Wind farm foes seek immediate moratorium
Staff writer
A Goessel resident opposed to expansion of Sunflower Wind farm brought results from a Goessel survey to county commissioners Monday.
Brian Stucky said he came representing other concerned people in the western part of the county but not officially representing the City of Goessel.
Orsted, parent company of Sunflower Wind, said in October it was contacting landowners in East Branch, Menno, Liberty, and West Branch townships in the hope of expanding its existing wind farm west.
Potential expansion is not without opposition. Neither was original development of the wind farm.
During development, plans for Sunflower Wind were laid by predecessor company National Renewable Solutions, which called the project Expedition Wind.
A slate of opponents filed three lawsuits against NRS and Expedition Wind, beginning in 2019.
Emotions ran so high that at one point an opponent fired a gun toward the ground in front of surveyors working for the wind farm. She later was convicted of three counts of aggravated assault.
Lawsuits came to a halt after NRS sued opponents for $35 million production tax credits that property owners lost.
Along with Stucky, expansion opponents Ardie Goering, who owns Pine Creek Farm, and Kyle Funk, appeared at the meeting and sent letters to commissioners.
Stucky also brought a letter signed by members of Goessel City Council, whom he had spoken to May 20.
Survey results brought by Stucky indicated that 61.9% of responders strongly opposed expansion and 74.4% supported an effort to prohibit turbines from being placed in close proximity to Goessel.
“Now we face the real possibility that 500-foot-tall wind turbines will be near Goessel,” Stucky said. “There are positives and negatives. There are some who see wind turbines as a good thing, but there are some who absolutely do not want to live anywhere close to them for a variety of reasons. Turbines should be placed in areas with sparse population, just not here.”
Stucky said he was asking commissioners to look at regulations.
Commissioner Randy Dallke said that when NRS was planning development of the wind farm, company officials contacted the county early and stayed in touch. Commissioners have heard nothing from Orsted about expansion.
Dallke said leases with landowners typically were signed before a wind farm went to the commission with a proposal.
Cities have an area of influence that allows them to have a voice in nearby portions of the county, zoning director Sharon Omstead said. That influence does not mean an ability to prevent placement of something close to the city.
Stucky asked for a moratorium on wind farm development, similar to moratoriums in McPherson, Reno, Harvey, Sedgwick, and Butler counties.
One spectator asked if the county could put a temporary moratorium in place.
Adding that he thought Orsted might read about Monday’s discussion in the newspaper, he asked whether a moratorium could be immediately imposed.
Commission chairman David Mueller said commissioners would gather information on a moratorium and consider writing one, but writing one immediately might get the county “in trouble.”
In other business, commissioners voted not to approve an anti-30x30 program resolution but to set a date for public comment on the proposed resolution.
Since commissioner Kent Becker heard a speaker at a Patriots for Liberty meeting hold the 30x30 initiative out as a “land grab” by the federal government, he has pushed for the county to write a resolution prohibiting it.
The resolution, as written, will be posted on the county website for people to review, and comment will be heard at 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at a not-yet-decided location.