue in the litigation,” Reid said. “But we are moving forward on this, staff moved forward on this, based on that guidance from the court.”

She said the commission’s vote itself would not violate the court order, but that the court could rule if the actions proposed by Evergy are a violation.

The vote is in line with a staff recommendation made by Karl Bauer, a county planner. During a presentation to commissioners, he emphasized that testing would be temporary, with no permanent structures built.

“Staff does not anticipate any permanent impact to any wetlands, floodplain or prime soils on the properties, and after the testing, the ag (agricultural) uses of the property could continue,” he said.

Bauer’s suggested conditions for TBUs included that the permits would be valid for a year, but testing must be completed within a six-week window; testing activities can only occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; and the properties should be returned to their prior condition.

The township board had requested “testing activities” be changed to “working activities” if the TBUs were approved. Representatives from Evergy and their collaborators at DEPCOM Power had no opposition to this change, which was voted on by the commission.

Provided that the TBUs pass judicial review, Evergy will have until Oct. 22, 2026, to complete its six-week project.

In total, tests across all five sites include:

• 13 boreholes, 17 test pits, nine double ring infiltration tests, 29 drain tile surveys and six gas line surveys
• 12 soil samples, collected from 25 feet by 25 feet locations
• 26 piles for pile load testing, which are driven 6.5 or 8 feet into the ground
• Six samples for thermal resistivity testing

Representatives from DEPCOM explained the types of testing to the commission. For more invasive tests, they said they would restore sites as well as possible by preserving topsoil, native material and the earth below for backfilling.

Willey asked if there is a preferred time of year for testing. Ryan Shrimplin, director of preconstruction at DEPCOM, said that any season would work, but the current period between harvest and the planting season is ideal to minimize disruption to landowners. 

In its letter, the Grant Township board referenced past concerns about land disruption with a TBU the county granted to Southern Star for pipeline work.

“Despite assurances that roads would be restored, Southern Star repeatedly violated TBU conditions and caused extensive damage to major haul routes,” the letter states. “Repairs cost the township over $115,000 for materials and hauling alone.”

However, Grant Township resident Carol Schmitt spoke in favor of the TBUs during public comment. She said her front door is about 100 feet from the proposed project. 

“I support it (the solar farm) for environmental reasons,” she said. “Energy use goes up every day … and we have a White House that denies the existence of climate change. So for me, the environmental situation is more dire now than it was even 10 months ago.”

County staff and TBU applicant presentations, as well as the letter of opposition from Grant Township, can be found in the agenda item report.

A recording of the meeting will be available on the county’s YouTube page.

Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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