PRINEVILLE, OR -- Plans for a new Crook County solar farm on prime industrial land near Highway 126 and Millican Road are changing, after the county sent a letter to the Department of State Lands asking them to reconsider. County Judge Seth Crawford participated in a conference call with state officials, last week. He says he's pleased with the new direction. "Where we’re headed now is that they’ve pulled back a little bit, and they’re going to look for some other places that they have land that might be a better fit for this solar. And, just look for some options to find a way to put this [vacant parcel] back into the equation for selling to a larger industrial property."
Read more about the Dept. of State Lands' original plans.
Crawford says he's not opposed to solar power. But, he doesn’t want a solar farm utilizing land he believes could better be used to bring jobs or agriculture to the area. He tells KBND News, "The optimal location for a solar farm is non-productive EFU [Exclusive Farm Use] land. We don’t want to put it on, you know, a great place where you can grow things – green pastures. We want to put it where there’s rocks and sagebrush and different things that – you can’t really graze a cow on it."
He’d like to see the development moved to near another proposed solar farm, which is expected to be the largest in the state, with 1500 panels. "That’s going to be about 6 miles down the road, and the Department of State Lands actually owns property very near that. So, what we’re pitching is that’s probably a really good location to switch that lease to; so you could have that lease for the School Fund, so we make sure to get money for the kids. But, we could still keep that prime industrial land that could be sold later to somebody that’s going to bring a lot more jobs and to use the infrastructure that we’ve put in." Crawford believes the disputed property near the Prineville Airport would be better used for industrial development that he says could bring hundreds of jobs to the area. A solar farm typically employs only a couple workers.
Click HERE to listen to our full conversation with Crook County Judge Seth Crawford, or visit our Podcast Page.
