Big win for Columbiana County residents as more townships are banning big solar! Way to go neighbor! Let's continue to keep them out!
https://www.wfmj.com/story/48889461/big-solar-and-wind-farms-banned-in-seven-more-columbiana-co-townships?fbclid=IwAR3MOTE37lW9m0xt7arrwq0RdqIUYYSsBEB64jMZpkOxA7oCg5omep0oK_M&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
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Many may think that North Beaver Township (NBT) is currently safe from industrial solar, because we have an ordinance in place to keep it off of farmland BUT! It may not be that simple. The primary elections are coming up and not only do we need to make sure who we vote in locally, but we want to be paying close attention to who we vote for on all levels of government. With a swipe of a pen, our ordinance could be overruled by new laws. Don’t think our farmland couldn’t be lost due to eminent domain. Seems farfetched? It has already been recommended by people in high positions.
So, before you go to the polls next Tuesday and this fall, do your homework and make sure you are voting for someone who will be preserving our farmlands, locally and across the United States. Here is a sample ballots on May 16, 2023. Search for your township and party. https://lawrencecountypa.gov/getmedia/82d86618-b3dd-42ed-876b-4e7095c06c4c/2023-PRIMARY-sample-ballots.pdf The solar company claimed at the open house that they will be creating over 300 jobs, but when pressed about the jobs, they did admit that it would only be for 18 months. So, these are all temporary jobs! So what happens to all of those people 18 months down the road? There is no guarantee they will even hire locally. And, if pressed on hiring locally, they will probably respond with…”we will try or attempt”…but like many of their other claims, it is this just a lot of fancy words and trying to get you to look at how great they are and all they are offering, not what we will be losing or the rest of the truth.
At the solar open house, concerns were brought up about tenant farmers and what happens to them. Many farmers rely on surrounding farmland to farm since they may not have enough of their own land to farm. If this farmland is taken out of production and they can’t farm it, what happens to them? Can they continue to farm? Will they have to lay off farmhands? It could possibly put some farmers out of business. The solar reps said they would talk with the tenant farmers and attempt to find them other land to farm. Other land? Where? And if new farmland is found, what will they have to pay for this new land?
The solar reps also said they would help to reestablish the farmer into a new line of work!!??? Really? Doesn’t this sound contradicting by them claiming they are helping farmers to keep their farms by putting industrial solar on farmland? Are you starting to see a pattern? It is like a sleight of hand trick. Keep everyone busy looking at all this money and good they “claim” they are doing but don’t look behind the curtain at what they are really doing. At the solar open house, one rep wouldn’t even admit that solar panels can catch on fire. Repeatedly he responded “not in my experience”. Several people had to pull out their phones to show proof of solar panels burning. When another rep was asked and they admitted they could. That first rep tried to compare a solar field burning being no worse than a house catching on fire. Do acres of solar panels burning really compare to a single house burning ?
Another interesting thing is that we were told by some who talked with the solar people, that North Beaver Township (NBT) fire department would not be allowed on the solar property and would only be able to keep the fire spreading from outside of the fence. A specialized fire team would be required to enter to put the fire out, which they could take up to 45 minutes to arrive. But at the meeting, those attending were informed that NBT fire department could enter after contacting the solar company and assessing the situation. You decide, do we really want to trust them when no one can even get straight answers, let alone the same answers? Watch as industrial scale solar panels burn. Watch video here (turn sound on) The industrial solar invasion just isn’t happening here!
Fox News talked with Susan Burns on how solar companies are taking over in Callaway County in Missouri and farmers are fearing it may bankrupt them. Susan is telling the same story of what could happen here in Lawrence County, PA also if industrial solar is not stopped. Susan states that their 10,000 acre project is to be started in the next 2 years. She shared great information, too bad the news company cut her off though. (note have to watch 15 second commercial) https://www.foxnews.com/video/6324001947112 The solar reps had a paper they handed out that stated there would be no loss of property value, but even one solar rep agreed that solar panels are not attractive and more than once the reps agreed that the solar panels would not be able to be hidden.
Those that opposed agreed that looking across a field of solar panels would impact the resale value of a house. There are many studies that show industrial solar does impact the resale of a home. The solar rep claimed they have done studies that show differently, but now realtors are speaking out that their clients do not want shown houses next to solar fields and are having difficulty selling houses near them. |