Union County now has legal counsel to assist with opposition efforts regarding the Richwood Solar project.
At the regular county commissioners meeting Wednesday, the board approved a letter of engagement from Brown Law Office to be the legal representation ahead of the hearings on the planned Samsung project next month and later this year.
County officials have been working on securing counsel over the last several months and now have an agreement signed by attorney Daniel Brown. In the letter to the county, Brown said he is “pleased to provide” the commissioners with that counsel and representation.
According to the letter, work will be done at an hourly basis and the county signed on, agreeing to spend “up to $50,000 on legal fees” to participate in the process.
Commissioner Dave Burke said he’s appreciative the board was able to find an experienced attorney to fill this role.
“This was a very conflicted issue and we thought we had a broad spectrum of choices and it took a lot of time to do this,” he said, noting he also appreciated the patience of both the participating townships and the residents. “I think we found a highly qualified law firm to put ourselves in the best position to work to, hopefully, negate Richwood Solar, most respectfully.”
County officials stated at previous meetings that searching for an attorney has been difficult as firms were either busy with existing work or not accepting new clients.
Brown does have experience taking on large-scale solar projects, representing townships in Greene County where Texas-based Vesper Energy proposed the Kingwood Solar project. That initial project was denied by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) but was then appealed late last year. Vesper then proposed another project in that county.
In addition to solar-related matters, Brown practices environmental law, civil litigation, real estate and zoning, business counseling and oil and gas leasing. He also served as corporate counsel for Dayton Power & Light and other firms in the Dayton area, according to the law firm’s website.
While Samsung introduced the project nearly three years ago, the company formally filed its application at the end of January. The proposal would bring a nearly 1,600-acre project to three townships just south of Richwood. Once the application was filed, affected parties including county officials and the trustees of Leesburg, Claibourne and Taylor townships, decided to join together as a group to oppose the project officially.
As of Wednesday’s meeting, Brown’s letter was addressed to the board solely but officials expect separate letters will be sent to the townships individually.
“I am willing to act as joint common counsel under separate legal services engagement letters signed by the commissioners and the trustees, subject to an appropriate ‘conflict of interest waiver agreement’ between the parties related to the common counsel arrangement,” he said in the letter.
County officials said while the firm will act on the group’s behalf, it is easier for costs and itemizing work to have separate agreements made up.
Work done by the attorney may consist of participating in public meetings regarding the project, advising on the adoption of opposition resolutions, preparing written, direct testimony for submission to the OPSB, drafting briefs and “other related tasks,” according to the letter.
The first public hearing for the Richwood Project will be held on June 25 at North Union High School at 5 p.m. There will also be an adjudicatory hearing in early August, which will allow parties to provide sworn, pre-filed testimony and cross examine witnesses. That hearing forms the evidentiary record that the OPSB will consider for its formal decision on the case.