A large crowd is expected Tuesday evening as the Shelby County Board of Zoning Appeals again takes up the issue of a proposed solar energy installation.

Ranger Power of Brooklyn, New York, has proposed building a solar energy farm northwest of Shebyville. The company's leased nearly 1,800 acres from property owners for the project.

At a packed hearing in November, the county zoning board voted 3-2 against the company's request for a land use variance needed to install the solar panels.

The company and its local affiliate, Speedway Solar, refiled the petition, including a plan to remove the solar installation at the end of its roughly 40-year lifespan.

“A decommissioning plan, yup, that's been filed and reviewed. I actually went through that and kind of, added to it, so we agreed on what it's going to be,” said Desiree Calderella, director of the Shelby County Plan Commission.

Calderella said the size of the site has increased to nearly 1,800 acres, but the number of solar panels under the revised plan is now about 800 less.

The company leased additional acreage and increased set backs to help mitigate the impact on nearby residents, she said.

Neighbors of the proposed site have objected, saying the huge fields of solar panels will ruin their property values and may pollute the land.

Farmers have also objected to taking what's now primarily cropland out of production in favor of the solar installation.

At the Shelby County Commissioners meeting Monday morning, Commissioners Kevin Nigh (R-Center District) and Don Parker (R-South District), who are both farmers, said that despite some comments, the plan is not a done deal and the zoning board could reject the solar farm petition.

The public hearing on the solar farm is due to begin at 7 p.m on Tuesday evening in Breck Auditorium at Shelbyville High School, 2003 S. Miller St.

Also at the commissioners meeting, the board approved using the Shelby County Highway Garage, 1304 N. Michigan Road, for the annual low-cost rabies clinic put on by veterinarian Dr. William Doig.

The vaccinations are scheduled to take place at the highway garage from 10:30 a.m. to noon on April 13 and from 2 to 3 p.m. on April 27.