The commission approved a $22,923.50 payment to Foulston for legal work related to the Tallgrass solar conditional use permit and contribution agreement; staff said the developer initially funded $200,000 into escrow and that no tax dollars were used for the initial attorney payments.

Developers of a proposed 175-megawatt Tallgrass solar project answered questions on wetlands, decommissioning bonds, interconnection costs and local benefits at a non-voting Ellis County Commission session; county staff and residents pressed for more environmental data, pipeline coordination and negotiated pilot and road-use agreements before any vote.