(Okoboji)– Plans by Clipper Wind Power to put up a 29-turbine wind farm in western Dickinson county are generating some controversy.
About 70 people attended an informational meeting on the proposed project Thursday evening in Okoboji. Plans call for the turbines to be erected eight miles west of Spirit Lake in a five square mile area. They would be connected to a nearby substation through underground transmission lines placed under county rights-of-way. The power is to be sold through a contract Clipper has with Alliant Energy/Interstate Power and Light Company.
The locations of the turbines–the nearest to West Lake Okoboji being about three and-a-half miles west of Highway 86–have some concerned over possible visual impacts on the lake. Company spokesman Eli Bosco admitted they hadn’t looked into that, saying they didn’t think it would be an issue. But he says it apparently is, and a study will be done.
There was also concern over what would happen if any of the turbines would ever be decomissioned. Bosco says Clipper Wind Power is bonded and insured…and he says any turbine that would be decommissioned would be dismantled and the land where it stood restored.
Bosco added he feels the benefits from the project far outweigh any negatives. He says the project would represent a 43 and-a-half million dollar investment in Dickinson county; that they would pay a significant amount of property taxes; and that the construction phase of the project would result in 44 new jobs. Nine people would be hired on an ongoing basis to maintain the turbines. It would also give a source of additional revenue to farmers and landowners through easement payments they would get from the company.
Clipper Wind Power officials will go before the Dickinson County Board of Adjustment this Tuesday. The land on which the turbines are to be built is zoned Agricultural. Zoning Administrator David Kolhaase says wind turbines are permitted uses under that zoning, but conditional use permits are needed. The company is seeking the permits for 14 parcels of land. It will present the first six requests at Tuesday’s meeting, which will start at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room of the engineer’s building. Kolhaase says it could be moved to the third floor courtroom of the courthouse if there’s a large crowd.
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