June 24, 2013
Illinois

Woodford County to be compensated for road damage

By Cheryl Wolfe | June 23, 2013 | www.pantagraph.com

EUREKA – Woodford County has reached an agreement with wind farm developer Gamesa that compensates the county for damages done to roads during the construction of the Minonk Wind Farm.

“We believe it is a win-win situation for both the county and Gamesa and will clear the books,” Barry Logan, who chairs the road and bridge committee, told the board last week. “In a great spirit of cooperation on behalf of county board members and Gamesa, we worked this out.”

The agreement calls for the Spanish wind farm developer to pay the county $885,000, and let the county repair the roads. Most of the damage cited was done to County Highway 20 and County Highway 6 in the northeastern part of the county, and involved six to seven miles of road, according to county highway engineer Bob Tyler.

The agreement came after weeks of negotiations following the completion of the wind farm at the end of last year.

“It was based on hardcore negotiations,” Tyler said.

As per an agreement with Gamesa, the county hired Farnsworth Group as an independent contractor to assess the condition of the roads before and after the wind farm was built. Using that assessment, along with assessments by Tyler and Gamesa, an agreement was finally reached that was satisfactory to the parties involved.

Tyler said the money will be used to spray-patch and chip and seal some of the roads. More extensive repairs in some places will involve grinding up the road, adding more base and repaving.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/06/24/woodford-county-to-be-compensated-for-road-damage/