January 8, 2020
Indiana

Wind farm proposal divides Posey County community

By Chellsie Parker | WFIE | January 7, 2020 | www.14news.com

On Tuesday, The Hovey House in Mt. Vernon was filled with people concerned about a proposed wind farm in Posey County.

Commissioners and locals voiced their opinions on the wind farm proposal.

“I’ve got two cohorts today who don’t want to help out the citizens of Posey County … and I’m embarrassed by your performance today, I’ll tell you that,” said Randy Thornburg, one of the Posey County commissioners.

A room filled with locals, waiting to share their thoughts about a proposed wind farm project.

“It is proven that wind turbines within the Doppler Radars line of sight have caused delayed severe weather warnings that have masked a tornado,” one resident said.

Concerns over community safety, and impacts the wind farms would have on Doppler radars, was why the room was full.

Scott Fisher is a member of a group opposed to the wind farm proposal called Poco Wind. He said, “Personally it would put both my family and my friends in the area of both central and Northern Posey County at a safety risk where we would not be able to see low-level rotation.”

The commissioners did agree to separate the wind and solar ordinance and send it back to the planning commission.

“We are working hard on trying to get an ordinance put together to benefit the county, we’re looking at safety, we are looking at economic growth because if we start saying ‘no’ to everybody, we’ll become a ‘no’ county and nobody will want to come to Posey County, and we need to grow the county,” said Carl Schmitz.

No big decision was made, but the commission will work now to separate the wind from the solar ordinance.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/01/08/wind-farm-proposal-divides-posey-county-community/