Hearing for $285 million solar farm set Friday

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Project includes 300 temporary jobs, 2 permanent

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The Como-Pickton CISD school board will hold a public hearing related to their consideration of a resolution to approve a reinvestment zone for the proposed Pine Forest solar farm 3 p.m. Friday, May 29 in the Como-Pickton secondary cafeteria.

The district took the first step toward this agreement in their September 2019 meeting when they approved an application for value limitation from the Telios Corporation. The farm will be in the Pine Forest area near Pickton west of FM 269 and northwest of FM 3105.

Board members Brittany Smith and Mark Humphrey disclosed they had conflicts of interest. Smith said it was related to “immediate family and property,” and Humphrey said his conflict was related to a possible “economic impact.” Both abstained in voting on the application.

At the September meeting, Telios proposed 300 full-time construction jobs and committed to creating two permanent jobs after construction is complete. Companies are required to create 10 permanent jobs to receive a value limitation, but that requirement can be waived under certain circumstances. According to the Comptroller’s website, “more than half of applicants in fact receive such waivers.”

Shelly Leung, a representative from law firm Powell, Youngblood and Taylor, stressed that a value limitation is not a tax abatement “where you’re not accepting any taxes,” but rather, it limits the project value for tax purposes during a 10-year period. She added the comptroller requires a minimum investment of $20 million in CPCISD as part of these agreements. The total investment amounts to $285 million for the 299.25-megawatt solar farm.

During an October 2019 community meeting, Telios president Shannon McCall promised to remove a small section of the property after multiple property owners complained.

The Hopkins County Commissioners Court approved the project in December 2019. Once the board approves the reinvestment zone, Telios can begin construction.

Originally, the timeline was set to an April 2020 start for construction if the board had agreed to the value limitation by Dec. 1, 2019, a four-month gap. More details will be given at the meeting.