October memo to council about energy development on Fort Collins Open Spaces and Natural Areas.
**correction in comments below
Solar panels belong on parking lots and rooftops not Natural Areas and Open Spaces! In October city council received a memo concerning proposals to develop wind and solar resources on Fort Collins Natural Areas and Open Spaces. Fort Collins Natural Areas director, John Stokes expects this to be a "challenging conversation" with the community. I agree. We did not spent hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve land so that it could be developed as energy parks!
The memo refers to one specific proposal to put transmission lines across SoapStone Prairie Natural Area. This is a proposal that merits careful consideration. Soapstone was purchased by the City (for $11 million) to preserve the natural and cultural resources of the property. Potential wind resources lay on the other side of Soapstone and it would cost a lot of money to route the transmission lines around the property. So we will have a decision to make, as a community, about those transmission lines. CforSE will stay up to date as this project progresses and keep you informed and ask for your input at the right time.
The memo also mentions unspecified proposals to develop solar and wind resources on City owned Natural Areas. This we must not allow!