Saline Township Rejects Washtenaw Solar Settlement

Saline Township residents urged officials Thursday to keep fighting the proposed Washtenaw Solar project rather than accept a settlement they feared would leave too much oversight in the developer’s hands.

The Township Board and Planning Commission met jointly to hear township attorney Michael Homier explain a proposed settlement in the project’s case before the Michigan Public Service Commission. After hearing from residents and reviewing the agreement, township officials voted 3-0 to reject the settlement and continue the case. Supervisor Tom Hammond and Trustee Gary Luckhardt abstained.

The vote does not stop the project. Instead, it means the township will continue arguing its case before state regulators rather than settle now.

Many of the residents who spoke live near the proposed project, where solar arrays would be built across fields near homes and local roads. They raised concerns about wells, drainage, construction traffic, setbacks and what would happen if problems arose.

The proposed settlement would have capped the fenced portion of the project at about 830 acres and increased the developer’s annual payment to the township from $2,000 to $3,000 per megawatt. It also called for construction monitoring, drainage repairs, noise studies, vegetative screening, emergency-response training, road-use agreements and plans for removing the equipment when the project ends.

Residents questioned whether those protections would be enough. One resident said a construction staging area could be located close to neighboring homes, while others questioned whether complaints would be handled independently once construction began.

During public comment, one resident warned against accepting an agreement that relied on developer-funded oversight.

“I would definitely not do a deal where a fox is watching the henhouse,” the resident said. “I don’t trust these big corporations at all.”

Township officials echoed many of those concerns. They questioned setbacks, farmland enrolled in Michigan’s PA 116 preservation program, drainage, underground cables and whether enough financial protection would be available to remove the equipment if the developer went bankrupt.

Homier said MPSC staff had recommended approval of the project after revisions, although the commission has not issued a final decision.

He compared the contested-case process to a bench trial, with the commission reviewing evidence and eventually deciding whether to approve the project. With the settlement rejected, the case will continue before the MPSC, and the township could appeal the commission’s eventual decision.

Following the vote, the township’s attorneys were expected to notify the other parties that Saline Township would not pursue the proposed settlement.