HILLCREST — At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees held a public hearing and tabled a vote on the renewal of a special use permit for the construction and operation of a 49-megawatt solar farm north of Twombly Road.
The village previously approved the special use permit for the solar farm in 2021 and extended it in 2022. Work on the project has seen delays and construction has not started, which made the project's special use permit through the village expire.
The project is now owned by Greenbacker, which purchased it from Enel Green Power, which submitted for the first two special use permits. Jim Rodriguez, an attorney representing Greenbacker, spoke to the board Wednesday and said the project has seen no changes besides the need for a special use permit renewal.
Rodriguez said the project has seen days due to interconnection agreement issues with ComEd and the sale of the project. The project recently cleared a hurdle and came to an agreement with ComEd and is in the preliminary design and construction phase. If the special use permit is approved, construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2026 and be completed by May 2028. Greenbacker also has plans for a solar field in the same area south of Twombly Road that it is working with the City of Rochelle on that would be constructed at the same time.
Patrick Olson, who lives on Twombly Road near the proposed solar farm, spoke at the meeting and expressed concerns about maintenance and potential ground water impacts if the solar farm is built.
"I live kitty corner to where this is supposed to go, and I'm not going to get anything out of it besides decreased property values," Olson said.
Village Trustees Eileen Braski and Dan Potter and Village President Rick Rhoads asked Rodriguez to provide more information on operations and maintenance that is planned to take place on the solar field before a vote will be taken next month. The public hearing will be opened up again next month as well.
Parking lot
The board also tabled a vote on bids for the resurfacing of the Village Hall and maintenance shed parking lot. Rhoads said he currently has four bids for the work but has had trouble getting contractors to align their bids with what the village wants.
The recently-completed Priority 1A water main project saw the Village Hall parking lot torn out and not completely put back into place. Rhoads said he would be calling each of the companies that submitted bids to get revised bids for a vote next month.
Lead service
A report from Village Engineer Kaitlin Wright updating trustees on the ongoing state-mandated water service line inventory work was read during the meeting and said that 20 homes were flagged by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for review after the village submitted its inventory.
Village Clerk Dawn Bearrows said those homes were flagged due to two homes reporting lead service lines. Village personnel later inspected the lines themselves and found them to be copper. A revised inventory was submitted to the IEPA and the village is awaiting a response.
Over the past two years, the village was required to check to see if water lines running into homes were made of lead or galvanized pipe for future replacement.
Fee schedule
During the meeting trustees discussed the idea of updating Hillcrest’s fee schedule and raising its current fees, due to them being "outdated." Items the fee schedule would apply to would include water service hookup fees for businesses and residences and building permit fees that would apply to developments like the proposed solar farm. The village may consider an ordinance on a new fee structure next month.
Cleanup day
Hillcrest held its village-wide cleanup day on May 17 and Rhoads called it a "very busy and productive day." The village collected 75 tires and filled three 40-yard dumpsters with other discarded items. Also accepted at the event was scrap metal, yard waste, and electronics.
Huerta
Rhoads said during the meeting that Village Trustee Jose Huerta recently resigned from his position. Huerta previously served as Hillcrest’s ordinance trustee. The village now has six sitting board members and Rhoads said the search for Huerta’s replacement will start immediately.
