Sandwich OKs solar farm along Sandy Bluff Road

By ERIC SCHELKOPF eschelkopf@shawmedia.com

The Sandwich City Council on Monday night gave the green light to a proposal to develop a community solar farm along Sandy Bluff Road.

City Council members unanimously approved a special use permit for Turning Point Energy to build a community solar farm on about 28 acres at 599 Sandy Bluff Road. The Sandwich Plan Commission at its May 9 meeting recommended approval of a special use permit for the project.

Alex Mendelson, senior development manager for Turning Point Energy, presented City Council members with updated plans for the proposed community solar farm. According to Turning Point’s website, community solar enables businesses and residents with unsuitable or insufficient space for on-site solar to realize

• COMMON GROUNDS

Continued from page 13 injustices in the coffee, tea and chocolate industries, but the idea quickly morphed into more of a business, Foster said. Foster went from a graphic designer and youth pastor to a business owner, according to the social media post.

“I didn’t expect to be the financial person, I didn’t expect to be the barista, but what started out as an outreach evolved into a business more and more,” Foster said. “I needed to make some decisions that are business only, or business focused, and that’s what’s hard for me. My passion really is more for people than making money.” the value of clean energy consumption.

The coffee shop opened in 2016 in downtown DeKalb. Foster said the first few years were a nice time, running the business was simple. However, the COVID-19 pandemic threw the business for a loop.

A community solar farm produces electricity and the electricity produced becomes net metering credits. Individuals, municipalities and businesses then can sign up to receive a share of the net metering credits.

Net metering credits from the electricity produced by the community solar farm are applied to each customer’s monthly electric bill.

“In all, this will be a quiet neighbor,” Mendelson told City Council members. “There will be no glare and it will improve soil quality. There won’t be traffic generated and there will be no use of water or sewer. There will be no permanent parking.”

The project also will not negatively affect property values, he said. “We presented evidence to that.”

In addition, he said the project would not generate emissions or noise.

In July 2021, Common Grounds moved into its current location at 2180 Oakland Drive, Suite B, in Sycamore after a falling out with a landlord in DeKalb. Since that move, Common Grounds has struggled to make a profit, and around Christmas 2022 the shop lost money through staffing and inventory issues, Foster said.

Without extra help, Foster works as a one-man band – making food and drinks, opening and closing the shop and managing. If someone seeks employment at Common Grounds he can’t afford to hire them.

“I had one person who was a good hire – someone from before who came back – and I can’t even afford to pay her at this point. So that’s heartbreaking for me and I’m trying to help her meet with some people who may have a position,” Foster said. “It’s a tough time, it’s taken a toll on our family life, three teenagers at home, my wife works full time, she needs more of me available.”