HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Commission voted 2-1 against a proposed resolution providing a temporary moratorium on commercial wind within the unincorporated area of Reno County.

Commission Chair Ron Hirst, who represents the district affected, wanted to proceed with having a moratorium. He gave a presentation and expressed his concerns regarding what any wind farm would do to property values in the county. His motion died for a lack of a second.

Commissioners Bob Bush and Dan Deming felt that any concerns could be handled through the normal procedure of the Reno County Planning Commission.

That decision came in front of a packed house inside and outside the commission chambers. Commissioners heard from NextEra company officials who want to build the wind farm and from those in favor and against a moratorium.

Spencer Jenkins with NextEra spoke about some of the guidelines and regulations:

 

Those wanting the moratorium were also allowed to speak. Kristi Horsh talked about gathering names on a petition this past weekend:

 

She also gave the commission some statistics that were gathered to show the negatives of having a wind farm in any given area.

The company has yet to fill out any of the paperwork to get the project started, but that should be coming soon. That means the project would go through the planning process over the next two to three months.

They hope to begin construction in the spring.