Developer gives wind farm details

More information was presented Wednesday about the proposed wind farm that was a hot topic at Monday’s Jay County Commissioners meeting.

Representatives from Scout Clean Energy provided details about the project during a meeting of Jay County Council, which then took a preliminary step in the process of granting a tax abatement.

Council members also discussed a proposed path forward in the effort to try to provide financial relief to customers of Jay County Regional Sewer District.

Pete Endres, project manager for Scout Clean Energy, and attorney Mary Soliday made a presentation to council members Jeanne Houchins, Ted Champ, Faron Parr, Bob Vance, Gary Theurer and Cindy Newton, absent Mike Rockwell, about the proposed Bitter Ridge Wind Farm in Jefferson and Richland townships.

Plans call for Scout, which is based in Colorado, to build a $135-million wind farm that would include up to 52 turbines for a total of up to 130 megawatts. (Bluff Point Wind Energy Center that was constructed last year is a 120-megawatt operation.)

Company representatives are also in the process of negotiating an economic development agreement, which they said would result in a minimum of $1.2 million in economic development funds for Jay County.

They estimated the project would create two to four full-time jobs for permanent staff in addition to the hundreds that would be involved in construction.

Jason Semler of accounting firm H.J. Umbaugh and Associates also presented a preliminary property tax abatement analysis at council’s request, as Scout is asking for a standard 10-year graduated tax abatement for Bitter Ridge. He reported that the abatement would save the company about $4.3 million in taxes. Estimates say Scout would pay about $13.7 million in property taxes over the 25-year life of the wind farm.

Umbaugh estimates the wind farm would increase the county’s assessed valuation by $40.5 million, resulting in lower overall tax rates.

Council approved a preliminary resolution to allow the tax abatement and referred the issue to the county’s tax abatement advisory committee. Plans call for council to make its final decision about whether or not to approve the abatement following a public hearing May 9.

Scout started working on the project in late 2016 and began securing land leases late in 2017. It currently has about 10,000 acres under lease from about 30 landowners, Endres said.

He added that Scout currently has the Persimmon Creek Wind Farm project in the construction phase in northwest Oklahoma. Its website indicates a total of 14 projects active or in development.

“We’re very excited to be here,” Endres said. “We certainly recognize that … due to an existing wind farm here in the county, we think that we have a very good chance of making a very viable project and bringing economic benefits to the county.”

There are also plans for Scout to host an open house May 1 for local residents to ask questions one-on-one about the project. A time and location for the event have not yet been finalized.

More than 100 people had been in attendance to discuss the wind farm issue at the commissioners meeting Monday, with Jefferson Township residents Jeff and Sheila Birsfield speaking for about 18 minutes in opposition to the project.

Houchins also presented recommendations from a committee created to look at ways to offer financial assistance to the 74 customers who are a part of Jay County Regional Sewer District.

The committee — it is made up of commissioner Barry Hudson, regional sewer district board members Ralph Frazee and Phil Ford, and council members Champ and Houchins — set forth a six-point plan that first calls for requesting $25,000 from Jay County Commissioners to cover costs while the issue is being discussed. (The sewer district board on Monday voted to delay a rate increase that was supposed to go into effect May 1 to instead become active Aug. 1.) It is estimated that the money from commissioners would cover sewer district bills for May and June, but additional funding would likely be needed for July.

Other recommendations from the committee include:

•Working with Dunkirk to determine why the sewer district customers in that area have seen a significant increase in the amount of water they’re being charged for using.

•Creating a check-list for inspections of the system by local contractor Guy Tressler.

•Installing a meter at Miller’s Merry Manor northeast of Dunkirk.

•Working with commissioners and council to create a plan to pay off the remaining $560,000 on the bond for the sewer system in three to five years and then asking Dunkirk and Portland to take ownership of the district’s sewer systems.

•Meeting with the mayors of Portland and Dunkirk in an effort to seek rate reductions.

The sewer district has been an ongoing issue since it was mandated by Indiana Department of Environmental Management in 2004 and the sewers were first installed in 2007. The county has already provided the district a total of $50,000 in support with a loan in 2013 and a grant in 2015.

In other business, council:

•Referred a request from A Better Life – Brianna’s Hope for $7,500 in economic development income tax funds to the county’s EDIT advisory committee. Council members expressed support for the work the organization does to help those struggling with addiction.

•Made the following transfers: A total of $110,864 from various Jay Emergency Medical Service line items to the new “shift supervisor” line item to accommodate the new leadership structure; and $1,500 to overtime from postage for Jay Superior Court.