OREGON — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Ogle County Board voted 18-4 with one member abstaining to approve a zoning map amendment that will see 524 acres of land owned by Constellation Energy Generation rezoned from agricultural to industrial. That land is around the Byron Nuclear Plant. 

Board Members Dean Fox (R-District 7, German Valley), Marcia Heuer (R-District 8, Oregon), Jackie Ramsey (R-District 4, Rochelle) and Ryan Reeverts (R-District 6, Byron) voted against the change. Board Member Benjamin Youman (R-District 1, Davis Junction) abstained from the vote. 

Board Member Dan Janes (R-District 5, Stillman Valley) led the proceedings Tuesday. The map amendment passed the county's zoning board of appeals 3-2. Due to it being within 1.5 miles of the City of Byron, the city held a 5-0 vote in favor of the change. Marion Township voted 5-0 against the change.

"I checked all of the comprehensive plans, and Ogle County, Marion Township and the City of Byron denote this area as economic development areas in our comprehensive plan with an industrial application," Janes said.

Janes cited examples of data centers that have located in the region that have brought economic windfalls such as Meta and Microsoft as examples of development that the land's rezoning could yield in the future.

A potential data center could help with expanding fiber optic access in the county, which has been a project the county board has been working on for some time.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage in this," Janes said. "It will generate millions of dollars. To equate it to agriculture, it would take 434,000 new acres of farmland at $50 an acre to equivocate one year of a data center. We want to enhance economic development and generate new income. We have two dying landfills. The viability of that nuclear plant could probably go 40-60 years if it had a continuous industry to feed that energy to."

Board Member Jeff Billeter (R-District 6, Byron) discussed the county's current financial situation that is causing it to seek out more income from economic development. Billeter said too much debt and not enough income is being seen, with the primary problem being outstanding debt of $2.8 million per year in bond payments for the new Ogle County Jail for four more years.

The county has income challenges due to a deal it recently made with Constellation that saw the Byron Nuclear Plant's equalized assessed value (EAV) reduced by 2.9 percent until 2027 which reduces county income. That deal was made to settle a property tax dispute with Constellation. The county has also seen a shortfall in income due to not housing as many federal prisoners at the Ogle County Jail as it expected to. Billeter said another issue being seen is a shortfall in landfill tipping fee revenue.

"This opportunity we have with Constellation, from a financial standpoint, is an answer to a prayer," Billeter said. "It won't help immediately. But it won't take long, and that income stream could come in to address our issues with the jail and future projects that are much needed."

Byron Nuclear Plant Government Affairs Manager Ryan Tozer thanked the board on behalf of its 700 employees for voting for the zoning change.

Board Chairman John Finfrock (R-District 7, Mt. Morris) thanked those that voted for the zoning change as well. 

"It's a win-win for every taxpayer in this county," Finfrock said. "There are some that do not feel that way, but the majority of the people here have spoken. Thank you to everyone who worked on this."