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DON GROVES
Adams County Free Press
CORNING— More than 70 people attended an Adams County Zoning Commission meeting Sept. 19 at the Corning Community Center to learn more about a renewable energy ordinance and a setback demonstration from Invenergy.
While the meeting was open to the public, some of those attending think the agenda should have included public questions and comments and not been limited to comments from Invenergy and the Adams County Board of Supervisors.
The concern comes from the Adams County Priceless Land Coalition members who have been asking the board of supervisors for months for a moratorium on new wind farms in the county until a more comprehensive ordinance draft with public input can be created. Coalition members handed out fliers about renewable energy ordinance considerations and similar ordinances and/or moratoriums from neighboring counties prior to the meeting.
Inside the Community Center, the Zoning Commission along with their attorney, David Levy of Omaha, were seated around a table in front of the audience. Zoning Commission chairman Rob Tucker opened the meeting by saying it was an “informational meeting” with “no public comments” but the next meeting will be open to public comments.
“You will have the opportunity to speak at later meetings,” Tucker said.
The next zoning commission meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Corning Community Center.
But some Priceless Land Coalition members and other landowners are concerned speaking at later meetings may be too late.
“With Invenergy given a platform to present its case, why wouldn’t the landowners be allowed to ask questions directly to the representative?” Carmen Dahl asked after the meeting.
Tucker said the renewable energy ordinance will include not just wind but solar as well and that the meeting was an opportunity to start a “clean slate” for the ordinance.
Following establishing the meeting format and a review of draft amendments to the ordinance, including a list of current wind farms in the county, wind energy assessments, road usage, and ordinances from other counties, Tucker said “You have a lot of information and will get a lot more tonight and a lot more at the public meeting.”
Levy followed with a bit about his background and his role with the zoning commission. He said he has been working on renewable energy throughout the Midwest for 15 to 20 years and that his duty is to help the zoning commission find a balance between those who want wind turbines on their property and those who don’t. He said the Adams County Board of Supervisors has put together a “rough draft” for the renewable energy ordinance after looking at similar ordinances from other cities and counties and told the Zoning Commission “you are the people the Board of Supervisors has chosen as their experts.”
“Our role is to develop a proposal to present to the supervisors,” Tucker said. “The supervisors will decide.”
But after the meeting Marvis Northup felt Levy and Invenergy will do little to protect the rights of land-owners who have wind turbine concerns.
“I was disappointed when I learned that the lawyer the board of supervisors hired, David Levy, is a registered lobbyist in Nebraska for wind companies, according to his law firm’s website. As someone paid by wind companies, it’s hard to trust that he will stand for Adams County landowners,” Northup said. “It’s not the job of the lawyer to make sure the ordinance is favorable to wind farms. It’s their job to make sure laws are followed and documents are drawn up appropriately. The wind company has their own employees to present their side of the issue, as they did very clearly last night. However, between the lawyer and the wind farm staff person, the only side that was presented last night was the wind farms’ side with very little questioning from the zoning commissioners.”
The board of Supervisors shared its expectations and comments at the meeting. Chairman Leland Shipley said the board “felt the cur-rent ordinance was totally inadequate” and that the county zoning and development plan were put in place in 1966.
Invenergy representative Steve Morris was next on the agenda. Morris said the Chicago-based company has been working on wind projects in Iowa since 2003 and that it has paid out $2.4 million to landowners and $3 million in tax revenue. Morris also spoke about the development process of a wind project beginning with voluntary easements and continuing through environment studies, engineering work, due diligence for such things as FAA compliance, and permitting, speaking briefly about shadow flicker or the moving shadows created by the movement of the wind turbines’ blades.
Morris presented a slides to illustrate standard modeling for engineering setbacks such as infrastructure, environmental, commercial, and residential as well as turbine height, saying setbacks are typically 1.10 times the height a turbine. For example, a 497-foot tall turbine would require a setback of roughly 550 feet. Morris said for residential homes, Invenergy likes setbacks of about 1,200 feet or two times the height of the wind turbine and spoke about setbacks of 1,800 to 2,500 feet. At 2,500 feet, he said the setbacks “gut” Invenergy’s projects.
“When setbacks get too big the balance is out of whack … taking away rights of those who want to participate,” Levy stepped in to explain.
Levy said he was in favor of varying turbine heights to offer various setback dis-tances and asked at what setback height would a project fail. Morris shared a slide to illustrate that of 3,000 acres to build on 112 acres was available follow-ing setbacks and other concerns.
“At 2,500 feet the set-backs take those turbines out of the game,” Morris said.
Adams County assessor Ben Mullen also spoke briefly about the county’s tax revenue from existing wind turbines, which depends on how much each one had depreciated. He said it takes three half million dollar houses to equal the same tax revenue for a single wind turbine.
Tucker said the next meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Community Center. Those who wish to speak will be asked to sign up before the meeting and will be limited to three minutes per speaker. Those who are unable to attend may send letters to the board of supervisors’ office. The Oct. 16 agenda is available at www.adamscounty.iowa.gov.