Almost 30 people attended Tuesday’s Marion County Commission meeting to voice concerns about the setbacks associated with wind turbines in the area and across Kansas. Clarifying an earlier report, no wind turbines are planned in the area south of U.S. Highway 50 and east of U.S. Highway 77 in the tallgrass prairie preservation area. In addition, Pat Pelstring, representing Expedition Wind Project, based in Wayzata, Minn., is urging the commission to avoid a moratorium, noting that many people in that area have already signed agreements. The group, he said, wants to get started by fall if at all possible. For Jeremy Loewen, the idea of preserving farms and farming practices for the next generation of farmers was important to him, as it was for others, including Randy Eitzen.
As a farmer in the southeast part of Marion County, Eitzen said he doesn’t normally speak out in this type of setting.
“But we need to take a good strong look at what people before me said. I really think you as commissioners really need to take a look at a majority of the people who signed up [for these wind turbine agreements] so far,” Eitzen said.
One of the problems Eitzen said he sees is that a majority of the people signing up are getting ready to retire or they are absentee landowners.
(Read more: Hillsboro Free Press)