Ellis County approves road-use agreement for Soul Marina solar project after public safety concerns

Ellis County Commissioners approved a road-use agreement with Soul Marina Energy Center LLC that requires the developer to post a bond to cover potential road damage from construction traffic on a 3.6-mile stretch of county road.

At the hearing, resident Lacey Hammel told the court she and other residents “respectfully ask the Ellis commissioner's court to enact a temporary moratorium on the permitting approval, construction expansion, tax abatements, reinvestment zones, economic incentives, and development agreements related to battery energy storage systems, utility scale solar facilities, wind energy projects, associated transmission infrastructure, [and] data center infrastructure” until safety and legal reviews are finished. David Lowe raised national-security and fire-safety concerns and asked the court to require disclosure of manufacturers and UL testing documentation for energy-storage components.

County staff clarified the road-use item was limited to a developer-funded bond for potential post-construction road repairs and that the project under consideration does not include battery storage units. The court recorded a recusal (one commissioner said the project “wraps around my house”), and the motion to approve passed with four votes in favor and one abstention (recusal).