22 March 2024
KINGMAN, Kan. (KSNW) – Thursday’s city commission meeting in Kingman was packed with residents who are angry about the approval of bringing a solar project into the town.
Community members brought a lot of passion to the meeting, saying their voice was not heard when the commission voted 4-1 at the beginning of the month in favor of an easement agreement to allow the location to be selected for a Kansas Power Pool Project.
It would be off Northwest 10th Avenue and West Kansas Avenue:
Due to the heated exchange, commissioners have paused movement on the project so they can discuss the decision further.
Kingman City Commissioner Adrian Harrell says there are not many city-owned spaces that would allow the Kansas Power Pool Project to proceed.
“It wasn’t ‘Oh hey, we all want it here.’ It was ‘If we’re going to build it, this is the only place we’re going to be able to build it,'” he said.
Harrel says that while the Federal Aviation Administration cleared an alternative location near the airport, the spot is not ideal.
“Taking down 400 trees and then building it in the middle of the marsh … not the best arrangement,” said Harrel.
Kingman resident Kelly Wood says the project makes him nervous about the future potentially coming within 600 square feet of his property.
“Concern about expansion. Future projects moving it south. Which at some point, if that were to continue, it would get about 60 feet from my house, and property values declining and those things,” said Wood.
A Kansas Power Pool representative says that although they are on deadline with the federal government, they did not try to overlook concerns.
“Put Kingman on hold. We’ve got other work to do while decisions are being made here. Our intention is not to try and slip this under the rug,” she said.
City commissioners are tabling the issue so more discussion can be had.
“The question now is not ‘Do we want it right here?’ It’s ‘Do we want it at all?’ And that’s the question that hasn’t been answered yet,” said Harrel.
If the project were to move forward, it would require a 30-year lease and take six months to construct.
While it would add more capacity to Kingman’s energy pool, commissioners do not guarantee that it would lower energy prices for residents.