Floyd County Supervisors were scheduled to take up the third reading of the County’s ordinance regulating the construction of wind energy systems during a public hearing Tuesday (10.29) night.
However, the proceedings ended almost as quickly as it started when Supervisor Jim Jorgensen made a motion to table the third reading.
Previous amendments by Jorgensen and fellow Supervisor Dennis Keifer would vastly alter an ordinance drafted by the County’s Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commission. Supervisor Mark Kuhn has dubbed the changes “poison pill” amendments that will kill wind farm projects proposed by Invenergy and NextEra Energy in western sections of the county.
Approval of the third reading of the ordinance would make the changes official and could result in litigation against the County like WorthWhile Wind, an Invenergy subsidiary, filed against Worth County. WorthWhile won their suit after a judge ruled Supervisors there acted in bad faith to half the project. The company can now proceed with the project.
Invenergy attorney Samantha Norris told Supervisors Monday that the company prefers to avoid litigation, proposing a return to the ordinance crafted by the P&Z.
Jorgensen didn’t offer that Tuesday night, but appeared open to compromise.
Jorgensen and Keifer voted to table the wind ordinance’s third reading for up to 45 days with Kuhn voting against it. No meeting was established to take the measure back up.
