Due to the Labor Day holiday, the Greene County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday.

The Board approved New Opportunities as the sub-contractor for the county substance abuse prevention services agreement for $1,902. They also set next Monday for a public hearing to extend the moratorium on utility-scale solar energy projects to expire either on October 24th at noon or when the Board approves the amended zoning ordinance to include utility-scale solar energy provisions. The original moratorium was set to expire at noon on September 26th. 

Finally, the Board reviewed the changes made to the ordinance for utility-scale solar energy projects. The main changes included setback requirements in regards to property lines going from 250 to 150 feet, dwellings from 1,000 feet to 600 feet, any other buildings went from 500 feet to 250 feet, and any wildlife management, state recreation area and cemeteries were reduced from 1,000 feet to 100 feet. The Board kept the same stipulations as far as limiting each solar project to 1,000 acres of solar panels but allowing for an solar energy company to apply for another conditional use permit if their previous project didn’t reach the 1,000 acre capacity. 

The Board heard from two concerned citizens, as well as representatives from NationalGrid Renewables who wants to implement a 100-megawatt project near Grand Junction, and representatives from Alliant Energy.