Brownwood Bulletin
Brown County Commissioners Court members will have their 9 a.m. Monday meeting at the Adams Street Community Center in anticipation of a large crowd in attendance.
According to the meeting agenda, commissioners will conduct a public hearing, then take a vote on a tax abatement agreement with IP Radian for a proposed solar farm project near Brookesmith. It was clear from the regular meetings, where we didn t have this on the agenda, that it was standing room only, Brown County Judge Paul Lilly said, referring to the citizens comments portions of earlier commissioners court meetings. We wanted a place that seated 100 or more comfortably.
Harold Hogan was sworn in as Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace during Monday’s County Commissioners meeting. [Photo contributed]
On Monday morning, Harold Hogan sworn in as Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace during the weekly Brown County Commissioners Court meeting. Hogan will finish the unexpired term of the retiring Mike Holder.
Also Monday, Scott Killingsworth addressed the commissioners court regarding the petition presented last week that opposes a proposed solar farm and requested tax abatement by the developer, IP Radian. The project is in southwest Brown County near Brookesmith and in the Brookesmith Independent School District.
An excess of 100 more petitions were submitted Monday – 29 from Precinct 1, 11 from Precinct 2, 14 from Precinct 3, and 51 from Precinct 4. There have been a total of 1,756 petitions submitted thus far against a solar farm tax abatement – 384 from Precinct 1, 390 from Precinct 2, 454 from Precinct 3, and 528 from Precinct 4.
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Notice is hereby given that a SPECIAL meeting of Brown County Commissioners Court shall be held at
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on April 14th, 2021, at ADAMS STREET COMMUNITY CENTER, 511 E. ADAMS ST., Brownwood in accordance with Article 81.005 of the Local Government Code of the State of Texas.
The following items of business will be discussed, to-wit:
1. Declare a Quorum and Call Meeting to Order
Conduct Public Meeting in the form of an informational workshop:
The 2 topics for public comment are:
Creating a Reinvestment Zone for IP Radian Solar Farm
Entering into a Tax Abatement Agreement with IP Radian for a Solar Farm
Tracker racking system (mounting structures)
Project substation, which will include a high-voltage transformer, switchgear, transmission equipment, telecommunications and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) control equipment, and all necessary equipment needed to connect the project to the substation and subsequently to a transmission line not owned by the project
Operations and maintenance building including telecommunications and computing equipment
Meteorological equipment to measure solar irradiance and other weather conditions
Associated equipment to safely operate, maintain, and deliver electricity to the grid
The proposed solar plant would generate up to 300 mega-watts (AC) of electricity, enough to power up to 50,000 homes. The project would be solar only, no wind turbines.