September 2, 2020
Colorado

Niyol Wind Farm transmission line gets county’s final OK

By Jeff Rice | Sterling Journal-Advocate | September 1, 2020 | www.journal-advocate.com

The Logan County Commissioners put the finishing touches on the Niyol Wind Farm permits Tuesday, approving a conditional use permit and right-of-way permit for the transmission line into Yuma County.

The permit would be for part of a 35-mile-long, 230kV electrical transmission line that will connect the Niyol Wind Farm near Fleming with the North Yuma Substation in Yuma County. Twenty-three miles of the line will be in Logan County, along County Roads 26 and 87.

The requested permits are for a project connected to, but separate from, the permit granted in June to build 89 wind turbines near Fleming that will supply power to the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.

The Logan County Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended approval of the conditional use permit after adding three conditions to the original application. Under those conditions, only the one transmission line can be built in the easement corridor and future transmission lines or pipelines can be allowed only after new permits are awarded, new easement contracts are negotiated and additional payments made to landowners; landowners must get 15 days advance notice on beginning of construction on their properties; and NextEra must regularly clean up litter and refuse left in the easement.

Those conditions had been requested by Concerned Citizens for a Safe Logan County, Inc., comprised of Fleming area residents who had previously opposed the wind farm.

During Tuesday’s meeting an additional condition was applied, again at the request of CCSLC. Under the new condition, all biological, cultural and environmental study results will be shared only with the owner of the particular parcel of land being studied.

The permits were unanimously approved with the new stipulation.

The commissioners also took time to proclaim the week of Sept. 17-23 Constitution Week, in line with a presidential proclamation that also is being made.

The proclamation notes that Sept. 17 is the 233rd anniversary of the framing of the U.S. Constitution and that Public Law 915, adopted in 1956, calls for such an annual proclamation. Vicky Pollock, representing the Elbridge Gerry Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, thanked the commissioners for the proclamation. She said the DAR continues to be committed to teaching about the Constitution from school age and up.

In other business Tuesday the commissioners approved intergovernmental agreements for the Logan County Clerk’s office with the Town of Iliff, Fleming school district and Frenchman Groundwater Management District to help them administer the November Coordinated Election.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/09/02/niyol-wind-farm-transmission-line-gets-countys-final-ok/