A public hearing focused on solar farm development in Highland County was announced at the Wednesday morning meeting of the Highland County Board of Commissioners. The public hearing will take place at the Southern State Community College Auditorium in Hillsboro from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16.
A document outlining some of the nuances of the hearing said that “those wishing to be heard and speak either as a proponent or opponent” have to be a resident of Highland County, and fill out a witness slip which allows the person to speak while limiting their comments to no more than five minutes. The document said the commissioners will try to allow as many people to speak as possible within the allotted time schedule.
Jeff Duncan, president of the board of commissioners, said that the entire public hearing would be transcribed and reviewed by the commissioners following the hearing.
The document said that no questions will be answered at the public hearing, but that after the hearing the commissioners will respond to any questions in writing thanks to the transcription.
In other news, the board approved the purchase of a new Western Star dump truck for $117,749 for the Highland County Engineer from FYDA Freightliner Cincinnati, Inc.
The commissioners also approved a contract with Software Solutions and Invoice Cloud. Duncan said the contract is for new software packages that are being used in some of the offices in the Highland County Administration Building.
Commissioner Terry Britton noted that the commissioners are looking at an upgrade for their website. He said they are looking at partnering with a Chillicothe company called West Side Media, and that it will be something they will be “moving on” next week.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
