LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Todd Stanton, Seward County Commissioner, Dist. 1
In the lead article of the May 29th edition of the Leader & Times appears a statement by Allegiant Land Services project manager Justin Robinson appearing to speak on behalf of Invenergy and the Thresher wind project by whom his company is engaged, “… the Thresher wind project … it’s moving into the construction phase at the moment.”
Have we entered the spin zone? I ask because “moving into the construction phase” would be news to the Seward County Commission since the Thresher Wind Project has yet to file for a conditional use permit which would be the first step in a lengthy process which requires approval of many different elements and the Seward County Commission before any project may move into a construction phase.
It has been noted that Invenergy has been urging Seward County to hire its preferred people in a number of key positions through contractual arrangements with contracts written by someone other than Seward County. One contract this commissioner has reviewed appears to abdicate all authority in a key area to the third party, entirely removing Seward County’s input and authority in that area. In some cases theSeward County Commission has been told those costs will ultimately be paid by Invenergy. If the costs of those key positions, attorneys and services are paid for by Invenergy, then those positions, attorneys and services are for and answering to Invenergy, not the citizens of Seward County.
I’m sure others have noted the May 29 article appears to discuss another wind farm project over four times the size of the proposed Thresher project. Meanwhile, the citizens of Seward County continue to wait on Seward County administration announcing properly organized and publicized town halls devoted solely to these proposed projects. [Anecdotal evidence shows the majority of the public opposed to wind farming in Seward County and, as has been noted previously, Kansas now has nearly 15 counties which ban wind farming while approximately a third of all US counties have banned or restricted them.]
