Pike County is about to see the construction of its first major solar farm.
The Pike Press reports that the former Bow Lake Golf Course near Barry is going to have 35-45 acres of the property’s east edge turned into a solar farm. WGEM reports that the golf course property was bought by investors in March of last year in hopes of redevelopment.
Barry City Administrator Jeff Hogge told the Pike Press that the other half of the Bow Lake property is in the planning stages. Hogge says that residential and commercial development are in the works. Hogge told WGEM back in May of last year that Barry is facing a housing shortage because the employment of the Ascend Wellness cannabis cultivation center has brought to town since 2015. The cultivation center employs around 350 people currently.
Hogge says that the solar farm development is free to be done, but in the wake of the farm’s development, the city of Barry has crafted a setback ordinance for future solar projects.