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Weeds, wind towers topics of county commissioners’ meeting
Credit: JR Krueger, For The HF Herald | Feb 27, 2025 | hfherald.com ~~
During the Jan. 31 meeting of the Phillips County Board of County Commissioners, local farmer Vern Rafert attended the Public Comment segment of the meeting to express concerns about noxious weeds.
Rafert, who is a member of the County’s Weed and Pest Board, identified a few specific locations and types of weeds spreading out of control on both private land and in ditches. He urged that more aggressive spraying be done in areas controlled by the county. He also thinks that some of the Conservation Reserve Program landowners are not doing enough to keep up with curtailing noxious weeds which can result in seeds being carried to adjacent properties.
The board agreed to pass along Rafert’s concerns to the County’s Weed and Pest manager, Kerri Doleshall.
Wind regulations, moratorium
The Board discussed the fact that an anticipated study in Colorado on wind energy and regulations had not yet begun because a Memorandum of Understanding between involved parties had not yet been signed. Commissioner Garold Roberts reported that he and County Planner Andrew Nygaard met with a representative of National Renewable Solutions on Jan. 30. He indicated that NRS might be submitting an application to permit 20 to 22 pad sites in the western part of the county sometime near the end of 2025.
The Board approved extending the current moratorium on the processing of permits related to the construction of any wind farm system or facility within Phillips County through Sept. 30.
For background, the original moratorium Resolution, 2024-06-18-02, was adopted last June to allow “sufficient time to review, study, hold public hearings and prepare and adopt amendments” if determined to be necessary. The Board wanted to explore ways to prevent the high density of hundreds of towers being established in Phillips County as is currently planned in Sedgwick County. High density was not the intent of the board when finalizing the wind regulations in the new Phillips County Land Use Code that was adopted June 30, 2023. Because more time was still needed when the moratorium was set to expire in September of 2024, the board extended the moratorium through Jan. 31. Because study results are still not available, the board thought it necessary to extend the moratorium again through September.
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