■ EDITOR’S NOTE: The American Bar Association states a contractural force majeure clause “defines an area of events that might excuse nonperformance within the contract period,” such as unforeseen circumstances or “Acts of God.”
Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to the Oct. 14 News-Telegram article “County OKs solar farm start in Dike.” It included the extension of the Solemio Solar Farm contract on Arbala Road. It would affect an area on both sides of Arbala Road, starting at the city limits and going approximately three-fourths mile.
I received a copy of the agreement with [Hopkins] county for the Arbala Road project with a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request letter. According to that agreement, signed by County Judge Robert Newsom, on Jan. 14, 2019, page 2, No. 1, under B, Duties of Owner (Solemio LLC) are as follows:
“1. The Owner shall substantially complete or cause to be completed construction of the Property on the Premises on or before December 31, 2020, and that upon completion shall have a minimum initial cost investment of not less than sixty five million dollars ($65,000,000).” [sic]
Solemio appears to have until Dec. 31 to not be in breach of the county agreement. Solemio had one full year to substantially proceed with the project before the pandemic reached the United States. Now I ask, has the county shut down work outside, or has the highway department stopped work on highways?
COVID-19 doesn’t wash as an excuse for zero progress. At a school board meeting December 2019, Solemio sent representatives to the meeting to ask for expansion of the reinvestment zone. They said that they needed more land, which also joined the city limits on Arbala Road. A group of citizens representing residents of Arbala Road attended. The result was that the school board voted “No” to the extra acreage.
For citizens who aren’t aware of the solar farm location, it would start only hundreds of feet from Wildcat Way and cover several hundred acres of land. This FM highway is a major route to Briarwood Estates and Stone Lake housing editions.
Absolutely no neighborhood is safe from becoming a reinvestment zone. It appears to me the county commissioners have approved everyone that has come before them—so far, Arbala Road on the south, [State] Highway 11 (Commerce highway) west, Dike and Pine Forrest east.
Will you be next? Hopkins County has been targeted by foreigners. These aren’t even American companies. A Google search for COVID-19 “force majeure,” unforeseen reasons for not fulfilling a contract cases, are heading to the courts. This case for Hopkins County should be very hard to prove. The landscapes with grazing cattle are a stark contrast to solar panels as far as the eye can see. We don’t want our residential neighborhood looking like an industrial park.
Linda Buchanan
Hopkins County