LEXINGTON, NE – Setback and regulations for Wind Energy recommended by the Dawson County Planning Commission are headed to the County Board of Commissioners to put in place in their next meeting.
The Dawson County Planning Commission held a public hearing Thursday, April 20th for the Amendments to Dawson County Comprehensive Plan & Zoning Regulations regarding Wind Energy and the meeting ended with the board approving the amendments to send to the Commissioners.
A few changes were made to the regulations voted on in the previous meeting on April 4th.
Here are the setbacks and regulations that were approved regarding Commercial Wind Energy Systems:
-Setbacks: a 3 miles setback from property lines of non-participating land; 3 times the tip height from a dwelling unit within participating land; 3 times the tip height from road rights-of-way; and a 3 mile setback from public conservation lands including Wildlife Management Areas and State Recreational Areas; the maximum tip height of any wind energy conservation systems (WECS) shall be 600 feet from original grade.
-Decommissioning: WECS shall be removed to 6 feet below original grade upon the discontinuation of use. When decommissioned all elements of the WECS must be removed from the site and disposed of in an approved landfill or recycling location. (Later after the public hearing a motion failed to include verbiage that turbine blades shall not be cut in Dawson County when being decommissioned. It was decided the waste disposal regulation covers that with solid and hazardous wastes). All decommissioned sites including access roads shall be restored to conditions consistent with surrounding land unless landowners want the road to remain. This restoration shall be maintained for 5 years after decommissioning. The form of financial resources will be a cash escrow account deposited in a Dawson County fund up to 120% of the cost estimate of decommission and be made by an independent competent party.
-Roads: An agreement must be reached with the County Roads Superintendent in conjunction with Nebraska Department of Transportation on the roads to be used, the timing, and methods of repair to the roads and bridges used prior to the approval of a conditional use permit. All roads and bridges to be used in construction and maintenance of the WECS need to be upgraded to a level prior to use determined by the County Roads Superintendent appropriate to handle the added traffic. This may include a maintenance fund to cover the county’s expense to maintain or repair the roads if not repaired promptly.
-Permit Fees: annual permit payments per tower shall be paid to the county and retained in a separate fund for ongoing expenses related to WECS. Amount shall be set by the County Board of Commissioners. (This replaces lease language passed during the last meeting).
-Site Insurance: Owner of WECS must maintain liability insurance of $5 million per tower while it is in construction and operation. Annual proof of insurance shall be provided to the County Board of Commissioners.
-Clustering: Each WECS shall be separated from any other tower by 2,640 ft. (½ mile)
-Noise: No WECS shall exceed 40 dbas at the nearest dwelling. Exception: WECS may exceed 40 dba during periods of severe weather as defined by the US Weather Service.
-Owner/Operator of WECS shall provide emergency response training for rural fire departments that have WECS operating in their district.
-Met Towers: Temporary meteorological towers may be permitted in the AG District by a conditional use permit and limited to two years or less.
After the board approved the working document of amendments, they went into a public hearing.
The planning board heard from multiple community members against/wanting stricter setbacks and two people who were in favor of wind energy in Dawson County.
One of the first few people to speak was Lee Greenwald, he is with Baird Holm Law Firm in Omaha and represents a number of developers interested in the outcome of zoning and regulations regarding wind farms in the county. He talked to the board about the setbacks.
“Based on the setbacks that you voted on at the last hearing, I wanted to offer that from a developers perspective… it’s essentially a moratorium,” Greenwald went on to say, “I know that we’ve heard from opponents of wind energy at the last meeting and tonight and people say that, you know, there’s room to build under those regulations but there’s really not. They have a very clear objective; to prohibit wind energy development.”
Next was Sumner resident, Patty Stevens. Stevens showed the board an empty box with ultrasonic solar powered gopher repellent stakes on it. She asked the board what they do, looking for the answer, “Vibrate.” After the question was answered she said, “Yeah! To get rid of them (gophers/moles). What are the turbines gonna do? ”
Along with Stevens was Sandra Watkinson, who lives south of Eddyville, they both expressed their hope for a 5 mile setback from a non-participating property line.
A man from Cozad, Jerry Moler, spoke to the board as well about how he was in favor of commercial wind farms. “We need all the energy we can get our hands on…energy consumption is not going down.”
After there was no further public comment and the board revisited some points that were made including aspects during decommissioning and the associated facilities that come with the WECS, Secretary Don Batie made a motion to recommend approval of the set of amendments on the working document displayed during the meeting to the county Board of Commissioners.
Jon Montgomery seconded the motion, and the motion passed.
The Board of Commissioners will have the recommendation on their Monday, May 15th, 2023 meeting agenda.
