LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME


[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]

Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

Get weekly updates
RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Stripe

Donate via Paypal

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Developer pitches wind farm to DeWitt County Zoning Board of Appeals 

Credit:  Kevin Barlow | Herald & Review | herald-review.com ~~

CLINTON – The push to place a $300 million wind farm in DeWitt County moved into a new phase Tuesday night before a crowd of about 200 people in the auditorium of Clinton High School.

It was the first of seven scheduled five-hour meetings before the DeWitt County Zoning Board of Appeals.

Tom Swierczewski, a development director with Tradewind Energy, told the seven-member panel the proposed Alta Farms II wind farm would bring several benefits to DeWitt County, including extra income for farmers hosting turbines on their property, new roads and extra property tax revenue.

On the first night of the company laying out its case, Swierczewski said the company hopes to break ground on the project in the late spring and be in operation by late 2020.

“This project meets all of the requirements for a special-use permit,” said James Griffin, a Tradewind Energy attorney.

The zoning board of appeals will consider making a recommendation to the DeWitt County Board on the company’s special-use permit application after the conclusion of testimony in the next several weeks.

The county board is expected to consider the special-use permit in March.

Following the conclusion of the company’s presentation, which could come at a second meeting Thursday night, the zoning board of appeals will hear from supporters and opponents of the project.

Meetings are scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week and then Feb. 19, 20, 21 and 22. All meetings are expected to start at 5 p.m. at the high school. More meetings will be scheduled, if necessary.

Swierczewski told the zoning board of appeals the project will be composed of about 67 individual wind turbines, each no taller than 591 feet in total tower height. The project would spread over about 12,202 acres in Barnett, Wapella and Clintonia townships.

Swierczewski said a panel of experts will testify to specifics of the special-use permit, but zoning board of appeals members had concerns Tuesday about language in the permit which would allow the turbines to be moved up to 250 feet from their specified locations.

“It looks like you are taking our codes and fitting them to your needs,” said board member Dave Waters.

“I am not saying that every one of our 67 turbines is going to shift 250 feet and many of them will not shift at all,” Swierczewski answered. “It is what we call micro-setting, which is small shifts after we do research to find out how the turbines interact with each other.

“We are making sure we have enough flexibility so that if a couple of turbines need shifting, 100 or 200 feet or so,” he said. “Without that flexibility, the only other option we would have would be to remove the turbine and then that landowner doesn’t receive the benefit of that turbine.”

Board Chairman Andy Hedrick also questioned Swierczewski about non-participating landowners who may suffer extra charges such as added charges for crop dusting around turbines.

“We have designed this project to minimize impacts such as that,” Swierczewski said. “We have fewer turbines, and they are more spaced out. I have talked with crop dusters and have heard rumors that some landowners are getting charged more, but I have not been able to verify if that is actually the case. The way this project is laid out, that shouldn’t be a concern.”

Source:  Kevin Barlow | Herald & Review | herald-review.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Contributions
   Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)
Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI M TG TS G Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook Wind Watch on Linked In

Wind Watch on Mastodon Wind Watch on Truth Social

Wind Watch on Gab Wind Watch on Bluesky