Floyd County will turn to outside legal counsel for a second opinion on whether a recent ruling against Worth County could apply to Floyd County’s own controversial wind turbine ordinance.
A District Judge said Worth County Supervisors acted in “bad faith” in their attempts to halt a wind farm project there and that Worthwhile Wind can resume construction. Worthwhile Wind is a subsidiary of Invenergy, which is looking to erect some 40 wind turbines in the western sections of Floyd County, with NextEra Energy also eyeing a similar project of their own.
However, both companies say amendments to Floyd County’s wind ordinance by Supervisors Jim Jorgensen and Dennis Keifer will kill their proposed projects. During an October 14th Board meeting, County Attorney Todd Prichard cautioned that will likely lead to litigation against the County with results also similar to that in Worth County.
Jorgensen and Keifer suggested the issue may be out of Prichard’s scope. On Thursday (10.24), a special Board meeting was held to consider the hiring of attorney Thomas Reavely,of the Whitfield and Eddy Law Firm in Des Moines, about providing a second opinion on the Worthwhile ruling.
Prichard said it’s a prudent move, but they need to get it right, noting Reavely’s bio does not give any indication of wind ordinance expertise.
Board Chair Mark Kuhn has previously challenged Jorgensen and Keifer for rejecting the wind ordinance proposal by the County’s own Planning and Zoning Commission. He says rejecting Prichard’s opinion is also frustrating.
Kuhn also noted that Reavely appeared to be anti-wind turbines when he previously consulted Madison County Supervisors on their wind ordinance.
Keifer countered that the County should wait and see what he has to say.
During Thursday’s meeting, Supervisors talked with Reavely over the phone about the importance of getting his opinion on the Worth County ruling in time to “digest” his findings before the third reading of the wind ordinance to make the amendments of Jorgensen and Keifer official. That’s currently slated for 6:30 pm Tuesday (10.29) in the EOC Training Room of the Floyd County Courthouse.
After Supervisors approved hiring Reavely on a split vote, with Kuhn voting against it, Reavely is expected to present his opinion during the Board’s next regular meeting at 10 am Monday (10.28) morning.
