Floyd County to Consider Wind Ordinance Attorney

Floyd County is in the process of possible updates to the County’s wind turbine ordinance. However, amendments by Supervisors Jim Jorgensen and Dennis Keifer have vastly altered the proposal from the County’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

In its present form, wind companies, Invenergy and NextEra, say the ordinance would kill their proposed projects in western sections of the county. If approved, it’s also likely to draw litigation against the County, similar to the lawsuit filed by Worthwhile Wind, an Invenergy subsidiary, against Worth County, where Supervisors there first enacted a moratorium on wind development before changing their ordinance that halted the project.

A District judge recently ruled against Worth County for actions deemed in “bad faith” towards the wind company and the project can now proceed. 

Floyd County Attorney Todd Prichard has since advised Floyd County Supervisors that they could be headed for a similar path if the County’s wind ordinance is passed as is.

During their Board meeting October 14th, Jorgensen suggested that the issue may be out of Prichard’s scope. During their meeting Monday (10.21), Jorgensen proposed the hiring of outside counsel.

Keifer said he has conversations with attorney Thomas Reavely of the Whitfield and Eddy Law Firm in Des Moines about providing an opinion on the Worthwhile ruling.

Supervisor Chair Mark Kuhn noted the time crunch the Board is under.

Jorgensen answered “that would be ideal,” but also acknowledged that the County must still determine the scope of services and get a quote on attorney fees before any outside counsel can be hired.

Keifer was tasked with getting that information from Whitfield and Eddy.

Supervisors are now scheduled to meet in special session at 4 pm Thursday (10.24) to make a decision on whether to hire outside counsel in advance of the third reading of the wind ordinance, scheduled for 6:30 pm Tuesday, October 29, in the EOC/Training Room of the Floyd County Courthouse.