Urbana's City Council met in it's Committee of the Whole earlier this week and approved some changes to tax levy abatement (that I don't understand yet) and its public arts and culture program.It also had its regular Business and Development Report. The big news, however, was covered in yesterday's News-Gazette:
Urbana council gives initial approval for solar-farm lease dealMore at the full article here. In slightly related news, UIUC's had an update on their expanding solar farm investment that put them ahead of other universities: UI's second solar farm will make it 'second to none' among U.S. universities.
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Aldermen gave their initial approval Monday to a lease agreement that could be the first step toward a new solar farm in the city.
After winning approval at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting, the lease-option agreement with San Jose, Calif.-based Sunpower DevCo, which will allow it apply for state solar incentives next year, moves to a final vote at the next council meeting.
Aldermen questioned Sunpower project developer Chad Tady about the particulars of the proposed solar farm, which will be built on 41 acres of landfill property...
Scott Tess, the city's environmental sustainability manager, said there would be no way to hear the inverter, which would be in the center of the array, at the property line with the mobile-home parks, and the tree line behind the parks will also serve as a visual barrier.
Urbana also received an award for being bicycle friendly as reported in a blurb in last Friday's News-Gazette:
In long lost news that I apparently missed after the midterm elections and any related comatose states, the Landmark Hotel deal fell through and there doesn't appear to be any serious plan B yet. Reporting on that here and a News-Gazette editorial explaining the uncertain future here. Previous posts on the landmark on the Cheat Sheet here.
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