County Commissioners Grant Tax Abatement To Gallatin Power LLC
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
During Public Comment at the September 12 County Commissioners’ meeting, Chairman Darrel Folkvord showed photos of the degradation of one of the piers beneath the Toston Bridge. The photo showed deep cracks in the pier along with large portions of the concrete at the water line missing. He said the Commissioners would have to sign a document guaranteeing the safety of the bridge if it were reopened.
The commissioners approved a 25% tax abatement for a solar ray project to be built by Gallatin Power, LLC of Bozeman. Trident Solar array will be located on a 2,600-acre privately-owned parcel at the southern end of Broadwater County near the I90 Interchange off Old Town Road. Any large project which qualifies may apply for tax relief from the county with certain conditions.
The 25% tax abatement(relief) of taxable value will relieve Gallatin Power for the first five years. The Montana Department of Revenue has evaluated and given projections for the 35-year life of the project. Broadwater County would receive $43.6 million in taxes. The forgiven amount of taxes would be $15.9 million.
The solar array will have a “footprint” of 800 acres. It will provide 160 megawatts of energy and will have 80 megawatts of battery storage. When completed the array will consist of 384,332 panels.
According to Jeff Fox, Gallatin Power’s vice president of land, the solar array will eventually be hooked into the nearby Northwestern Energy substation. “If we are able to qualify for the tax abatement, we will be able to sell the energy to Northwestern Energy and will be able to find additional financing for the $233 million investment to be up and running by 2025.”
Commissioner Folkvord said they have a draft road agreement with Gallatin Power to upgrade Old Town Road from Hwy 287 to Eustis Road in front of the Quiet Drive subdivision. Several miles of county road to be upgraded will run the length of their project. Gallatin Power will pay for those road improvements.
Trident Solar will generate as much energy as 25,000 households consume annually when it is up and running. Maintenance, when the project is complete, will involve two or three maintenance workers.
In other business, the commissioners approved Acting County Attorney Jania Hatfield’s request to advertise for a second deputy county attorney. Hatfield is working in Broadwater County Cory Swanson’s place while he is deployed with the National Guard. He is not being paid by the county at this time. A second Deputy’s wages would be $91,862.
The commissioners gave preliminary approval with conditions for the Bridger Brewing minor subdivision for commercial and industrial lots.
County Public Works Supervisor gave a road upgrade report. He is trying out Perma-Zyme, a non-corrosive polymer that is advertised to harden the roadbed to 981 psi. Use of the product would limit so much grading of gravel roads and save on grader life. “Use of the product would almost double the life of our graders and at about $476,000 a piece, that amounts to a lot of money saved by the taxpayers,” Obert said.
In other comments, both the commissioners and Obert complimented the farmers and ranchers for setting their pivots and sprinklers to not hit the roadbeds.
