With the City of Halstead still awaiting feedback from Concurrent LLC, the planning commission tentatively set a public hearing for their next meeting on Monday, Sept. 16. City Manager Ethan Reimer hoped this would get a response from Concurrent, a company wishing to locate a battery energy storage system (BESS) in Halstead. The commission listed regulations at a meeting in June. The city attorney then sent the regulations to Concurrent but hadn’t heard back. “I’m hoping this will put pressure on them,” Reimer said. Reimer said if he told them there was another public hearing, he hoped that would encourage Concurrent to respond to the BESS regulations proposed. According to past reporting by Harvey County Now, the commission requested regulations around the noise level. After testing areas in town, the commission agreed that the noise decibel should not exceed a level of 75 within 100 feet of the property. The commission also set restrictions of a 25-foot setback for the side and rear of the property. The commission said they wanted regulations available to the public before the meeting so that the meeting had different community feedback from the last public hearing. “I want regulations up so people can look at them ahead of time,” Tessa Windling, chair of the planning commission, said. The commission said they would reschedule the public hearing if information wasn’t up for the public two weeks out from the meeting. The commission also approved a conditional use permit for two accessory structure requests. The sheds were for personal use and would be 1,500 square feet, which exceeds the 720 square foot limit.
Source: Harvey County Now
