The County Board met Wednesday Evening for a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6PM for about 3 hours in the Christian County Courthouse courtroom to discuss possible adjustments to County ordinances concerning wind farms. The meeting opened with comments from the companies trying to bring wind energy into Christian County. These companies included Ivenergy and Trade Wind Energy. Speaking for Ivenergy was Katya Samoteskul and Jim Griffin. Speaking for Trade Wind Energy was Jeff Hammond, Senior Development Manager for Trade Wind Energy. Hammond touched on a lot of the issues that he felt were affecting the community and how wind energy would help. He touched on what he saw as a lot of stereotypes but not a whole lot of substance and not a whole lot of backing from studies. Hammond also talked about environmental issues especially when a question was asked about how the turbines could kill bats.
After the companies spoke, it was members of the audience, and community members who were allowed to take the floor. A gentlemen sponsoring the Labor Union spoke about bringing over 800 jobs into the community. There was also plenty of people opposed to the new wind turbines. Major talk was on roads, and the big heavy machinery that would be coming down the roads to set up the wind turbines. Perry Malland talked about how a road ordinance would need to be set up and have to be very good.
Other concerns including wind turbines and their effect on television, cell phones, and most importantly radar. It was pointed out that the night of the December 1st tornado, that some of the storms were lost due to the wind turbines. No ruling has been made as of yet, and the County Board will still have some major decisions to make on the future of wind farms in Christian County.