On Oct. 21, the McDonough County Board met for its monthly meeting and approved the application by Colchester Sun LLC to build a new solar farm on the west side of Colchester. The approval follows several earlier discussions by the Board as well as a public hearing that was conducted on Oct. 6 at Spoon River College. Some residents of Colchester had earlier raised concerns about the project including fear of noise pollution and risk of increased flooding because of site development. However, no public comment was raised at the Wednesday meeting when the application was officially approved.
Other highlights of the meeting included a presentation by Chad Sperry, Director of the GIS Center at WIU, on aerial mapping work they’re doing for the county. The Board also approved several further measures including delinquent parcels for tax sale, a tri-county solid waste and recycling management plan, an MDH McDonough County jail agreement, fiscal year 2027 health insurance premiums, and renewal of the Symetra reinsurance agreement. County Clerk Jeremy Benson also announced that the elevator in the courthouse has been repaired. The next County Board meeting will be held in the courthouse on Nov. 18 at 7 pm.
