Community meeting to be held later
Dike citizens gathered at the Sulphur Bluff ISD school board Thursday night to voice complaints about the $240 million Dike solar farm proposed in June 2019 and approved in December 2019.
“Why would a solar company want to come into a low-elevation area that floods and has sloping issues, deforest over 1,000 acres of trees and put in a solar farm?,” Michael Pickens, who leads the group Save Dike from Solar, said. “The answer is tax breaks.”
Pickens referred to the tax abatements between the school district, county, hospital district and solar farm developer Pattern Energy. On the school district’s side, the 10-year agreement would limit the value that would be added to the district’s tax base, reducing the taxes owed by the company. Pickens alleged the company would save $85-$100 million. An analysis by Region 10 showed the company would save only $4.4 million, and district would collect about $2 million in revenue over the course of the agreement. The county will collect $2.7 million in tax revenue, according to a December 2019 meeting.
Pickens also claimed the lease agreement provided development would not occur on floodplains or heavily wooded areas and argued that the area proposed for the solar farm fell within a flood zone and was heavily wooded. According to satellite date, the reinvestment area is mostly pasture with only a few wooded areas, and according to Federal Emergency Management Administration flood data, while flood zones are nearby thanks to White Oak Creek, very little, if any, of the reinvestment zone falls within those zones.
Pickens also alleged the community was not given proper notification about the solar farm, saying the public notices in the newspaper were too small and that “no one gets” the newspaper in Dike. All legally required notices were posted by the district, and according to Pct. 3 Wade Bartley, a community meeting “with proper notification” was held in August 2019, two months after the first proposal, with a turnout of about 25 people.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Pickens said. “We’re taking bids from top environmental law firms in the state of Texas. I’ve got contacts with the US Army Corps.”
Pickens also demanded an environmental impact assessment of the solar farm.
Bobby Joslin, a longtime resident of Hopkins County, made it clear to the board he “wouldn’t have done that [passing the solar farm] to you” because he “had enough respect for all of you young people that I would not have let them put something like this here in your backyard.”
Michelle Barns, who moved to Dike in August 2019, claimed the company made “dirty deals” with the landowners and wanted to know if regular environmental testing will be done to ensure safety.
The school board did not respond to the speakers, but superintendent Dustin Carr said later in the Thursday night meeting that “everything done has been transparent” in approving the solar farm agreement.
Bartley invited the gathered community members to a future meeting within the next two weeks at the Dike Community Center. A date was still uncertain as of press time Friday.