Supervisors on Tuesday approved an agreement allowing Origis, which is building two solar farms in western Lowndes County, to improve roads surrounding the construction site at the company’s cost.
Origis Energy is building MS Solar Five and MS Solar Six on land west of Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The projects are located on a total of 4,000 acres. A third Origis plant is planned for Clay County, which will be on about 2,000 acres near the Yokohama Tire plant.
About six weeks ago, the company entered an agreement with Lowndes County that obligated the county to keep roads near the job site “safe and passable,” Board Attorney Tim Hudson explained at the special-call meeting Tuesday.
“Wear and tear on the roads is going to be a continuous thing while construction is ongoing,” Hudson said.
The second part of the agreement obligated the company to restore the roads to “as good as or better condition” than when the project started, he said.
The company has since contacted the board and asked to amend that agreement.
“We’ve had a back-and-forth with them about maintaining the roads the way they want,” Hudson said. “I told them if they want to, they can do the work at their expense. They can four-lane it if they want to.”
The amendment gives Origis the ability to do “maintenance and upgrades” to county roads to “facilitate” the project, Hudson said.
Hudson said the agreement includes Gilmer-Wilburn Road, Hardy-Billups, Artesia Road, Charleigh Ford Jr. Drive, Old Mayhew Road, Mims Road and Guerry Road.
The county must receive at least 24 hours notice prior to work getting underway, Hudson said, and the county will be held harmless from any accidents, damage or injury that might arise from the work.
Part of the issue arises from concerns about the solar panels, board president Trip Hairston said.
“The real issue is getting those panels (on site) over gravel roads,” he said. “If it’s rough out there, they’re worried about getting those panels in there without breaking them. They want a smooth surface.”
“That’s why this came up, is because the county is committed only to keeping the roads safe and passable,” Hudson said.
Road Manager Mike Aldridge asked if the county could still work on the affected roads.
“If the road gets to where we’re not satisfied with it, can we go in and do something to it?” he asked. “Are they going to call back and say y’all destroyed what we’re doing?”
“It’s our road,” said District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith.
Hudson expanded on Smith’s answer.
“If it becomes unsafe or impassable, we will make it safe and passable,” Hudson said.
On Gilmer-Wilburn Road, part of the road is gravel and part is paved, Aldridge said.
“What (Origis) wanted me to do is put four inches of clay on that road, and I don’t think clay is going to stay on a hard surface,” he said.
“We were going to turn it all into a gravel road that we would maintain. I didn’t think we needed to haul 1,600 yards of clay in there.”
District 3 Supervisor John Holliman said he thought gravel would be a fine surface.
“If you put gravel down and grade it, it’s smoother than paving,” he said.
District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders asked about a time limit on the agreement.
“There is no sunset in the agreement,” Hairston said. “It probably shouldn’t, because you want it open as long as they’re using the roads.”
The amendment to the road agreement was approved 4-0. District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks was not present.
Origis Director of Project Development Nathan Rogers did not return calls and messages from The Dispatch by press time.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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