Recently, I ran across a pamphlet distributed by DeWitt County Board members in District D implying the possibility of lawsuits against DeWitt County if the proposed wind farm didn’t become a reality.

I find the dissemination and content of this pamphlet a bit disconcerting.  When I contacted one of my county board members in District A last April with questions about the approval process for the proposed wind farm, I received the following response:

“We are only at the start of this issue.  All of the meetings taking place now are solely to review the wind ordinances, nothing else.  Until Tradewind applies for a special use permit, there cannot be any action on the wind farm itself.  This also will restart the review of these special use requests by the RPC (Regional Planning Commission) and ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals) with those recommendations coming back to the full board to be moved on.  So, you see, this process is in its infancy.”

How do we go from the approval process being in its infancy, according to one board member six months ago, to impending litigation doom if the current candidates in District D aren’t reelected?  And, how can these candidates claim possible future litigation against the county unless the county has already signed or agreed to a predetermined outcome for wind farm development in our county?

Fear mongering is an age-old political campaign tactic.  This past year, county board members repeatedly said that they have the best interests of all residents of DeWitt County in mind when it comes to decisions made on the proposed wind farm. 

Perhaps, I would be more inclined to believe this if they had put forth a referendum at the start of this process where we would have had clear documentation on where the majority of citizens truly stood on this matter and before moving forward on a project of this magnitude.

Lyn Williams

Kenney