Case study
Reconstructing a solar project's path through three public offices
Stone Elephant Solar is a three-megawatt solar farm proposed in the Town of Palmyra, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Its path is rebuilt here from documents that three public offices already publish.
The question How much of a solar project's path through a town board, a county committee and the county's recorded agreements can be rebuilt from documents those offices already publish?
The question
How much of a development's history can be rebuilt from what local governments already publish? The town board, the county's Planning and Zoning Committee and the county's recorded agreements each hold one part of this project's story, in separate documents. The applicant before the county is OneEnergy Development, LLC, and the recorded agreement names Stone Elephant Solar WI, LLC.
The record
-
Town of Palmyra, Town Board
The town board's agenda lists a conditional-use request for a three-megawatt solar farm on 15 acres of a 32-acre parcel, for review and a recommendation to the county.
-
Town of Palmyra, Town Board
The town board's minutes record a motion to recommend that the county approve the request, with conditions.
-
Jefferson County, Planning and Zoning Committee
The county gives notice of a hearing on case CU2185-25, applicant OneEnergy Development, LLC: a 3-megawatt solar farm on parcel 024-0516-3514-000.
-
Jefferson County, Planning and Zoning Committee
The committee's minutes record its approval of the conditional use, with conditions.
-
Town of Palmyra, Town Board
The town board's agenda lists the project's roadway agreement, right-of-way permit, delivery and traffic plan, and haul route.
-
Town of Palmyra, Town Board
At a special meeting, the town board's minutes record a 2-0 vote approving the road agreement, with one section removed.
-
Jefferson County, recorded agreements
A Solar Farm Agreement on the parcel, grantee Stone Elephant Solar WI, LLC, is recorded with the county as document 1505569.
What connecting them showed
The town's agenda carried the project 231 days before the agreement was recorded with the county.
- The county's hearing notice, the committee's minutes and the recorded agreement all name parcel 024-0516-3514-000, and the two county records share the case number, CU2185-25.
- The two town agenda items carry no parcel number. The link from the town to the county rests on reading their text: both describe a three-megawatt solar farm on a 32-acre A-1 parcel in the Town of Palmyra, and the conditions in the town's October minutes are headed "Stone Elephant Solar".
- The county's Planning and Zoning Committee approved the conditional use. The county board's final action is not in the record, so this page does not say the project received final approval.
- The agreement was recorded 126 days after the committee's approval.
What the record does not show
- The county board's final action on CU2185-25 is not in the record.
- When the town's recommendation became public is unknown, because the town's minutes carry no posting date.
- The record shows when the agreement was recorded, not when it was signed.
- This is one parcel. Of the 207 parcels with a recorded solar farm agreement, it is one of four that pair with an agenda item, and the only one where the item is the project itself.
How it was done
Agendas, minutes and hearing notices were collected from the town's and the county's public websites at a polite pace, and a copy of each document was kept as it was read. The text of each document was extracted and searched for the project, its case number and its parcel. The county's public layer of recorded agreements was then joined to those records on the parcel number.