Alternative energy ordinance discussion slows

MT. PLEASANT — At Thursday’s Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting, the supervisors stated they will continue to pump the breaks on discussion of possible amendments to the county’s alternative energy ordinances under the advisement of the county attorney.

With this in mind, the board announced that the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting scheduled for March 12 is canceled without a new date set, just yet.

“My understanding from the assistant county attorney is we will not be conducting the P and Z meeting Tuesday the 12 because we’re putting the break on hard,” Supervisor Chair Greg Moeller said amid another long discussion about wind energy.

Thursday’s meeting included another room full of people interested in expressing their opinions and asking questions about RWE Renewable Energy’s interest in Northern Henry County for a wind farm project, though, the supervisors tried to keep the conversation focused on possible changes to the ordinance.

The discussion did not get into many details about the ordinance itself, though, Stephanie Kongable Skroch, a Henry County landowner, who is currently in Arizona, did attend the meeting via speaker phone to ask ordinance specific questions, which encouraged the supervisors to look at the ordinance as a whole instead of just parts.

Additional conversation included clarification on the process for approving alternative energy overlay districts and construction permits as they pertain to the ordinance.

According to Planning and Zoning Administrator Joe Buffington, the ordinance is what outlines requirements for approval for any of these steps before a company can build wind turbines or other alternative energy sources that would fall under the alternative energy overlay.

The current ordinances pertaining to alternative energy in the county dictate whether rezoning or construction permits would be approved by the supervisors. Changes to the ordinance will not change that approval is dependent on meeting ordinance requirements.

So, whatever changes made by the supervisors once they move forward will become the new standard companies such as RWE will have to meet in order to gain approval to build a wind farm in the county. The law dictates that approval for changes to the ordinance must follow at least one public hearing and three readings of the proposed ordinance.

“I appreciate everyone's input,” Moeller said. “And I know numerous ones of you have been here many, many times. And at this point in speaking with the county attorney, … we're going slow everything down. We need to go over this with a fine-toothed comb. We need to take everybody's comments, everybody's emails, everybody's texts, everybody's letters that they've written or presented to us and P and Z.”

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com