Floyd County has asked outside legal counsel for a second opinion on whether a recent ruling against Worth County could apply to Floyd County’s own controversial wind turbine ordinance.
A District Judge said Worth County Supervisors acted in “bad faith” in their attempts to halt a wind farm project there and said Worthwhile Wind can resume construction. Worthwhile Wind is a subsidiary of Invenergy, which is looking to erect some 40 wind turbines in the western sections of Floyd County, with NextEra Energy also eyeing a similar project of their own.
However, both companies say amendments to Floyd County’s wind ordinance proposed by Supervisors Jim Jorgensen and Dennis Keifer will kill their projects. During an October 14th Board meeting, County Attorney Todd Prichard cautioned that will also likely lead to litigation against the County and results similar to Worth County.
Still, during a special supervisors meeting last Thursday (10.24), Jorgensen and Keifer outvoted Board Chair Mark Kuhn to hire attorney Thomas Reavely of Des Moines to provide a second opinion on the Worthwhile ruling. It was also the understanding that Reavely would provide a written opinion at Monday (10.28) morning’s regular Board meeting.
Reavely indicated he had his opinion prepared, but rather than present it, he had another recommendation for Supervisors.
Prichard added that might be worth consideration.
Kuhn challenged Reavely that his previous legal battles seem to indicate that Reavely is anti-wind, a notion Reavely, who said he belongs to some 30 environmental groups, disputed.
Invenergy attorney Samantha Norris told Supervisor that the company prefers to avoid litigation, proposing the County return to the ordinance crafted by the P&Z.
County Auditor Gloria Carr also presented Supervisors with information from the County’s insurance company, EMC, about coverage of legal expenses if the County were to be sued and limitations of that coverage.
As it stands, Supervisors are expected to get Reavely’s written opinion Tuesday (10.29) and discuss it when they resume the third reading of the wind ordinance that, if approved, would make the amendments of Jorgensen and Keifer official. That hearing is scheduled for 6:30 pm Tuesday (10.29) in the EOC Training Room of the Floyd County Courthouse.
