With Coochie solar farm board initiated comprehensive plan change

32:08Madam Chair.

32:09Yeah.

32:09Um Joe Marine is here from With Lacucci. Um I think Joe was going to speak the public comment, but um I'm gonna I might I might have coached him properly. Joe, do you want to come up and talk about the project?

32:28Feature firefighters leaving the Having commission chamber.

32:38Joe, come on up.

32:46I guess I know how to clear a room.

32:51Good morning, Joe Marina, District Manager of With Coochie Electric 21st Street in Dade City. I'm here this morning on behalf of With Coochie to ask your support for our installation of a 20-megawatt solar system. It'll produce the equivalent energy of between 3,000 and 3,800 homes. There's quite a bit of energy being produced by the system. So this system will be a benefit to our membership and the county as a whole by increasing electrical

33:22capacity. It is needed in addition to other improvements to support our growth. The location of this uh project will be on the Pinellas County property, way north of 52 and good distance east of 41. Very rural uh area. So with Gucci Electric and eight other co-ops own Seminole Electric. That's our wholesale power provider.

33:53They will be installing the system for us. And they'll be installing other systems around the state for other co-ops, in addition to other large solar projects. It'll be installed using helical coil posts, so steel posts that are drilled into the ground, so very little disturbance to the earth, very little construction activity. And um Obviously it'll be easy to remove in the future if ever needed to be. Because

34:24of this location it'll be mostly out of sight. Which is a good thing. It's also near our existing power lines. Um and that'll support the capacity of those lines and reduce the project cost. So we will need about 120 acres to do this. And because of the terrain, the area, there's some wetlands, et cetera, this is high usable ground that meanders through these uh Several uh sections of land. And

34:55uh Seminole Electric already has a tentative agreement with Pinellas County. if we can uh have your uh cooperation that we would appreciate to have a rezoning Um the zoning now uh I believe is conservation. Uh but this in my opinion, in our opinion, it fits in with conservation. This will um obviously produce electric with uh But no pollution. So

35:26That's what I'm asking. Any

35:27questions? Well I

35:28have

35:29a question for you. Yes, ma'am. Um that I've never asked you guys but um it's due. So we we put trails in the Duke corridors and what um I I've not looked at your corridors but I'd be very interested to look and see sure where they are and if it couldn't help um some of these districts help. realize a master trail plan. We'll be happy to do that. All right. So I'll get with you with some of our staff in the near future. Sure. Right. Thank you. Yeah, yeah.

35:59Yeah, I know Joe's gonna have to do some legal work and um work in Penellas County, uh or Saint Petersburg to to try to make it happen. But I thought it was a great idea. Um glad to see the taking a step forward. And I also suggested him to go take a look at up at Arapeka, where we have some land up there that could be some uplands that could work as well. Still protecting a keeping a lot of protective but at least getting some value too. it which could help the the area up there as too. So I think it's another great opportunity. So I think if you come forward both of them is great. And talking

36:29with Terry Pitos and staff, it's just a zoning change on Pasco Trails. On the other one, it's really structured an agreement 'cause the dent the zoning on Ara Pika actually works as well.

36:40Uh uh Joe, what is it you that has the station on Ridge near Ridge and Little? Yes. So I had mentioned to them as well. We have um property there that is an old um Landfill that can't be used for many things. And I thought that also might be a good site for a solar field.

36:58Excellent idea.

36:58Oh good idea.

37:01I may be thinking of the wrong site that Penellus owns, but you may need a future land use map amendment. My recollection is that there the the if it's the tract that that has their well fields, the Tampa Bay water well fields, I believe that that the con designation is comprehensive plan, not zoning. They need more than just a rezoning, but we can look through that.

37:31A map of it would you y'all like a copy? Sure.

37:39Okay with a with a petition and and planning staff clearly can determine whether or not it's a map amendment or whether it's a a zoning amendment. I just Last time I looked at some of that property, um the con designation actually was future land use, but

37:59Hey, good morning.

38:01Uh Nictorious Pito's planning and development. The county attorney is correct. It's actually uh a future land use map amendment to the comprehensive plan. The zoning is agricultural and so solar is capable of locating within the agricultural.

38:18Right, and so the project would have to be tested against the different conservation policies in the comprehensive plan.

38:26Okay.

38:26So

38:27Madam Chair, let me if I could, Tay Terry.

38:32To help them through the process, he's still gonna put his agreements in place I would think. Um, but can we make this a board initiated and help him expedite this?

38:41Uh um That would be at the pleasure of the B C C

38:46we make a board of Uh may may ask to make this a board initiated comp comprehensive plan change for the parcel he's talking about as well as a Another agreement possibly looked at was the uh Arapika Plan. Sorry.

39:01Is

39:01Madam Chair. If this is on uh agricultural property under state law they can do that without our vote?

39:11The comprehensive plan, however, is is conservation. They can't

39:16So

39:16is that arrest

39:18I don't think there's an issue with our vote. It's just an issue of timing and expense.

39:23Is the location. So they so that so the state law suit doesn't change the fact that the apps change the future land use.

39:31They're allowed to do in in an agricultural zoning category, they don't they don't need a conditional use. That was that was what the legislature did several years or two years ago I think. Um that doesn't that law doesn't override your comprehensive plan.

39:51Oh okay. Gotcha.

39:52Okay. Uh

39:52Professor Fitzpatrick.

39:54No, we don't have a motion in front of us.

39:56Yes, we do. You did. I I said we did. Oh, yeah. Is this the location on

39:59Galen Wilson and San Miguel?

40:02No. Well what no, what he's talking about is which

40:04location are we talking about?

40:05Um can you state what your location is?

40:08This is north of State Road fifty two. Is it

40:12crossbar?

40:14Crossbar around

40:15the right-of-way.

40:15It's the ranch. Best that I know looking at this, there's no well fields on these. This is just part of that massive.

40:23No, the well fields would have been deeded to Tampa Bay Water. But the protective area around the well fields is crossbar albar that they that Penella sets for that purpose.

40:35And you know I I haven't looked to see.

40:41Um I don't know oh I think only Jack was on the board when this happened, but there is an access road Um, where we have residents along the southern edge and the crossbar is on the north edge and the road deteriorated. And um the all and they were using it for logging and other um and or you know things that were happening on the crossbar and the residents had to pay for that road to be fixed and because the county owned

41:11it, Penny for Pasco owned it, they were exempt from having to help pay for the road. So I wanna be careful what road you're gonna be using. to um build your well field and or uh your solar field and just make sure we're protecting the residents that paid for that road.

41:26Absolutely. Uh i initially looking at it we would access th through our power line easement.

41:32Perfect.

41:33Okay.

41:34Alright, um I didn't know this was an action item.

41:37Well he's it's not we want to help them through the process m by making it board initiative. He's still gonna have to go get Help agreements et cetera on the outside, but we just want to help them on our side. You

41:49can clearly Tell staff you want it expedited, you can waive fees if you wanna do that. Um I mean you can't take action to change the comprehensive plan.

42:02Um but are you is that a precedent you want to start setting that when someone comes in front of us to do a comprehensive plan use change we're gonna start Uh Paying for them?

42:12What Madam Chairman M I think just in this instance it's for the public good because you're gonna actually lower we want our rates to be lowered in the in this county or in our electrical rate, so it's a public good item. I think this doesn't set a precedent unless we have another similar item that's for the public good.

42:28Well we we had the one out out there uh by the community college.

42:34Mm.

42:35So,

42:38I think that's a good thing.

42:39I mean this is an opportunity. I mean I think it's gonna give them a chance to look at it a little bit closer too 'cause we can't figure this out today. Right.

42:53Okay.

42:54So

42:54what was the motion again?

42:55Motion is to m make it board initiated to work with with Lakucci to look at uh Getting a solar farm out at

43:05change the land use there and then working with them on the Arapica property to Put an agreement together there as well. Second.

43:13Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So we are now on well we're we're ahead of schedule. So um we can Either go to seventy nine early if that person is here or we can go to R eighty. Which is under me and do the presentation.

43:37So no my Madam Chair, I have multiple people here for seventy nine. They are not all here.