On February 28th, landowners and area wind developers gathered in Hayfield, Minnesota to get their questions answered about wind development. The Dodge County EDA hosted the event to provide an opportunity for landowners, stakeholders and the public to participate in discussions on the proposed wind facilities in the area.

Dodge, Olmsted, and Mower County permitting, development, planning, and engineering officials provided general presentations on county and state codes and permitting related issues in regards to wind turbines. Road and land use issues were also discussed. Some of the speakers present included, Annette Blair from the Southwest Minnesota Development Commission, Adam Sokolski, from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Energy Facilities Permitting, Duane Johnson, the Dodge County Planning Commissioner, and Daryl Franklin, the Mower County Zoning and Planning Commissioner, and Mike Hanson, a Mower County engineer.

The second half of the event was an open discussion and question and answer period. Mark Lucas, Vice President of National Wind, who attended the event, said that many of the concerns landowners have about wind turbines were addressed.

“This event proved to be a great, informational learning experience for all involved,” said Lucas. “The most important questions landowners had revolved around wind turbine noise and setback from homes, taxation issues, and concerns related to shadow flicker.” For answers to some of these questions, please refer to the article below.

“Other wind developers present at the meeting called their development process “community centric,” says Lucas. “However, I tried to make sure people understood that High Country Energy is the only Community-Based Energy-Development (C-BED) in the area with local ownership and local representation. I also shared that High Country Energy is active on the state level to help local schools keep the tax revenue generated by area wind turbines.”

Read more stories from the Spring 2008 newsletter