A town hall that was intended to be an informational meeting for Smith River District residents devolved at times into name-calling during a discussion of a proposed solar project.
The community meeting was hosted by Doug Perry, vice-chairman of the Patrick County Board of Supervisors; Walter Scott, who serves as vice-chairman of the school board, and others.
Solar
“The state says by 2050, we’re going to be completely fossil-fuel free. I don’t get it,” Perry said and outlined the sequence of events that begins when a solar company reaches out to landowners who want a project on their land.
The company then makes “a plan that hopefully goes along with our ordinance, and they bring that to the Planning Commission. They say, ‘Hey Planning Commission we want to do a solar farm at this location. This is what we want to do, and this is basically how we want to do it,’” he said.
The Planning Commission reviews the plan to see if it complies with the county’s ordinance.
“If it doesn’t, of course, they have the opportunity to go back to the drawing board, revamp, and come back,” Perry said. However, if the plan does comply, “it passes the Planning Commission then it moves on to a site agreement,” in which “a lot of lawyers” work with those in the county administration office to craft specifics and particulars.
“Right now, the county has control of that,” he said. “I think that’s the most important thing that we can do and that we have.”
A perfect example, Perry said is when it was brought up at the Planning Commission meeting that some of the property had been timbered, which resulted in excessive runoff flooding the nearby creek and leading to erosion and problems for another property owner.
Perry said the county is unable to do anything about what a property owner did.
However, if a solar farm locates there, “the county has the power, we have the ability, to say, ‘look, if you want to come in there and put panels on that hill, it’s going to have to be completely cleared and this problem that we’re already having is going to get worse so you will put a retaining pond down there’. We have the ability to make that happen,” he said.
As the county has that power, it can control what does or does not happen, Perry said, and added “being able to control and regulate, that’s what this site agreement does.”
On the other hand, if the county told all solar companies to “pound the pavement and go away,” Perry said the state likely would not do anything at this point, because officials are waiting to see what bills get passed by legislators.
The proposals in Richmond were triggered by counties who “have stood up to them (solar companies), and where counties have made such strict regulations” on projects, Perry said. “If we tell them no, and these bills don’t pass, the state will say, ‘fine.’”
While that may result in a lawsuit, Perry said an easier method would be “if they just cut funding. What funding are they going to cut, what are we going to lose, how are we going to make up for that funding,” he asked. “You’re saying taxes are bad enough now, what’s going to have to happen to taxes to make up for that funding?”
Some public concerns with the proposed solar projects relate to the negative impact they would have on neighbors’ “viewshed,” Perry said, and added the ordinance requires a minimum of two rows of hedges.
“It’s not 100 percent, and trees don’t get but 25 to 30 feet tall. So, if you’re on this you’re hill and the panels are on this hill, you’re going to see some. Driving up and down the road, all you’re going to see is hedges,” he said.
Malcolm Roach, who moved to the area from Pennsylvania, asked why Perry and the board are giving into solar companies.
“Are we afraid to fight? Are you actually afraid to fight? I’m asking a question. I’m going to put you on the spot right now. Are you going to vote yes for this,” Roach asked.
Perry countered, “Are you going to raise hell when we have to raise taxes an ungodly amount because of this? You’re looking at attorney fees. You’re looking at a minimum of $150,000” to start. “I know the state. The state says this is going to happen.”
“No, no, no. Youngkin will veto that… So, fearing a lawsuit, fearing a lawyer is a cop-out as far as I’m concerned,” Ed Pool said.
“That man’s a cop-out,” Pool said of Perry.
“I’m just laying it on the line, what it looks like,” Perry said.
County Administrator Beth Simms said one example is Franklin County which is the only locality in the state that’s half-zoned, half-nonzoned.
“While I was there, we had solar projects come before Franklin County’s Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors in zoned areas and non-zoned areas. The zoned areas had the authority to vote no, that this project could not move forward, does not meet this land’s use,” she said.
The only reason the supervisors consider solar projects is due to the revenue sharing, the solar siting agreement that comes along with utility-scale solar, Simms said, adding that “a group of rural localities in Southside Virginia lobbied the state for to say, ‘we need to have some control.’ Because when we first started there was no control whatsoever.”
Simms said supervisors in Franklin County voted down a solar-siting agreement for a project in U.S. 222 in Henry.
“Guess what? That project is being built. The only thing our board of supervisors is voting on is the revenue share. Because we are non-zoned,” she said and added that “having an ordinance in place” is important.
Additionally, and at various previous meetings, Pool has said the solar panels are made with cadmium telluride and as a result, are toxic.
Perry said the solar panels that are being used do not contain cadmium telluride.
“I got this information,” Perry said, and others can as well “if you go online and type in ‘how solar panels are made.’
“If you type in something like toxicity or hazards or dangers or something, you’re going to get some kind of sponsored content. This topic is grossly political,” he said.
Perry said there are three types of solar panels: monocrystalline, polycrystalline, and thin-film.
“The thin-film panels are made with the cadmium. The thin-film panels, quick, cheap, easy to make, spit them out left and right,” he said and noted that he believes the panels proposed for Stuart are monocrystalline panels, which are made of silicone, gallium, boron, and phosphorus.
Pool contended that First Solar, an American solar technology company that may be the solar panel vendor, only makes cadmium telluride panels.
“Fairystone, I’m pretty sure when they briefed us, they said they were using” monocrystalline, Perry said.
“I’m not talking about the brief; I’m talking about the company. Go look up First Solar, they only make cadmium panels. The ones down in Wytheville are from Vietnam, 100 percent,” Pool said.
Kurt Bozenmayer, a member of the Patrick County Planning Commission, said he worked as a chemist for 35 years before retiring.
“My entire career, I’ve had to deal with material safety data sheets. They’re very important for people that handle the material while its being processed. After the material is processed, it’s a different story,” he said.
He encouraged those who are concerned about recycling and cadmium to take a step back and think about other products that contain cadmium.
“Besides the solar panels, the biggest application for cadmium is in nickel-cadmium batteries. Everyone’s had a rechargeable battery in one kind or another at one time. Before the carbon generation of rechargeable batteries, which are mostly nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries, there were nickel-cadmium batteries everywhere,” Bozenmayer said, adding those batteries are likely in many homes.
Additionally, the batteries also commonly go into the landfills and nobody pays any attention to them, Bozenmayer said.
“The other side to the fear-mongering on this, and I’m not a solar panel proponent, I don’t work for any of these companies, I’ve just been on the Planning Commission a few years listening to this. Everybody comes up with these concerns,” he said.
Bozenmayer said Roger Hayden, a former county supervisor, was at a recent board of supervisors meeting, and “he asked ‘what are they going to do with these solar panels? They’re going to spread herbicides around to keep the grass from growing up.’
“Well, what do you think VDOT (Virginia Department of Transportation) does along all these guardrails and around all these signs? They’ve been dumping thousands of gallons of herbicides in this county for 50 years. Does anybody complain about that? No,” Bozenmayer said.
Perry’s call for residents to conduct their research likely is the best approach, Bozenmayer said and would prevent anyone from relying on rumors or fearmongering tactics.
Perry said cadmium is also in food, including chocolate, and in making fine jewelry in the welds.
“We come in contact with cadmium” daily. “Everything you smoke – that cigarette, the smoker retains two to three percent of the cadmium in that cigarette, and the secondhand smoke that somebody’s sitting in the room smelling retains up to one percent of the cadmium.
“Cadmium’s everywhere. Again, we’re not dealing with the pure, concentrated element,” Perry said.
Roach accused Perry of making an “absurd statement” about smoking.
“You said somebody inhales a cigarette and they retain cadmium, and they get cancer. It’s written right on the pack- do not smoke unless you want to get cancer,” Roach said and asked why Perry would want to introduce something into the county that causes cancer or is toxic.
Solar panels have been around for more than 30 years, Perry said. “I have yet to find a study that says that soil toxicity was this prior to panels going in,” and added that he’s also yet to find data that says solar panels can lead to an increase in area temperature.
Perry said he does not know what will happen if the solar company meets all the criteria in the county’s ordinance and the commission or the board says no.
“That’s been a big part of our discussion…. That unknown is what I’m concerned about,” he said.
If there are legal ramifications, Perry said the case would not be confined to the circuit court level, but on the state level or federal level, “because the federal has mandates and the state has mandates.”
“And you can fight those too,” Roach said.
Perry said the county can, but it takes money to do it.
“If the state pulls funding, so what? We have to learn to live on what we have,” Roach said.
At the end of the day, Perry said property owners in Patrick County have decided they want to have solar panels and farms on their property.
The property owner “is going to be dead in 10 years and who’s going to clean up his mess,” Mary Smith asked.
Perry noted that is the reason the county is asking for a bond. As long as the project is legal and meets the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) guidelines, Perry wondered how could he tell someone else what they can do on their property.
Bozenmanyer said the county’s attorney was asked if the county could ban solar farms and facilities outright.
“He gave an explanation saying much in line with what Mrs. Simms has said. If you have zoning in your county, that you probably have better control over it. Since Patrick County does not have zoning, it was his opinion that for Patrick County to ban the facilities outright would probably lead to litigation, which would cost the county money,” Bozenmayer said.
Perry said the board will consider the input it has received and determine what the county stands to gain, and, more importantly, what it stands to lose.
“We play this what if. What if can go either way. But we lose the ability to regulate these things and the state says, ‘too bad so sad’ they’re coming in anyway,” Perry said.
Pool said he doesn’t think that will happen.
“It will become a ‘Republican versus Democrat thing,’ Perry said.
Bozenmayer said those who are enraged should remember back to the 1950s and 1960s when each state had its speed limits.
“The federal government came in and said, ‘We wanted the speed limit to be 55 throughout the country.’ A lot of states fought it, and the federal government responded by saying ‘Okay, we’re going to revoke the transportation funds,’” Bozemayer said. “And guess what? All 50 states went to 55 miles an hour. It took another 20 years before (it) went through the courts, and now we have different speed limits again.”
When he hears people say the government “can’t do that,” Bozenmayer said it can and it has done it before.
Pointing his finger at Bozenmayer and Perry in turn, Pool asked “So Kurt, why don’t you work on the toxic chemical or a hazmat ordinance before you move this? Doug thought those were mono-silicone panels. You knew better. You knew they came from First Solar.
“Doug, you never looked it up,” Pool said.
Perry said he thought the solar company said it was using monocrystalline panels while briefing the county.
“Get it in writing,” Pool demanded. “That would be good, that would be cool.”
At this point of the process, Perry said he believes the biggest thing the county stands to lose is the ability to negotiate.
“I don’t know why you’re negotiating, just say no,” Roach said, adding that Perry didn’t answer his question of if he would vote yes or no for solar farm projects.
Perry said he’s still waiting to see what’s going to happen at the state level.
“You throw your hands up and you roll your eyes at me now, but there again, we go in and fight this and those bills pass,” and “the state comes in and does its thing, and we lose the ability to control those things,” Perry said.
Roach said his point is that Perry and the rest of the supervisors were not elected to do what they think is best for the county.
Rather, “you were placed on the board of supervisors to represent us,” Roach said.
Perry said there are more than 3,000 in the Smith River District.
Roach said a majority have said they don’t want solar projects.
“You keep trying to forge a path to have it,” Roach said. “That’s where the problem is. That’s where it starts and ends. We want you to respect us. We want you to stop this, and we’re willing to fight if we have to, but down the road. We don’t need to fight now.”
In addition to the solar issue, information on topics like broadband, education, a cell tower, and the hospital also was presented during the two-hour event.
Hospital and Healthcare
As of February 6, Foresight Hospital and Health Systems has not responded to the county’s statement about the hospital not opening, Perry said.
“We stand firm with our statements. We keep finding more and more stuff out that they haven’t done like they haven’t applied for state or federal licenses,” Perry said, adding that should have been accomplished on day one.
Perry said Del. Wren Williams, R-Stuart, is getting a lot of blame for the hospital not opening.
“Yeah, he made some promises that he might not have had 100 percent control over, but he did do everything that he could to ensure the success of that hospital. He cleared a lot of red tape, he paved the way,” he said, adding the county had no control of the project either.
“We had no say so, one way or the other. They failed us, we didn’t fail them. We’re just taking that one day at a time,” he said.
One course of action the county has taken is the launch of a Healthcare Access Committee to look at options to help the county. Those interested in serving on the committee may access a volunteer form that’s available on the county’s website.
Perry said Drug-Free PC is a substance abuse drug prevention coalition that Piedmont Community Services recently started, and “we should be starting to move into the assessment phase. So, with the coalition, they’ll go through assessments, identify capacity, planning – which includes building these lodging models, implementations, evaluation while maintaining sustainability and cultural competency.”
The coalition meets the second Tuesday of each month at noon in the Patrick & Henry Community College (P&HCC). Those wanting to join the group may email broberson@piedmontcsb.org.
Perry said Healthy PC, another group that seeks to improve the health of the county, is “working on three different aspects of our healthcare: access to healthcare, maternal, infant, toddler, preschool health, and pre-birth up to five years old. The third thing is behavioral health and substance use disorders,” he said.
It will meet on the first Thursday at 1 p.m. at P&HCC. To join, email nancy.bell@vhd.virginia.gov.
Education
Scott said the county school division is ranked ninth out of 131 school divisions for test scores in the state.
“We’re not number nine on funding, but we’re number nine on test scores in the state of Virginia. That says a lot of about the parents, the students, the staff, the whole nine yards. It’s a network of people that make that happen,” he said.
About four or five years ago, Scott said the division was ranked in the 80s out of the 131 school divisions for funding.
Scott said the new school administration building, the former Alexander’s building, was purchased using no regular budget money.
“It was roughly $300,000 of our one percent sales tax money that went to that project, the rest of it was grants. When you go by and see that building, it was basically a free building to the county,” he said.
Scott said the parking lot is open to businesses in town on weekends.
“I think there was a car show over here a week or so ago. So, that gives a lot of extra parking to the town,” he said.
Scott said the division donated the former school board back building to the county, “which is a completely, pretty much, remodeled building” that is ready to accommodate an office or two.
“That’s going to save the county money as well,” he said, and added the new school board office also houses the division’s electronic equipment.
The Cougar Marketplace, a shop where people can buy student-made products, will be in the basement of the new facility, according to Scott, who added that items made in the welding shop, woodworking class, and culinary classes will be available for purchase.
“The money that generates goes right back into the program,” he said.
Scott briefly discussed the Required Local Effort (RLE), the funds the state requires the county to give the school division, and the Required Local Match (RLM), the funds the division needs from the county to offer some programs.
“Everything we do is based on grants, pretty much. It’s pretty much everything we do,” Scott said. “The county puts 20 percent.”
Broadband
Perry offered updates on broadband projects, including the Charter-Spectrum project, which doesn’t cover the Smith River District, but instead the far end of Ararat.
“They have started moving forward with that project and bringing broadband to the Ararat section of the county,” he said, and added that RiverStreet Network’s, a broadband company out of North Carolina, project will come into the Smith River District.
“They are collaborating with AEP (Appalachian Power) where they’re going to run the fiber cables through the power poles, and at some point, it comes down the pole and connects into your boxes at the house and brings broadband to your house,” he said.
Perry said work is expected to start in March. It’s rumored that work will start in Woolwine.
As the construction progresses, updates will be put on the county’s website.
Cell Tower
Scott said a cell tower that will be placed at Patrick County High School (PCHS) will be situated further away from the main building.
“It was a little close as far as the things cell towers put out that hurt people. It was a little bit close, within, I think, 100-feet of the guidelines,” he said.
Scott said the board heard concerns, went back to the drawing board, and came up with a new plan that’s far away enough from the school buildings.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to approve that project on February 20 at the P&HCC Stuart site.
“As soon as that passes, we were told they’re ready to go to work on it. As soon as it’s approved, they’re ready to start” installing the Verizon tower, he said.
