◆ Solar project starting near Cokeville.
As March transitions to April the construction projects in Lincoln County start to open for the 2022 building season.
“There’s a lot of construction starting now, starting with the solar farm south of Cokeville,” Lincoln County Commissioner Jerry Harmon said on the Weekday Wake Up program Monday morning. “That’s a big project for the county.”
He said the 440 acre project is located eight miles south of Cokeville near the west side road.
“It’s expected to take about two years,” the commissioner added. “It will be up and running the second year.” In the meantime, the commissioner reported initial work has started with TerraPower as site selection is underway now with drilling operations for soil samples at Kemmerer site.
In November, TerraPower announced Kemmerer “as the preferred site for the Natrium™ reactor demonstration project, which is a TerraPower and GE-Hitachi technology, and is one of two competitively-selected advanced reactor demonstration projects supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.”
The announcement noted, “The company selected the Kemmerer location, near the Naughton Power Plant, following an extensive evaluation process and meetings with community members and leaders.”
Harmon acknowledged the amount of time needed to start the project. “That’s a full seven year project,” Harmon said of the planned construction. “We’re happy to have them in the county and working.”
Lincoln County continues to meet with the Tri-Site Company on a proposal to produce coal products and liquid fertilizer. Construction plans are still pending.
In addition to the county projects, Commissioner Harmon noted the changes coming for the municipalities.
“There’s a lot of growth going on with Alpine, Star Valley Ranch, Thayne and Afton, Diamondville and Kemmerer,” he said. “All have permits coming in as quickly as they are in the county.”
The commissioner advised that growth will bring challenges. He specifically referenced the changes in property taxes as the sales continue to escalate.
“We’re concerned about property taxes,” Harmon said. “They are going up. We are encouraging all the senior citizens and veterans to use their exemptions,”he said. “There will be information coming on where they can meet with the treasurer to work on these.”
The commissioner said growth will also mean more traffic. “Increased traffic is a problem throughout the county with construction phases going on every where,” Harmon said.
“Everywhere you go in Star Valley, you see something going up. There’s a lot of good people moving to the valley and the county.”
He added, “In my 30 years of doing the county business, I have never seen it so busy.”
With the changes, the commissioner noted special districts will continue to be adequately funded, despite “rumors to the contrary.”
The commission said collaborative projects, similar to those approved in the upper Greys River that included timber sales, road improvements and fisheries work will continue as the county works with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
The commissioner closed by acknowledging the work of the Search and Rescue units in Lincoln County as the winter season comes to a close. He also noted the emergency services and their work as relates to health care and fire protection.
