Jason Curran, Commissioner of Electric, Streets, Water, Sewer | City of Oglesby
Jason Curran, Commissioner of Electric, Streets, Water, Sewer | City of Oglesby
At its Jan. 16 meeting, Oglesby City Council officials heard a request for a letter of support for the Hickory Wind Project in LaSalle county.
Council was told owner UKA North America has secured lease agreements with 60 landowners in southwestern LaSalle county and will soon be meeting with the county board to present its case for a special-use permit. The organization is sending out letters asking for the support of local communities to aid in its presentation to the county board for permits.
A small portion of the wind farm will be in the Oglesby school district, and so the school will receive some taxation from it. The school board and district is planning on supporting this project and signing the letter of support. Despite a few hesitations from commissioner Jason Curran, the council voted to support the project and sign the letter alongside the school board.
“You know my stance on when it comes to taxes: the less money you have to tax on people, then I'm on board if that's the primary reason." Curran said. "My only fear is, again, I know nothing about this company and I thought our area was bad for it. My concern would be: I'd hate to send an endorsement and all of a sudden five years later they find out it's not a good program and then they abandon it. And then we have abandoned wind farms.”
The Hickory Wind Project is a wind farm owned and operated by UKA North America. It will be an 80 megawatt wind farm in the county that will generate enough electricity to power up to 27,000 homes in the state. The project is expected to create more than 130 temporary construction jobs and up to 10 permanent jobs after installation with $800,000 in annual tax revenues over the next 25 years. The farm will have a MET tower on the premises and is on track to begin construction in 2024.
In other business, council voted in favor of spending approximately $30,000 to replace fire department gear that was damaged during a chemical fire.
Thomas Argubright, the commissioner of Accounts and Finance, was absent from the meeting.
The council will meet again at 7 p.m. on Feb. 21 at City Hall on 110 East Walnut Street.
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