By Richard Harris
The future is bright in Marion County for the AES Corporation, whose proposed Heart Pine Solar project received much support during a public hearing on March 12 and was approved by the County Commission afterwards in a 3-1 vote.
Several residents spoke in favor of the project during the public hearing. Nobody specifically spoke against it, although there were some questions and requests for assurances, such as from a neighboring property owner who wanted to make sure it wasn't an eyesore and that it wouldn't create runoff onto his family's property.
Commissioner Marshall Fontaine noted that there are some existing solar panels in the county and that the area around them isn't maintained the best (dead bushes, etc.). He asked for assurance that they would do a better...