On a two-to-one vote, Allen County commissioners accepted a recommendation from the county’s planning commission that lays out rules for a prospective wind farm company.
Tom Williams and Jerry Daniels voted in favor; Jim Talkington was opposed.
Talkington said he didn’t want to “make a snap decision,” in reviewing the recommendation, which was provided to commissioners two weeks ago.
County Counselor Alan Weber referred to the rules as a “game plan.” The planners hash out the document that sets out such things as how far a turbine has to be from a property boundary or dwelling; a company would have to consider environmental impact of a wind farm; and roads and bridges would have to be maintained during construction.
Two companies are known to have interest in Allen County, EDP Renewables, with corporate headquarters in Madrid, Spain, and NextEra of Juno Beach, Fla.
EDP was first noticed here about two years ago, in a cursory meeting with county commissioners, and since then it has erected test towers north of U.S. 54 in the east part of the county. At last conversation with the Register, Rorik Peterson, EDP’s associate director of development, Kansas City, Kan., said the company has completed options to lease 14,000 acres of farmland. He said that was enough to place about 100 turbines, with no more than five on any one section (640 acres), and “probably two or three.” The company has designs on obtaining options on another 6,000 acres, to give it more planning latitude.
Sam Massey, NextEra project direct, said his company has “been leasing land in Bourbon and Allen counties,” and has had test towers measuring wind current since August. The part of Allen County that interests NextEra is in the Elsmore-Savonburg area.
Peterson said EDP tests have proved that sufficient wind exists to operate the towering turbines — 500 feet tall including when one of three blades is perpendicular to the ground.
BEFORE reaching a decision on the document, commissioners gave those present, including two planning commissioners from Anderson County, a chance to have a say.
Patti Boyd, George Rose and Gary Covey spoke.
Boyd, who has made it clear she is opposed to having a wind farm within sight of her rural Moran home, said: “I’m a very strong opponent.”
She finds the towers ugly, and fears vibration and noise from them would be offensive. Boyd said she built her home to take advantage of Allen County’s pastoral countryside, and had no stomach to see a turbine from her window.
She agreed a wind farm would bring money to the county, but, wondered if disrupting scenic beauty was worth what a wind farm would generate in revenue.
Commissioners said a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), which they would negotiate and would be in place until a wind farm’s state-imposed 10-year property tax exemption expired, would go to the county’s general fund. From there commissioners could decide whether to make grants to other taxing units, which would reap income once the property tax was in effect.
“It will bring money to the county and I’m in favor of it,” said Covey, who has agreed to a lease option on his land with NextEra. “There’s plenty of timber for wildlife and I’ve never seen a dead bird under the tower (200 feet tall and installed for cell phones) on my land. When I feed my cattle, deer come with them. Deer adjust to their surroundings.”
One argument against wind farms is birds can fall victim to a tower’s turning blades and the towers discourage wildlife.
“I don’t see a problem,” Covey continued. “I stopped by the towers up by Waverly, turned off the car’s motor and I couldn’t hear a thing.” Williams said in discussions he had had with people in Waverly he found most “happy with the wind farm there.”
Maybe it depends “on how young you are,” Boyd countered on the noise issue, Covey obviously being up in years.
A part of the ground rules limits sound from a turbine to 50 decibels. Rose said at an earlier meeting someone had a meter which showed the heater fan at the back of Tuesday’s meeting room in the courthouse basement generated about 50 decibels of noise.
Rose, of Payless Concrete, said he was “concerned about economic development in Allen County,” and favored the wind farms.
“If I get the (concrete) contract, I’ll have to add to my fleet, and that will mean more tax money for the county,” Rose added. Also, “one of Harry Lee’s towers is near my house south of LaHarpe,” with a strobe on top that “doesn’t bother me.”
Williams said “we have to do what’s best for Allen County.”
“The extra income would be helpful for farmers,” of which he is one, said Daniels. “We have to look at the big picture. We also have two cement plants, one in Humboldt and one in Chanute, that hire a lot of Allen Countians. They’re the only two plants in Kansas.” A tremendous amount of concrete — cement is the essential ingredient — goes into underground bases holding towers in place.
“They’re not like a barn or a factory, you can’t get away from them — giant, ugly turbines,” Boyd concluded. “Is that what we want for the identity of the county.”
ACTION TAKEN by commissioners Tuesday was only preliminary to what may occur with wind farms in Allen County.
Weber was careful to point out if EDP or NextEra decide to build in Allen County, each would first have to file for a zoning variance, which the newly signed documents allows and regulates, and then go through a hearing before the planning commissioners. Their decision would go to county commissioners, who would have final say.
Either company, or perhaps another, would expect to raise between 75 and 100 towers in Allen County, with construction costs being about $1 million per megawatt of generation. Towers envisioned for eastern Kansas generally produce two to three megawatts, and have a life of 30 or more years.
Massey estimated local income — through taxes, leases and wages for a maintenance crew, according to Peterson of 12 to 18 — would amount to about $50 million over years of operation.
