Hopkinsville City Council passed an adjustment to the zoning code in relation to solar panel farms on second-reading at Tuesday’s meeting, along with incentives for Ascend Elements.
The amendment regulates certain aspects of solar farms in the City of Hopkinsville, including a minimum amount of feet the panels must be located away from adjacent property lines depending on the size of the solar project, creates a decommission expectation at the end of the project’s life, provisions for landscaping and more. Tom Britton with the Zoning Commission says it brings Hopkinsville’s ordinance in line with the state guidelines and still has the option of having exceptions approved for individual projects.
It was approved unanimously. Recently, council approved an amendment the code of ordinances to remove the $10,000 maximum liability for the occupational license tax on net profits—at Tuesday’s meeting, they approved a municipal order that 50 percent of additional revenue generated as a result of removing the $10,000 maximum tax liability on net profits be placed in the Economic Development Fund and 50 percent be placed in the Hopkinsville Fire Station Building and Maintenance Fund.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin says the choice would be a good choice for their bond rating as they look to potential build a new fire station down the line.
In other action, council approved a grant agreement in the amount of $3.6 million between the City of Hopkinsville and Ascend Elements, along with a municipal order establishing a tax incentive for Ascend Elements to retain, through a rebate, eighty percent of any increase in ad valorem tax revenue otherwise derived by the city.