April 19, 2012
Virginia

Task force tackles wind turbines in Floyd Co.

By: Ken Heineck, WSLS, www2.wsls.com 18 April 2012

FLOYD COUNTY, VA – Wind turbines has been generating plenty of buzz lately in the New River Valley. It is why Floyd County recently formed a task force to look into the pros and cons.

“There’s a number of things that could affect the county for many many years, good or bad,” said Lauren Yoder, a member of the Floyd County board of Supervisors.

The group plans to look into economic impact, noise, land and property values, safety issues, and environmental concerns.

Yoder heads up the task force and is also a volunteer firefighter in the county. He says another issue they are looking at is the possibility of interference with the county’s emergency communication tower on Wills Ridge, the desired spot by a handful of renewable energy companies for turbines.

“We do have a few areas in the county that are a little bit harder for us to communicate. One thing we’re concerned about is any type of interference that a wind farm might have if it’s too close to a repeater, and even give us more spotty communications in those areas,” said Yoder.

We checked with Procomm. Tthey service all of Floyd Ccounty’s two-way radio emergency communication systems. Officials said they do not have enough information, and would have to study the turbines like the task force. But they could not rule out radio interference.

The task force plans to meet again next month. There is no timetable on when they hope to present facts to board members.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/04/19/task-force-tackles-wind-turbines-in-floyd-co/