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More wind turbines in Floyd County doubtful after ordinance amendments
Credit: Mark Pitz · August 8, 2024 · kchanews.com ~~
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Translate: FROM English | TO English
Earlier this year, the Floyd County Board of Supervisors opted to bypass the recommendations of the EMS Advisory Council on an emergency medical services tax levy. Now, Supervisors have made similar moves in regards to amendments proposed by the Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission on the County’s ordinance regulating the construction of wind turbines.
After almost four hours wasn’t enough time to finish public comments on the issue July 29th, the Board continued the public hearing Tuesday (08.06) night at the YEC on the Floyd County Fairgrounds. After over two more hours of comments, Supervisors began the first reading of the ordinance as formulated by the P&Z.
Supervisor Jim Jorgensen introduced several amendments, including increased setback distances, reduced height levels of the turbines, and limiting the number of wind turbines in the County to 70 total, including the 50 already operated by MidAmerican Energy.
Tom Treharne of NextEra Energy, one of two companies looking to develop a wind farm in the Marble Rock/Rockford area, said the amendments will kill their project.
Isaac Lamppa with Invenergy, which began the Chickasaw Wind Energy Center north of New Hampton last year, said their project is also highly doubtful.
P&Z Chair Dean Tjaden expressed frustration by the direction taken by Jorgensen as well as Supervisor Dennis Keifer, whose own amendments also put additional restrictions on wind turbine construction.
Jorgensen defended his amendments, driven in part by a petition signed by about 500 people calling for a much stricter wind turbine ordinance.
One landowner in support of wind turbines noted that those 500 signatures represent less than 2.5% of the County’s population.
Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn was not in favor of many of the amendments.
While several of the amendments were still in need of legal opinions from County Attorney Todd Prichard, Supervisors voted 2-1 to approve the first reading of the ordinance, with Keifer and Jorgensen voting YES and Kuhn voting NO. The amended ordinance still must pass two more readings before it can become official, with the next reading scheduled for 6:30 pm August 19th in the EOC of the Floyd County Courthouse.
The meeting Tuesday (08.06) night concluded just before midnight.
[audio samples available at source]
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