His fellow commissioners rejected the attempt by County Commissioner Dan Deming on Tuesday to give more formal direction to the Reno County planning board before it takes up an anticipated application for the Pretty Prairie Wind Farm.
Proponents of a wind moratorium, meanwhile, submitted their own list of conditions they’d like addressed in any development agreement and use permit between the county and NextEra Energy.
Two women who’ve addressed the commission every week for the past two months offered new data they claim shows the proposed NextEra development will result in millions in negative economic impact on the county over the long term, not economic gain.
A NextEra official was also in Tuesday’s audience but offered no comment. “I think the planning commission needs more direction on what we’d like to see accomplished,” Deming said. “Issues and concerns are best addressed by entering a negotiation with NextEra to enter a legally binding agreement.”
Issues he wants to be addressed, he said, include minimum setbacks, noise standards, shadow flicker, road maintenance, decommissioning of towers, public safety, in lieu of taxes, and treating the unzoned portion of the county the same as zoned areas, as well as “anything the planning commission feels appropriate after holding public hearings.”
(Read more: News – The Hutchinson News)