Lyon County Commissioners were presented with information Thursday on road agreement creation, management and oversight related to a proposed new 200-megawatt wind farm near Reading.
Engineers with Kirkham Michael Consulting Group from Nebraska pitched their proposal in overseeing the construction as RES Americas prepares for a possible wind farm in the county. Commissioner Scott Briggs explains the purpose of the presentation.
Commissioners in October approved a conditional use Wind Energy Conversion System permit for Reading Wind Energy, LLC. RES Americas is hoping to begin construction on the wind farm by November 2018, but it is possible construction wouldn’t occur until sometime in 2019. But with construction, Briggs says also comes likely damage to county roads.
The wind farm is not certain at this time. Briggs says that is dependant on RES Americas getting a purchase power agreement to sell the electricity. The wind farm would bring many new well-paying jobs during the construction phase and according to Briggs seven to 15 full-time employees once construction has been completed. He says he was impressed by Kirkham Michael’s presentation.
In other action Wednesday, the Lyon County Commission approved the county engineer sending out requests for proposals for eight precast concrete box culverts. Also approved was a proposal from Urban Collaborative for zoning and subdivision regulation updates in the amount of $76,526. Half of the cost will be paid by Lyon County and the other half paid by the City of Emporia.
