MADISON COUNTY – Thousands of homeowners might have wind turbines as their new neighbors. There is already one wind farm in the county, but a second one is being talked about.
A lot of community members say the massive turbines don’t look good on their property and are hurting the value of their homes.
There is already one wind farm in Madison County, which spreads across the townships of Walnut and Lincoln. But Tuesday night, community members gathered in Winterset to voice their feelings about a proposed second one.
Some Iowans strongly oppose more wind turbines being installed on their properties. If voted yes, they would be added across Ohio and Crawford townships.
“Live by one yourself, is my recommendation who is putting one on their property that is not in the vacancy of their living area,” said Winterset resident Jeff Adkinsson. “Make payments on a property after ten years and then have two of these pulled up in your sunset view.”
But MidAmerican Energy, who’s on the proposal says it would be a positive move for the country.
“It provides jobs for Iowans and those small communities whether those are construction jobs that are short term as we are re-powering those wind turbine or long term jobs building wind farms” said Tina Hoffman, Communications Director at MidAmerican Energy. “Wind energy is one of the fastest growing segments of the Iowa economy.
And propel Iowa’s wind energy even further.
“We are pushing to get much closer to 100 percent,” said Hoffman. “That is good for the environment, Iowans and our communities as well.”
But not everyone is on board with the idea of bringing more turbines to town.
“The bats are gone, the sound of the wind generates makes what little deer herds coming through the places that we used to see so many deer,” said Adkinsson. “We now are lucky if we get to harvest one or two off the property.
After several hours of listening to the community’s input the board decided…
One board member voiced that they needed to update ordinances before a final decision is made.
The board voted 3-2 to table the decision for 90 days. During that time, they hope to evaluate the needs and wants of citizens in the community before they make their verdict.
