Chenoa solar project moving forward

Work will start on a solar field by the Chenoa sewer plant after an easement was approved by the Chenoa City Council Tuesday night.

The action allows Ameren to go down the city road to the solar area.

“This is actually for Ameren to get their lines and poles down our lane,” Mayor David Shane told council members.

Commissioner Manny Hernandez made a motion to authorize the mayor to sign the Estoppel Certificate for the ESP Solar ground lease.

“They say it will take 90 days to build it and once we get it built and start putting power out, we will get $100,000 up front,” Shane explained on Route 24 Radio earlier in the day.

The city will get paid $1500 an acre per year for rent and in the process, the company asked if the city needed $180,000 for quality-of-life initiatives. Shane is proposing the funds be used toward the swimming pool which is in need of work.

Shane also notes they will be able to knock off about 20 percent of the electric bill for that.

“Anybody in Chenoa that would like to apply for it through Ameren once we get going will also get 20 percent off of their electric bill.”

The mayor is hopeful more money is available down the road.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the Chenoa Council discussed issuing a Class E liquor license to the motel, referred to as Superchenoa, although no action was taken. Shane said the state liquor commission is willing to talk with city officials on the matter.

“We are not doing a lot of the stuff we should be doing,” he noted.

The motel wants a liquor license because they want gaming and the state requires the license for this. They can only have liquor during certain hours like the bars in town, though some places with liquor licenses don’t even serve liquor, according to the police chief.

In another matter, a Chenoa Advisory Board recommendation was approved for standard operating procedures. This came about due to issues with a lack of communication between boards which delays getting things accomplished. This puts a timeline on filling out forms to submit to City Hall to help streamline matters.

A line of credit was approved from State Bank of Graymont for city finances. This is mostly for the water main replacement as it may be needed.

“How much should I ask for?” asked the mayor.

“Keep it the same,” replied Commissioner Spencer Shipley.

During council comments, Commissioner Zack Lopeman said they took the vac truck to get looked at for issues it has. The plow truck has been picked up from Peoria following repairs. He also announced plans for stump work in town the week of Dec. 1-5.

Mayor Shane reminded commissioners of a special meeting planned for Monday evening about the handbook.

There was no executive session and the meeting adjourned after 25 minutes by 6:55 p.m.