The Henry County Board of Supervisors met on Thursday for their monthly department head meeting. Budget cuts took the backseat this time, with focus on the potential wind farm project in northern Henry County.
The Planning and Zoning Director, Joe Buffington, made it clear that nothing is going to happen unless they receive an application from a company that wants to place turbines in the northern part of the county. Currently, the discussion for the board is simply on making small tweaks to the current ordinance for wind and solar.
No specific details are known right now regarding the number of turbines or the size, because an application has not been submitted. If they are to receive an application in the future, Buffington mentioned that there would be “many” public hearings and meetings first.
The Henry County Supervisors have now scheduled town hall meetings to allow the public to have their questions answered. The first of such meetings will be on Tuesday, February 13th, at the Wayland Community Building. The second will take place at the Swedesburg Parish Hall on Thursday, February 15th. Both meetings will begin at 6:30pm and are open to the public. The supervisors are in control of these two meetings, but the RWE representatives will be answering the questions. An updated map of the landowners who have arranged an agreement over this potential project is listed on https://henrycounty.iowa.gov/planning-and-zoning/
Other reports from the meeting focus on the adverse weather in January. The Henry County engineer, Jake Hotchkiss, spoke on the schedules for the plow drivers and blade operators. During a 14 day period between January 7th and the 20th, employees were working 12 hour shifts each day, not to mention the salary employees who were also putting in many additional hours. The roads are clear now, with the sun melting away most of the snow.
Finally, the Henry County Sheriff, Rich McNamee, was unable to attend Thursday’s meeting. However, he did leave notes for the board detailing current happenings with the Sheriff’s Office. He has begun conversations with speed camera companies. This is a potential project, however, if they are to move forward with this possibility, it is likely that the cameras would be placed in high accident areas. It is believed that a percentage of the profits from citations would benefit the county.
These Henry County Board of Supervisors meetings take place on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s beginning at 9:00am. They are open to the public and are located in the first-floor meeting room of the courthouse.