WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Mendon Township voters will have a chance later this year to weigh in on an ordinance related to solar-panel developments.
Township board members agreed Tuesday to put the issue on November’s ballot after they confirmed a citizen-led petition contesting the ordinance exceeded the minimum number of valid signatures.
The petition was submitted last week and contained more than 300 signatures. Township clerk Donna Cupp confirmed 275 signatures – more than twice as many necessary – were deemed legitimate as registered voters who reside in Mendon Township.
It centers on an ordinance Mendon Township approved last month. In essence, the ordinance would allow Minnesota-based Geronimo Energy to follow through on its plan to develop White Pine Solar project on a 200-acre area on the north side of Prairie Corners Road at Bucknell Road.
During Tuesday’s meeting, township attorney Joe Haas explained that if the zoning ordinance is approved, then the matter is concluded and the ordinance will be effective when ballots are certified. If it is rejected, then the issue will go back to the Mendon Township Planning Commission, Haas said.
Based on the company’s analysis of the Mendon Township site, it will require a capital investment of $29 million and reduce an estimated 24,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.
