photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Members of the public listen to presentations during a Douglas County Commission work session about the Kansas Sky Energy Center, a commercial-scale solar energy project proposed for 1,105 acres north of Lawrence, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

Douglas County leaders on Wednesday had a number of questions for the team behind a commercial-scale solar energy project proposed for 1,105 acres just north of Lawrence.

During a work session ahead of Wednesday’s Douglas County Commission meeting, commissioners heard presentations from planning staff and Kansas City energy firm Savion about the Kansas Sky Energy Center project, which is looking to become the first renewable energy project of its scale in the county. Commissioners will consider a conditional use permit for the project at a special business meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 13.

Commissioners had questions about wildlife corridors, vegetative screening for project neighbors and plans for the project’s electrical connections to be installed above ground. Other questions centered on revisions to plans and studies that planning staff said were necessary for the project to move forward.

One of them is a plan laying out how “agrivoltaics” — the simultaneous use of land for solar energy generation and agriculture — would work. Staff with Savion said that plan and others are still in development and likely won’t become more detailed until the project is approved.

Douglas County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said it may be premature to expect some of those plans to already be developed. She said that unlike most conditional use permits, this one was designed to give commissioners more oversight over those plans.

“What we tried to do is work inside the regulations that we have available to us, which is to bring you a conditional use permit, but then write into the conditions (these) additional plans and steps … (so) that the commission still has oversight and control and monitoring of that through this process,” Plinsky said.

Evergy, which would be slated to own and operate the project, is committing $100,000 toward a fund to support research and development for agrivoltaics. It is also partnering with conservation nonprofit The Nature Conservancy to help develop the plan. Commissioner Patrick Kelly encouraged the project team to engage with local partners about that plan and others ahead of the hearing in April.

Commissioners only had one direct question about a common concern from community members — that in part, the project would cover some of the highest-rated and most productive farm ground in the county. Kelly said he was curious how much of the project area not planned to be covered by solar panels is classified as having high-quality soil and hoped to hear more on that front in April.

There was information about agricultural land in Savion’s presentation. Ashton Martin, a senior permitting and environmental manager with Savion, told commissioners there are approximately 103,000 acres of high-quality farmland throughout Douglas County — about a third of the county’s total acreage — and 312 acres of that type of land located within the project site. That represents about a quarter of the project’s total land area.

photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Two members of the Kansas Sky Energy Center project team — speaking at left, Head of Development Travis Narum and, at right, Senior Permitting and Environmental Manager Ashton Martin, both with Kansas City-based energy firm Savion — addressed the Douglas County Commission during a work session about the commercial-scale solar project proposed for just north of Lawrence on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.

Martin added that the county had 5,615 acres of high-quality soil — or soil that is ideal for a variety of agricultural and horticultural uses — compared to 77 acres within the project site area.

Savion’s presentation also says that of 12 potential project sites located around the county, the selected site had at least a comparable area of high-quality farmland relative to other sites. All 11 alternative sites were determined to be less suitable because they were located in anticipated growth areas, would cause environmental impacts or would include a higher amount of high-quality farmland.

photo by: Savion

This map shows the 12 sites Evergy and Kansas City energy firm Savion considered for the location of the Kansas Sky Energy Center project. According to the developer, three of the sites — “Lawrence1,” “BaldwinCityNorth” and “Eudora” — all had a greater proportion of project area classified as prime farmland than the proposed site just north of Lawrence.

Travis Narum, head of development with Savion, told commissioners that made the final proposed site a “diamond in the rough.”

“If we want to do solar in Lawrence, solar in Douglas County, this is the spot,” Narum said. “I think if we want to be part of the energy future and bring renewable energy, this is a great project and I hope we’ll have your support.”

While planner Mary Miller told commissioners Wednesday that planning staff recommends they approve the permit, it will need unanimous approval in April because of a valid protest petition filed by a group of people who own land near the proposed project site.

The commission does not take action on items discussed during work sessions, and it did not hear public comments on the proposed solar project on Wednesday.

In other business, commissioners:

• Authorized Plinsky to execute a memorandum of understanding with the City of Lawrence detailing the obligations of the city and county funding commitment to the Kansas Department of Transportation’s South Lawrence Trafficway west leg expansion project.

As the Journal-World has reported, the city and county have each planned to spend $7 million as part of a $14 million combined local match required by KDOT for the project, but the city pulled back from using some of its portion — $3.6 million — to fund an extension of Wakarusa Drive south to North 1000 Road and will use the money on alternative projects instead.

• During an executive session, consulted with the county counselor. Commissioners didn’t take any action after returning from executive session, the reason for which was to maintain attorney-client privilege on a matter relating to a solar project.