Business View Magazine | January 2020

324 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 2016, more than 300 cities, counties, and small towns across the nation have achieved SolSmart designation, which sends a signal to solar companies that a community is “open for solar business.” It provides official recognition that a community has worked to remove obstacles to solar energy development. “The Village met certain criteria and since then, our time frame for solar permits is down to a maximum of three days,” Chipman explains. “And we’ve had over 90 rooftop solar permits issued this year, so that’s been quite successful for us.” “Another item that we’re working on is a community solar program with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus,” Chipman adds. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a membership organization of the Chicago region’s 275 cities, towns, and villages. Founded in 1997, by then Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and leading Mayors from nine suburban municipal groups, the Mayors Caucus pushes past geographical boundaries and local interests to work on public policy issues. “We haven’t joined just yet, but we’ve talked with them about some options for utilizing solar installations to purchase energy for the Village’s electrical needs, which could be met by solar, rather than fossil fuels. We also entered into an agreement with Kane County; they cost-shared with us to provide and install an electric vehicle charging station in front of the Village Hall. We’re waiting for the electricity provider to give us a meter, but it’s ready to go.” “One of the things that Montgomery has done that is quite unique is we’ve made a concerted effort to require all of our new development to have naturalized detention basins, so you will see prairie plantings around all new detention basins,” Chipman remarks. A detention basin is an excavated area installed on, or adjacent to, tributaries of rivers, streams, lakes, or bays to protect against flooding and, in some cases, downstream erosion by storing water for a limited period of time. “One of the really forward-thinking items in regards to those detention basins is our funding mechanism.