On Tuesday evening, the Alachua County Commission will consider a request for a solar array planned for a neighborhood near Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.
The solar park would be part of Gainesville Regional Utilities’ Solar Feed-in-Tariff Program, which sets up 20-year, fixed-price contracts through which it purchases renewable energy from program participants. Sybac Solar, which is setting up the installation, plans to donate the land to Friends of Paynes Prairie for conservation, Commissioner Robert “Hutch” Hutchinson said. The organization would lease the nine-acre property to the company for its 20-year run in the feed-in-tariff program.
Hutchinson and Commissioner Mike Byerly are on the board of directors of Friends of Paynes Prairie, but Hutchinson said this doesn’t constitute a voting conflict.
A conflict of interest, he pointed out, must create a benefit or detriment to him that goes beyond the impact it would have on a typical citizen. As volunteer board members for Friends of Paynes Prairie, neither he nor Byerly would personally benefit – financially or otherwise – from the land donation, he said.
Hutchinson plans to disclose the solar project-related discussions for which he has been present, which include a community meeting on the matter and a Friends of Paynes Prairie meeting he attended. During the latter meeting, he recused himself from voting on or discussing the subject, he said.
Byerly told the Sun he left one of the organization’s board of directors meetings when the project came up and didn’t attend any other board meetings at which it was discussed.