A truck passes a road sign showing directions to Groveland Mine Ponds. (Iron Mountain Daily News photo)

FELCH TOWNSHIP — A plan to establish a “solar farm” at the former Groveland Mine has gained the final local government authorization needed to move forward in Dickinson County.

The Felch Township Planning Commission voted 4-1 on Wednesday to approve Circle Power Renewables’s conditional use permit application for the 120-megawatt solar array, joining Sagola and Norway townships in allowing the project.

The Royal Oak, Mich.-based company has proposed installing 185,000 ground-mounted solar panels over 500 to 550 public and private acres, much of it at the former open pit mine property that operated from the early 1950s until 1981. It will cost roughly $200 million if fully built — including an estimated $20 million for labor, according to Circle Power — but at that size would produce enough electricity to annually power 17,600 homes.

The company in July 2022 provided a $12 million property tax guarantee to local governments and schools should the full project be completed, adding that more would be paid “if tax rates increase in the future or if the project costs more to build than Circle Power’s estimates,” according to a written statement the company issued after the meeting.

Circle Power officials has touted the project as repurposing an abandoned rural property that can’t be used for residential development due to several sites having chromium contamination from explosives used during mining.

“I want to thank Felch Township for supporting Groveland Mine Solar, which will transform an industrial brownfield site into something that the whole community can benefit from,” Circle Power CEO Jordan Roberts, who attended Wednesday’s meeting, said in the statement.

Roberts told the crowd of about 40 people Wednesday the company had taken note of earlier questions about the project and tried to address as many as possible leading up to Wednesday’s meeting at the Felch Township Community Center.

In response, the company agreed to move the planned substation farther south, at least 200 feet away from the nearest landowner, and maintain a swath of timber on state land as a buffer. Circle Power also has committed to post-construction testing at the site.

The company noted as well the solar farm will be almost a half-mile from the nearest residence and 2,400 feet from the nearest well.

“We really try to be responsible,” Roberts said at the meeting.

Still, most of the public comments Wednesday centered on continuing concerns the solar array will lower property values in the area, create noise and dust, spur more traffic volume that will cause more wear and tear on rural Groveland Mine Road and generate electric and magnetic fields, or EMFs, which some maintain can be potentially harmful to humans with prolonged exposure.

Mary Ann Lazaretti of Felch Township wondered if the local volunteer fire department was capable of handling a fire in the solar panels. She was told an expert already had met with the department and found such an emergency would be well within its capabilities.

Some have called for the project to be put on the ballot before being authorized. “I think this is a major deal,” Randy Oman told the commission, “and it should be allowed to be voted on.”

The crowd was informed early in the meeting, however, the commission’s role was limited to whether Circle Power had met the requirements of the local ordinances; if the application did, the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act requires approval.

Still, the commission’s chair, Ted Budek, spoke at length before the vote on his opposition to the solar farm. He warned the negative effect on property values near Groveland Mine likely will still be significant, adding “I don’t know if there’s someone here who would want to buy a house that was so close to what you’re proposing.”

He also claimed states where solar power is more common — he cited California, Massachusetts, Indiana and Rhode Island — have “much higher” energy costs than using fossil fuels, requiring subsidies to support.

He faulted Circle Power, too, for promising school grants and scholarships from the solar farm, saying it amounted to a form of monetary persuasion for the permit. “The process has been tainted by that and should be rejected, in my opinion,” Budek said.

In the end, he was the lone no vote on the panel. Approving the permit were Bill Cook, Darwin Dixon, Mike Lindholm and Paul Schuiteman.

The Felch Township footprint is on the former mine’s abandoned plant area and waste rock piles that are privately owned and have been closed to public access for more than 40 years. The Norway Township area comprises the tailings of the former mine and a portion of the abandoned plant area. Sagola Township contains a portion of the former mine’s waste rock piles.

With further regulatory approval, Circle Power has estimated work might start in 2025 and go online in 2026 or 2027.

According to developers, the size of the solar farm will be determined by a number of factors, including whether the cost of the electricity is competitive. The proposed project includes 57 MWs in Norway Township, 32 MWs in Sagola Township and 31 MWs in Felch Township. The tax revenue estimates and each township’s share are based on that arrangement.

The 30-year total for tax revenue includes $6.48 million to Dickinson County taxing entities, which includes county operations, the library, Bay College, senior centers, health department, veterans services and the road commission.

Norway Township would receive $1.24 million; Sagola Township, $673,000; Felch Township, $617,000; and the Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District, $1.71 million.

Based on current millage rates, another $1.08 million would go to the Norway-Vulcan Schools’ debt levy and $642,000 to the North Dickinson County Schools’ sinking fund and bond.

The industrial personal property taxes are frontloaded due to depreciation, so about 50% of the estimated 30-year totals would be paid in the first five years, according to Circle Power. Assuming a $12.4 million total, the average annual total tax payment over the 30 years would be $413,000.