Francesville talks solar, helps fund fire truck repair

The Francesville Town Council agreed to contribute $10,000 to help the Francesville Volunteer Fire Department purchase a new motor for their front line truck. Fire chief Buzz Alma said that on Dec. 23 there was an oil pressure problem with the truck. Alma said that it will take a new motor to get it working again. In total, the new motor plus installation will cost $46,275.66. To place the order, the department will need to secure roughly about $31,000. It was mentioned that they will have to find different ways to pull the money together, such as possibly calling on the townships that they service for donations or hosting fundraising events.

Also on the agenda was Connie Ehrlich and Gail Lambert to talk and address any questions about solar coming to the county. Ehrlich said that she is recommending that the town consider what their stance is, what they think about solar and decide if they want to put a moratorium in place.The conversation opened to the rest of the room, which included both those for and against solar. Some of the items that were discussed included the history of the solar conversation in the county, the various lawsuits filed against the project, the Mammoth Solar project, the two mile radius, drainage, property values and things such as decommissioning agreements and fire plans, to just name a few.