April 18, 2016
Kansas

Pratt County Commission: Some details on wind farm construction unclear

By Gale Rose | Pratt Tribune | Posted Apr. 19, 2016 | www.pratttribune.com

Exactly who can drive what roads in the construction area of the Ninnescah Wind Farm is not clear.

Doug Freund, county road and bridge supervisor, reported to the Pratt County commissioners Monday that it was unclear exactly what traffic can travel down which roads so some research needs to be done. One specific issue was traffic on construction of the transmission lines. Those routes are different from the designated tower construction roads. Freund had received questions from a concerned citizen about truck weight and what it would do to the road surface.

“We need some clarification,” Freund said.

Freund will have cost numbers for a Foley backhoe to replace a unit for the county. This is a carryover 2015 and has very few hours. Freund said the unit would have a new blade and Foley was putting the numbers together for him to present at a future meeting.

Tim Branscom, Pratt County planning and zoning administrator, said how the county was going to verify any changes in setbacks on the Ninnescah Wind Farm was also unclear.

NextEra is going to provide Branscom with GPS locations for center points for all 121 wind generators so that will provide an accurate starting point.

At a wind farm in Kingman County the county only measured setbacks once and in Gray and Ford Counties, setbacks were never measured at all.

Branscom said he would look into the matter and get back to the commissioners.

Branscom also wanted to know about a water well that has been drilled at the wind farm concrete plant site. No wells were to be drilled at site.

It is unclear who owns the well so Branscom will research that issue as well.

Debbie McGraw, director of public health, said immunizations were down at the health department. Collections were also down.

Up-to-date immunizations for children were in the mid-90 percent range except for DTaP4 at 83 percent and a combination vaccine DTaP4, polio3, MMR1, HIB3, HepB3, Var1 AND PCV4 is at 82 percent up-to-date.

The health department wants children to have all their vaccinations complete by the time they start kindergarten.

In the 13- to 18-year-range, most up-to-date vaccinations are almost 100 percent.

The HVP3 vaccination for cervical cancer is at 52 percent, however. This is a sexually transmitted disease from males to females. It is a cervical cancer that can be fatal for women so it is imperative that teens get vaccinated, McGraw said.

Commissioners approved an administrative change to the budget for the grant comprehensive plan for Catherine Rohrer, South Central Community Corrections director. The change was for Corrections Officer Brad Macy in juvenile corrections for a change in money usage within the established budget.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/04/18/pratt-county-commission-some-details-on-wind-farm-construction-unclear/