For several months, the Montgomery County Planning and Zoning Board encouraged residents to fill out a survey to express their opinions on the master plan, master map and the solar overlay district as well as what the county needs to improve on.

The surveys were released during a 90-minute public hearing on Nov. 16 in the Commissioners Room at the Montgomery County Courthouse. A total of 314 surveys were completed, more than 90 percent of them were from Montgomery County. Boonslick Regional Planning Commission helped the Planning and Zoning Board conduct the surveys.

“We feel like if people really wanted to fill out the survey, they had more than every other opportunity to fill out a survey,” BRPC Executive Director Chad Eggen said. “I think a lot of them chose not to. I think we heard scuttlebutt from people who want to have their input now, but we had over a month-long process in which they had every other opportunity to give their input and they didn’t give their input. In our minds, they had every opportunity during the planning process to provide the input.”

The surveys were administered through a third-party site called Survey Monkey. Most of the surveys were filled out in person at the Montgomery County Fair in July and the Old Threshers Show in August. The survey was closed on Aug. 22.

“Every single night at the county fair, there was a booth set up to answer questions,” Eggen said. “The survey was available to take during the fair and public sessions so that we could quantify those results. The same thing happened at the Old Threshers Show.”

Planning and Zoning Administrator Donna Viehmann said according to the surveys, the addition of broadband fiber connections for residents and business was one of the top needs in the county.

“Citizens and business owners want to be able to connect to fiber everywhere within the county,” Viehmann said.

Also in the surveys, most of the residents are not in favor of having solar farms in the county.

“According to survey results, one-third of respondents favored some solar farms in the county, while two-thirds do not want any solar farms in the county,” Viehmann said.

Viehmann made a presentation of the master map during the public hearing. The map showed the zoning districts in the unincorporated areas in the county.

“It’s a road map for the development of the future,” Eggen said. “The main goal for the map was to show where the intended growth was supposed to be in Montgomery County according to the quantitative survey that was done.”

Viehmann said the board has not approved of having a solar overlay district in the area. A decision will be made in a February meeting.

“If the board approves having a zoning overlay district, there will be regulations just like any other chapter of the zoning order,” Viehmann said. “Someone, like a landowner or energy group, will come in and say they have a lease for 250 acres. So they will pay for the permitting fees and annual fees that go along with it. We will block out that area for the next 30 years because that is what a solar farm project will be for approximately 30 years.”

The master plan will be in effect on Jan. 1. It’s a guide on the future growth of development in the county.

“The ultimate goals for the master plan are to provide for health, safety and well-being at the county residence, protect the environment and to ensure that land use remains productive and property values are maintained,” Viehmann said.