Amendments to the ordinance regulating the construction of wind energy systems, including one that would limit the number of wind turbines to 70 total in Floyd County, could lead to legal action against the County.
The so-called “poison pill” amendment, proposed by Supervisor Jim Jorgensen, includes the 50 wind turbines already operated by MidAmerican Energy south of Charles City. It’s one of several amendments offered by Jorgensen and fellow Supervisor Dennis Keifer that would create an ordinance vastly different from the ordinance proposed by the County’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
During Monday’s (09.30) Board meeting, Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn read part of a letter(email) from the Brown Winick law firm of Des Moines on behalf of Invenergy, which is looking to develop the Marble Ridge Wind Energy Center of about 40 turbines in the Marble Rock/Rockford area.
Supervisors could take no action on the correspondence, but agreed it will be discussed in a closed session at an upcoming board meeting.
Meantime, Supervisors are also scheduled for the third reading of the wind ordinance at 6:30 pm October 9th in the courtroom of the Floyd County Courthouse. If approved, Invenergy and NextEra, also proposing to develop a wind farm with about 40 turbines, have said the amended ordinance will kill their projects.
