Washington County residents ask for stricter wind turbine rules

WASHINGTON — A public hearing for a long-discussed county ordinance governing wind turbines drew a sizable crowd Monday night, when a handful of county residents said they all opposed the energy generators for a variety of reasons.

The comments came after county supervisors nearly enacted a wind power ordinance in September, which prospective developer Deriva Energy said would prevent construction of the generators, thanks to a property value guarantee and half-mile setback requirements that could be waived, but which added paperwork and uncertainty for investors.

Due to clerical errors, that version of the county code proposal didn’t end up on the books. Supervisors said they planned to pass it once again without the errors, but didn’t expect to alter it much in the process. That sentiment seemed to change Monday night, however, as every speaker at the public hearing said they opposed commercial turbines.

“I’m glad to see that we finally have an ordinance on the table,” said Greg Koch, who farms in the county and sells ag equipment in Washington. “I think the incoming administration has gone on-record as being against this type of technology, and I think we should do all in our power to fight against this on a local level.”

Previous debates in Washington County over wind energy focused mostly on two competing views: one that argued farmers had the right to lease out their own property however they see fit while government had no ground to regulate those rights, and another that claimed wind turbines were a subsidy-sucking eyesore.

Monday night’s public hearing was different. Commentators at the meeting were fairly unified against the generators, saying they worried turbines would waste expensive building materials, harm local wildlife and disrupt skylines.

One family asked the county to ban wind energy projects altogether, a move supervisors said they would agree with, but lacked the authority to carry out.

“In general, if it were up to me, I’d ban the damn things,” said Supervisor Marcus Fedler. “I think they’re horribly inefficient, I think they’re horribly toxic to the environment, nothing has proven to me that they’re worth it.”

Others on the county’s top decision-making board said the handful of proposed regulations were the next best option for preventing development.

“I don’t know that we can prohibit a company from trying to do business privately, I don’t think we’re capable of doing it, I don’t think it would stand a court’s jurisdiction,” Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. said. “We’re just saying, ‘If you’re going to do business here, you’ve got to abide by these regulations.’”

At a routine meeting the next morning, elected officials said they were considering revisions to the proposed law that would make wind energy development more difficult.

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“There was so much unanimity, of people trying to encourage us to keep it out of the county,” Seward said. “In the proposed ordinance, it gives a half-mile (setback) to individual landowners, but it gives a mile separation to special properties like parks. There’s a suggestion, maybe, that we give the same consideration to private individuals, so I’m actively considering discussion about whether to extend the separation distance.”

It’s not necessarily likely to make a difference in whether wind energy comes to Washington County. No county in Iowa with a waivable half-mile setback for turbines has seen any new wind projects since passing such a requirement.

A developer that scouted northern Washington County for turbine development last year signaled it had already backed out by the time the previously proposed ordinance came to a vote, citing concern with the suggested regulations and local opposition to the project.

“Since the county obviously did not want to work with or support development, we have not advanced any new efforts,” Deriva Energy Director of Renewable Business Development Jeff Neves said in an email back in July.

Washington County Board of Supervisors Chair Richard Young said he suspected another proposed wind project in Henry County to creep north into Washington County’s borders, although that effort has faced considerable public pushback as well.

Green energy advocates in Washington County have previously argued that wind turbines would lower area energy prices, spawn a consistent cash flow for participating farmers, create dozens of long-term jobs, and generate $40-$50 million in county tax revenue over 25 years.

Speakers at Washington County’s public hearing Monday night, however, said they didn’t buy it.

“The money that people would get from it, that’s the only benefit I can see,” said Becky Bontrager, who lives near Kalona. “And money, it’s very fleeting … I hope we can keep this area beautiful for many generations.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com