May 15, 2018 at 5:02 p.m.
Bitter Ridge moving forward
Scout says wind farm is still viable without tax abatement
Bitter Ridge moving forward
Scout Clean Energy is going forward with its plan to establish Jay County’s second wind farm.
“We are still proceeding with the project,” Scout’s Pete Endress told Jay County Commissioners during their meeting Monday morning. “We still think there’s a viable wind farm to be developed in the county.”
Endress, Scout’s project developer, acknowledged that Jay County Council’s rejection last week of a request for a 10-year tax abatement had complicated the process.
“We were disappointed with the result there,” said Endress, noting that Scout had expected to receive the same treatment when it came to tax abatement that had been afforded to NextEra Energy Resources in the development of Bluff Point Wind Energy Center.
Scout’s development plan will be considered by Jay County Plan Commission on June 21, and the commission will also weigh a request for a moratorium on any new wind farms in the county. Because Scout’s plan has already been filed, its project would not be affected by any moratorium.
Three agreements between Scout and the county also still need to be hashed out, and one of those is likely to look very different from the company’s initial proposal.
“My understanding is that you are re-evaluating the economic development agreement,” said county attorney Bill Hinkle.
Under the initial proposal, Scout said it would provide more than $1.5 million over four years as payments to be used for economic development purposes. With the tax abatement savings off the table, it is expected that the economic development payment would shrink or disappear.
“We are still proceeding with the project,” Scout’s Pete Endress told Jay County Commissioners during their meeting Monday morning. “We still think there’s a viable wind farm to be developed in the county.”
Endress, Scout’s project developer, acknowledged that Jay County Council’s rejection last week of a request for a 10-year tax abatement had complicated the process.
“We were disappointed with the result there,” said Endress, noting that Scout had expected to receive the same treatment when it came to tax abatement that had been afforded to NextEra Energy Resources in the development of Bluff Point Wind Energy Center.
Scout’s development plan will be considered by Jay County Plan Commission on June 21, and the commission will also weigh a request for a moratorium on any new wind farms in the county. Because Scout’s plan has already been filed, its project would not be affected by any moratorium.
Three agreements between Scout and the county also still need to be hashed out, and one of those is likely to look very different from the company’s initial proposal.
“My understanding is that you are re-evaluating the economic development agreement,” said county attorney Bill Hinkle.
Under the initial proposal, Scout said it would provide more than $1.5 million over four years as payments to be used for economic development purposes. With the tax abatement savings off the table, it is expected that the economic development payment would shrink or disappear.
The other two agreements, which will follow the template established in negotiations with NextEra, cover roads damaged during the construction process and the de-commissioning of the wind farm when, after 25 to 30 years, it has reached the end of its life generating electricity. Indianapolis attorney Mary Soliday, who also represented NextEra, has been in talks with Hinkle about the language and requirements of those agreements.
NextEra’s agreements with the county required that damaged roads be restored to the same or better condition after the work was done and involved security bonds to cover the de-commissioning cost.
“Those documents are being drafted,” said Hinkle.
He said he expects drafts of the roads and de-commissioning agreements to be ready for the commissioners’ meeting May 29. The economic development agreement may also be ready at that time, he added.
For their part, commissioners said they are still assessing public sentiment about Scout’s proposed Bitter Ridge Wind Farm.
“We have heard a lot of concerns,” said commissioners’ president Chuck Huffman. “But we’re hearing concerns from a relatively small part of the population of the county. … I don’t know what that means.”
Huffman speculated that the wind farm’s impact on keeping property tax rates down hasn’t been fully communicated.
“We want to hear from everybody,” he said.
Endress said Scout will be making an effort to better explain the benefits of the project.
Commissioner Mike Leonhard then asked Endress about “wind turbine syndrome,” which was cited by opponents of the Bitter Ridge project.
“The theory has been disproven,” responded Endress, noting that there are now more than 50,000 wind turbines operating nationally with more than a million of them in relatively close proximity to homes. “There have been a number of studies that basically disprove its existence.”
Commissioners also met with Mike Osterholt of Green Valley Farms to discuss shared concerns about truck traffic around the company’s egg facility at 2330 E. 300 South.
Osterholt said that while trucks bringing in feed for the facility know the area and obey traffic regulations there have been ongoing problems with trucks arriving to pick up eggs for delivery to Green Valley’s customers.
Those out-going trucks come from a wide variety of carriers, and most of the drivers are unfamiliar with the area. A number of options, ranging from more signage to better enforcement, were discussed.
Similar issues surfaced in a Jay County Highway Department study of traffic patterns on county road 300 North that showed more than 90 percent of the traffic was recorded in excess of the posted speed limit.
Commissioner Barry Hudson urged an emphasis on enforcement.
“Give this report to the sheriff,” said Hudson. “Everybody knows that you need to slow down when you go through Geneva” because of strict enforcement.
“It sounds like we need more control out there,” agreed Huffman.
In other business, commissioners:
•Approved, while acting as county drainage board, drainage plans for new parking lot and driveway work to be done at East and General Shanks elementary schools as part of school consolidation.
•Approved a resolution adopting the recently developed county trails plan as a document to be consulted in any future plans.
•Approved a charter for the Jay County-Portland Flood Advisory Committee that will work with the Army Corps of Engineers and have responsibility for future efforts at flood control. “This is always going to be an ongoing thing,” said Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman.
•Approved the purchase of two Case Maxxum 115 tractors from Hull Brothers Equipment, Fort Recovery, at a cost of $85,000 after allowance for trading in one tractor and two Hoosier Extender mowers at a cost of $62,198. The county will keep a third tractor and mower in service as well. A down payment of $70,000 will be made from the highway department budget, with the balance coming from the 2019 budget.
•Heard John Hemmelgarn of Jay/Portland Building and Planning say he has received letters in opposition to four new proposed confined animal feeding operations. “All of them are able to meet their setbacks,” said Hemmelgarn, “though people aren’t happy about them.”
•Agreed to spend $25,000 from Economic Development Income Tax revenues to hire Brent Mather of R&B Architects and Ken Remenschneider of Kimley Horn and Associates to update community plans for Dunkirk and Pennville. R&B is currently working on Portland’s downtown plan, and Kimley Horn and Associates was responsible for Redkey’s downtown planning study. With the two firms working together, community developer Ami Huffman said, it’s believed the plans will all fit together better, which could set the stage for a countywide Stellar Communities application in the future.
•Approved spending $764 with Cook’s Nursery and Trim, Portland, for additional shrubbery on the courthouse grounds.
•Approved participation by Jay County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the Jay County Law Enforcement Camp.
NextEra’s agreements with the county required that damaged roads be restored to the same or better condition after the work was done and involved security bonds to cover the de-commissioning cost.
“Those documents are being drafted,” said Hinkle.
He said he expects drafts of the roads and de-commissioning agreements to be ready for the commissioners’ meeting May 29. The economic development agreement may also be ready at that time, he added.
For their part, commissioners said they are still assessing public sentiment about Scout’s proposed Bitter Ridge Wind Farm.
“We have heard a lot of concerns,” said commissioners’ president Chuck Huffman. “But we’re hearing concerns from a relatively small part of the population of the county. … I don’t know what that means.”
Huffman speculated that the wind farm’s impact on keeping property tax rates down hasn’t been fully communicated.
“We want to hear from everybody,” he said.
Endress said Scout will be making an effort to better explain the benefits of the project.
Commissioner Mike Leonhard then asked Endress about “wind turbine syndrome,” which was cited by opponents of the Bitter Ridge project.
“The theory has been disproven,” responded Endress, noting that there are now more than 50,000 wind turbines operating nationally with more than a million of them in relatively close proximity to homes. “There have been a number of studies that basically disprove its existence.”
Commissioners also met with Mike Osterholt of Green Valley Farms to discuss shared concerns about truck traffic around the company’s egg facility at 2330 E. 300 South.
Osterholt said that while trucks bringing in feed for the facility know the area and obey traffic regulations there have been ongoing problems with trucks arriving to pick up eggs for delivery to Green Valley’s customers.
Those out-going trucks come from a wide variety of carriers, and most of the drivers are unfamiliar with the area. A number of options, ranging from more signage to better enforcement, were discussed.
Similar issues surfaced in a Jay County Highway Department study of traffic patterns on county road 300 North that showed more than 90 percent of the traffic was recorded in excess of the posted speed limit.
Commissioner Barry Hudson urged an emphasis on enforcement.
“Give this report to the sheriff,” said Hudson. “Everybody knows that you need to slow down when you go through Geneva” because of strict enforcement.
“It sounds like we need more control out there,” agreed Huffman.
In other business, commissioners:
•Approved, while acting as county drainage board, drainage plans for new parking lot and driveway work to be done at East and General Shanks elementary schools as part of school consolidation.
•Approved a resolution adopting the recently developed county trails plan as a document to be consulted in any future plans.
•Approved a charter for the Jay County-Portland Flood Advisory Committee that will work with the Army Corps of Engineers and have responsibility for future efforts at flood control. “This is always going to be an ongoing thing,” said Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman.
•Approved the purchase of two Case Maxxum 115 tractors from Hull Brothers Equipment, Fort Recovery, at a cost of $85,000 after allowance for trading in one tractor and two Hoosier Extender mowers at a cost of $62,198. The county will keep a third tractor and mower in service as well. A down payment of $70,000 will be made from the highway department budget, with the balance coming from the 2019 budget.
•Heard John Hemmelgarn of Jay/Portland Building and Planning say he has received letters in opposition to four new proposed confined animal feeding operations. “All of them are able to meet their setbacks,” said Hemmelgarn, “though people aren’t happy about them.”
•Agreed to spend $25,000 from Economic Development Income Tax revenues to hire Brent Mather of R&B Architects and Ken Remenschneider of Kimley Horn and Associates to update community plans for Dunkirk and Pennville. R&B is currently working on Portland’s downtown plan, and Kimley Horn and Associates was responsible for Redkey’s downtown planning study. With the two firms working together, community developer Ami Huffman said, it’s believed the plans will all fit together better, which could set the stage for a countywide Stellar Communities application in the future.
•Approved spending $764 with Cook’s Nursery and Trim, Portland, for additional shrubbery on the courthouse grounds.
•Approved participation by Jay County Sheriff’s Office deputies in the Jay County Law Enforcement Camp.
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