Resident urges passage of updated wind farm ordinance; commission schedules second reading for Feb. 17

A public commenter told the Brown County Commission on the morning of the regular session that a proposed Venergy wind project had signed up extensive acreage in the county and urged the commission to adopt an updated wind farm ordinance.

"I really hate to have a wind tower right in my back door," said Speaker 4, who identified concerns about resale value and cited roughly 400 to 580 acres overall with specific acreages (50.88 acres in Section 2 and additional parcels in Section 11) reportedly within municipal limits. The speaker said they had difficulty locating maps of proposed turbine locations and that the developer had not contacted the city council.

Speaker 1 responded that the county already has an existing wind ordinance that provides some protections and that language the commenter recalled (a two-mile buffer around municipalities) appears in the updated draft. Speaker 1 said the draft ordinance would be posted on the county website for a two-week public review period beginning that day and that the commission planned a second reading and possible adoption "on the seventeenth of February." (Speaker 1)

Speakers discussed whether a developer could submit a permit and proceed before the second reading; Speaker 1 said planning and zoning had reviewed concerns raised after first reading and that staff had finalized wording in the updated draft the previous day. The record does not show any immediate permit approvals or that construction permits had been issued; no enforcement or permitting action was described beyond the existing ordinance and the posted draft.

The commission did not vote on the wind ordinance at this meeting. The next procedural step is a second reading and possible adoption scheduled for Feb. 17; the county will accept public review and comment while the draft remains posted for two weeks.