Republicans on the Will County Board are questioning the integrity of the county review process for solar projects a day ahead of the vote on the controversial Earthrise project.

Earthrise wants to convert nearly 6,100 acres of farmland into solar panels, a project that has stirred vehement opposition from residents and officials in the three townships included in the plan.

A statement issued Wednesday by the Republican Caucus on the County Board suggested a possible party showdown when the board votes on the project on Thursday.

“Even if all the Republicans vote no and the Democrats vote yes, it will get approved,” board Member Dan Butler, R-Frankfort, said Wednesday.

Butler said he expected that to be the likely outcome of the vote on Thursday on Earthrise’s Pride of the Prairie solar complex, which spreads over 96 parcels of property in Manhattan, Green Garden and Wilton townships.

The board is evenly divided by Republicans and Democrats, but County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat, votes to break ties.

Butler was the designated spokesman for the statement issued Wednesday by the Republican Caucus.

Republicans contend that county staff in the Land Use Department, which is overseen by Bertino-Tarrant, is lax on solar projects.

Republicans in the news release accused the county Land Use Department of “unauthorized use of discretionary powers to waive mandatory zoning and environmental protection ordinances for massive commercial solar developments.”

Butler when interviewed fell short of accusing county staff of any intentional wrongdoing for what the Republican statement described as rewriting county law “behind closed doors to accommodate out-of-state developers.”

“Whether it be intentional or inadvertent, that is what’s happening,” Butler said. “I’m questioning the fact that they are allowing that to happen.”

Meanwhile, Michael Theodore, spokesman for Bertino-Tarrant, issued a lengthy and detailed statement calling the Republican accusations “blatantly false.”

Theodore said the Land Use Department is following usual procedure, which will require Earthrise to submit more detailed plans before building permits are issued on such matters as wetlands and the number of solar panels that will be installed.

“The applicant was treated the same way any applicant was treated by the Land Use Department,” Theodore said.

Theodore said Earthrise has submitted to the county “exactly what is outlined in the county ordinance and state law: a preliminary site plan.”

The same arguments were played out last week at a meeting of the County Board Executive Committee.

Republicans then tried unsuccessfully to block the Earthrise project from moving ahead to a final vote at the County Board on Thursday.

Local Republicans are trying to buck state law, enacted by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and a Democratic legislature, that ties the hands of local officials when it comes to approval of solar projects.

Democrats on the County Board at times have pointed to the restrictions of state law when approving solar projects that are unpopular locally.