Town of Day passes solar ordinance

By Kevin O’Brien

Last week, the town of Day became the first municipality in Marathon County to adopt an ordinance setting restrictions on large-scale solar energy operations, mirroring similar efforts to control wind farms.

Modeled off a Clark County ordinance, the 10-page document establishes a local permitting process for companies wishing to build industrial-sized solar energy facilities within township boundaries. The ordinance also sets a maximum height of 15 feet for each solar panel and requires them to meet all of the setback requirements for accessory structures.

Solar systems must also “blend into” the surrounding architecture and include measures, such as installing screens or reorienting the units, to “minimize reflected light…affecting adjacent or nearby properties.” Also, solar arrays mounted on roofs or buildings must allow access for firefighters, unless the panels are fully integrated into the building.

The ordinance says the town’s regulations are “intended to be no more restrictive than those set forth in Wis. 66.0401,” a state law that deals with the regulation of large wind and solar operations.

Besides creating a permitting process and setting minimum standards, the ordinance also requires the power company to submit a decommissioning plan for removing the solar panels if they stop operating for 12 consecutive months. The ordinance also allows any “aggrieved person” to submit a complaint to the owner of the solar operation, who has 45 days to resolve the issue before the town board can step in.

The process for adopting the ordinance was set into motion at the town’s April 16 annual meeting, when town residents voted to direct town officials to work with members of Farmland First and the town attorney on a proposal to be considered at a special June 18 meeting. Town residents were sup-

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posed to vote on the ordinance at that meeting, but due to an error in how the agenda was posted, the vote was delayed until a regular town board meeting the following night, June 19.

The three-member board voted without hesitation to adopt the ordinance, and town clerk Dave Kraus said he would post it the following day so it would become effective immediately.

Town chairman Joe Brueggen said the town’s attorney didn’t have any issues with the ordinance but encouraged town officials to put permit applications and a fee schedule in place so the ordinance can be properly enforced. A previous ordinance based on one in the town of Arpin in Wood County was opposed by the attorney, who questioned its consistency with state law.

At the first of two back-to-back meetings last week, most of the discussion focused on the efforts by a group of town residents who volunteered to work on the ordinance so it was ready for a vote on June 18. Brueggen singled out resident Rebecca Post as someone who put in a lot of late hours to make sure the ordinance was completed.

“If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have our draft here ready to go,” he said. Besides Post, the group included Trine Spindler, Jeff Weis, Brian Dillinger, Roy Seubert and Sara Nicolet.

Dillinger, who made the original motion to proceed with an ordinance at a special meeting on June 18, said the group spent a lot of time looking at ordinances from other municipalities before settling on the one from Clark County and going through it page by page to make edits.

“This is how it should function: town residents working with our elected officials,” he said. “We were under a lot of pressure to get this ordinance done.”

Though the group is confident with its recommendation, the ordinance may need to be amended in the future, Dillinger noted.

“There’s always room for improvement, so it’s possible that something will arise that we need to address,” he said.

Dillinger and others expressed frustration that a Class 2 notice for a special meeting was not published 15 days before June 18, as required by state law. This would have allowed town residents to vote on the ordinance, but instead, only the town board got to vote on it at a regular meeting on June 19.

Going forward, Dillinger said the town needs to re-establish a five-member planning commission to go through all of the town’s ordinances and recommend any changes to the town board. He said it’s especially important after the town withdrew from county zoning years ago.

Post urged other town residents to step forward and help with comprehensive planning and other actions that will protect the town’s interests.

“Don’t believe that just passing the ordinances will make the wind and solar companies go away,” she said. “We have realized that they are more than willing to look for loopholes.”