A public hearing on a proposed 6,100-acre solar complex was continued for a day after nearly four hours of discussion and public comment Monday.

The Will County Board Planning & Zoning Commission will reconvene at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to consider the plan to put solar panels on 96 different farm properties in an area southeast of the village of Manhattan.

Dozens of people spoke on the project, and attendance at the meeting appeared to be at least 300.

Earthrise Energy’s Pride of the Prairie solar complex would spread across sections of Manhattan, Green Garden and Wilton townships.

“The problem we have with the Earthrise Pride of the Prairie is it’s just too darn big,” Manhattan Township Supervisor James Walsh told the commission.

Describing it as a “monster project,” Walsh said Pride of the Prairie clashes with township planning for solar farms.

All three township supervisors spoke out against the project as did many of their residents, who said the solar complex would spoil their rural way of life.

But the plan had just as many if not more supporters, including union construction workers who wanted jobs, renewable energy advocates who wanted more solar power, and farmers who wanted the opportunity to put their land to a new use.

“You ought to hear from a farmer’s perspective,” Mark Fecht, who owns land in Wilton Township that would be leased for a portion of the solar complex, told opponents at the end of the night.

“We want the ability to do what we want with our own ground,” Fecht said. “You have no idea what it’s like to farm.”

Fecht was the last person to speak before commission recessed for the night at about 9:15 p.m.

The commission is likely to vote Tuesday, but its vote will only serve as a recommendation to the county board.

The County Board Land Use & Development Committee on Thursday will review the Pride of the Prairie proposal also with another large solar project Earthrise wants to build in Will County.

The company plans a 2,400-acre Plum Valley Solar complex in an area that goes into Crete, Monee, Washingtion and Will townships.

The county board committee will meet at 11 a.m.

Like the Planning & Zoning Commission, the county board committee has moved its meeting to the Renaissance Center in downtown Joliet. The venue has a banquet room to accommodate the large number of people who want a voice on the plans.

The proposal would go to the full county board for a final vote.

Earthrise made a presentation to the commission on Monday that included a summary of benefits the solar complex would bring.

According to Earthrise, the solar complex would generate $81 million in property taxes over its expexted 35-year life, provide more than 600 construction jobs while it is built, and employ 40 people for operations and maintenance.

.