RENSSELAER — It appears representatives with Carpenter Wind Farm will have to reapply for a zoning map amendment or rezoning to establish a wind farm overlay district in the southern portion of Jasper Ccunty.
At Monday’s county plan commission meeting — which featured a standing-room-only crowd at the county annex building behind Saint Joseph’s College with a handful of people outside listening through windows — county surveyor and commission member Vince Urbano suggested the wind farm applicants hire an independent consultant at the county’s choosing to review all materials related to the application to “make sure the laws and ordinances are followed” before an overlay can be established.
“We’re not quite ready for this,” Urbano said to fellow members of the commission after much discussion.
Urbano added since it is a big project, the county needed to be careful since mistakes were made in handling the big solar park projects.
Urbano’s motion to deny the request until more information is obtained via a consultant was approved by the commission. Wind farm officials may reapply if the consultant and county officials are comfortable the application meets all the requirements.
The motion came nearly 1 1/2 hours after the board gave a voice to a number of county residents who were in favor of or against the wind farm’s application.
Each person was given around three minutes to address the commission and nearly 30 people took advantage of the time. Most voiced opposition but there were a few that threw their support behind the request, which, wind farm officials added, is not an application for a permit to site any turbines but rather allowing applications to be filed in the future should turbines be allowed in the area by the county’s board of zoning appeals.
The wind farm is a project of EDP Renewables North America, which is proposing 45 turbines in the area that would produce a capacity of 200 megawatts of electricity. NIPSCO has agreed to purchase what will be produced.
Among the concerns that were heard about turbines included the persistent noise — “like a bunch of lawnmowers running 24 hours a day,” one person noted — and the possibility that a rescue helicopter would need to be rerouted due to the presence of windmills should someone need one to get medical care. Residents impacted by the wind farm also felt the windmills were an eyesore, brought down property values and affected children.
Still others said it was a money issue and only the applicants and others invested in wind farms would be able to “line their pockets.” One person was concerned with the disposal of windmill blades, which are not recyclable.
A doctor later said windmills can affect a person’s health, inducing headaches, insomnia and tinnitus or ringing in the ears.
Wind farm officials addressed flight paths in their application and said landowners directly impacted by the windmills will receive payments for use of their property. The applicant also created a good neighbor agreement, where property owners within a certain distance of the windmills would receive $3,200 a year for signing off on the request.
Those home owners will not have anything built on their land but will earn a fee because they are near a windmill.
Nearly 80 landowner with 20,000 acres have agreed to sign up for the project, with another 60 people agreeing to the good neighbor proposal.
Supporters of the application said wind farms impact the local economy by building better roads and reducing taxes.
“That’s economic development,” said Steve Hageman, who was at the meeting to represent landowners with property at the proposed site. “We don’t have ways to bring any other development to the area.”
He added a reduction in taxes are needed once NIPSCO closes its plant in the county.
“We need to recover revenue streams,” he said.
The applicant will pay $70 million to landowners and $35 in taxes over the life of the project. Half of the tax money will go towards schools.
The company will spend $25 million in improving roads as part of a road-use agreement with the county and the company plans to build a maintenance building in Carpenter Township.
County commissioners established a series of codes that wind farms must follow in order to establish an overlay district in the county. Applicants must provide proof of correspondence with wildlife agencies, provide an avian impact study and analysis and provide an FFA permit application and Indiana Regulation of Tall Structures.
The county ordinance also provides a number of limitations to the turbine system, including maximum number, height, setback requirements and location restrictions.
The ultimate decision will be made by the commissioners, who will review a recommendation for or against by the plan commission. However, the commission showed Monday that it is not ready to give a recommendation at this time.
The three commissioners are expected to address the issue at their next meeting, which is set for Monday, March 4.