Labette County commissioners, on a 2-1 vote, agreed to extend the moratorium on wind energy project construction in the county through the end of September. The delay allows the county’s planning and zoning committee more time to get zoning regulations in place. The current moratorium expires on April 21, commissioners heard Monday. Commissioners Terry Weidert and Vince Schibi approved the extension. Commissioner Cole Proehl voted against it. The vote followed an update by Marc Jones, planning and zoning committee chair, on the planning committee’s progress toward zoning regulations. Jones offered commissioners three options for action. The first was to allow the current moratorium to expire. The second was to extend it, which commissioners approved 2-1 to extend it to Sept. 30. The third option was to approve a resolution that would require all industrial renewable energy projects to have agreements with the county on roads and other issues before development begins. Commissioners discussed the third option as well after Proehl motioned to implement it as a way to continue the dialogue with renewable companies interested in the county. County Counselor Brian Johnson said commissioners would have to repeal the moratorium extension first then asked for a closed session with the commission for an attorney-client discussion.
Source: Parsons Sun
