Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday heard about 30 public comments, mostly in opposition, before unanimously approving plans for agrivoltaics and stormwater management as part of the massive solar farm proposed to be built north of Lawrence.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit attempting to stop the project, filed against the commission in May by Grant Township, the North Lawrence Improvement Association and more than a dozen other plaintiffs, is ongoing.

The commission’s votes on Wednesday do not yet authorize construction to take place.

The commission approved a conditional use permit for the Kansas Sky Energy Center in April after multiple hourslong meetings filled with divided public comment. It is a 159-megawatt solar energy project planned for 1,105 acres in Grant Township. If completed, the facility is expected to generate enough electricity to power about 30,000 homes annually.

Commissioners took separate votes on the plans related to agrivoltaics and stormwater, but several public commenters asserted the two were inextricably connected.

Agrivoltaics is a system in which land is used simultaneously for agriculture, such as grazing and cultivation, and solar energy. The solar farm was touted as a chance to reap the benefits of the budding technology. 

Mary Miller, city and county planner, said Wednesday that details, such as the number of acres, the type of fencing, and locations for livestock, are not included in the agrivoltaic and vegetation management plan. That’s because a review would be done every five years, and the zoning and codes director will offer a summary of progress and challenges followed by new goal-setting, she said.

“That’s all to be determined later,” Miller said.

Stormwater runoff has been another major point of discussion on the project. Opponents have been concerned that the solar farm could break down natural runoff systems and pose flooding risks in North Lawrence.

A study conducted for the county by Westwood Professional Services reports there will be a 2% net reduction in volume for the total drainage area — 1,095 acres — of the project, according to Megan Droogsma, Westwood water resources engineering manager. The study recommends implementation of two basins to mitigate the estimated slight increases in runoff.

County Engineer Chad Voigt said the nature of engineering requires flexibility. He said the county will later have to undergo a building permit process.

“And that goes for other things, like the electrical issues with the solar project and construction plans showing the actual vegetated areas,” Voigt said. “I mean, they’re working, you know, on all of these final plans in the background, and we’re going to get to see those.”

Despite the updated stormwater plan, several community members shared concerns about floodwaters even with normal levels of rain the county receives. They worried that increased runoff could harm their crops and more. 

Commissioner Shannon Reid said she feels comfortable that the approved plans meet the conditions in the conditional use permit. She also commented on feedback from the public over several meetings and through other conversations, calling some “fear-based innuendo and accusations and attempts to repeatedly suggest impropriety and unethical behavior, which at this point is being actively litigated and is a matter for the court entirely, in my opinion, and not a matter for this board to discuss.”

Commissioner Patrick Kelly said he has some reservations but that challenges are inevitable. He said he looks forward to ongoing discussions.

“If you read it and you say it’s perfect, then you didn’t actually read it,” Kelly said of the agrivoltaics plan. “But I think it’s good enough for now and good enough for my vote.”

Evergy will build, own and operate the 159-megawatt solar farm. Savion LLC, a Kansas City-based division of Royal Dutch Shell, will contribute designs.

Ashton Martin, senior permitting and environment manager for Savion, said an advisory board will be formed around the time construction begins. He said the Nature Conservancy, Evergy and the county will be represented on the board, as well as members of the public, and together they will create requests for proposals.

County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said the Nature Conservancy and Evergy will select board members and make bylaws.

The solar farm is expected to span 1,105 acres north of Lawrence, west of the airport and south of Midland Junction. The project site will cover approximately 604 acres, with the solar panels occupying about 218 acres if placed edge to edge.

Ongoing lawsuit against the commission

Lawsuit plaintiffs have alleged that the conditional use permit conflicts with other county documents and violates the rights of nearby property owners, among other concerns.

Opponents have also claimed Commission Chair Karen Willey has a conflict of interest. In court documents, the group calls the solar farm a “pet project” of Willey and accuses her of taking improper behind-the-scenes actions to push the project forward. The county denied the allegations.

Several public commenters Wednesday said Willey shouldn’t be voting. But she said she’d spoken with counsel and would not recuse herself.

“There’s no reason to, so I have not — I’m not,” Willey said.

On Monday, the lawsuit group filed a motion requesting Douglas County District Court halt the commission’s votes on the plans. An injunction issued late Tuesday prevents any construction or land modification associated with the proposed solar farm until at least the next court hearing in the lawsuit. Chief Douglas County District Judge James McCabria said Tuesday that his order was intended to allow all those involved to “come to terms” before the land is changed. 

Kelly said he’d responded to email correspondence from members of the Grant Township board to simply ask if 30 days would be sufficient for an engineer to look at the plans. He said he was not offering a 30-day extension and that his words were taken out of context and then used in legal documents.

“These are the kind of things that make it hard for our community to work on hard things is that when we’re disappointed in the outcome of something, we immediately run to a legal move, or we engage in a conversation that the communication is then used for a legal proceeding rather than just a simple response to the email,” Kelly said.

Reid said she’d not responded to a lot of correspondence about this subject because she wanted to limit her comments to public forums. 

Wednesday marked the commission’s final meeting before it will expand to five members.

Two new commissioners, elected in November, will join in January. That has been another point of contention for project opponents, many of whom have expressed that they feel the commission doesn’t represent the interests of rural Douglas County residents.

Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.

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