Solar panels could soon grow on Timnath farm land

Pat Ferrier, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·2 min read
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The town of Timnath is selling the KM Farm North, a property it purchased in 2019, to a national energy company to create a solar farm.

Town Council on Tuesday approved the sale to Amerlight Energy LLC for $1.5 million, $200,000 more than the town paid for the property four years ago. The property, near the intersection of Colorado Highway 14 and Weld County Road 15, does not have any water rights, making the site a "perfect place" for a solar farm, Mayor Mark Soukup said.

The property was appraised at a value between $1.2 million and $1.5 million.

Amerlight is based in Evanston, Illinois, but its president, Bryce Vincent, lives in Timnath.

Vincent said the company is in the "very initial state for evaluation, design and negotiations for what is possible" and couldn't share specifics about the size of the solar farm or amount of electricity it might generate.

As a resident of Timnath, Vincent said his goal is to provide "as much future value as possible for our wonderful town residents."

If Amerlight does not built the solar power generation farm within three years, the town can buy back the land for the original purchase price, said planner Brian Williamson.

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The town will also have the right of first refusal for electricity generated on the property and is reserving the frontage along Colorado Highway 14 for commercial development, with the solar panel generation and power storage on the northern portion of the site.

"I'm pleased we as a town are going ahead and taking proactive steps to encourage an environmental use of the property," Soukup said. "I think it will be well done; it's a great move."

Referencing the profit the town will make on the sale, Soukup said: "We're selling for a price higher than that and creating an ecological and green project for the town. I couldn’t be more pleased."

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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Solar farm could soon grow in north Timnath, Colorado