The Cherry County Commissioners held public hearings on proposed changes to the commercial wind generation regulations on Tuesday at the Cherry County Courtroom. Commissioners Storer and Denaeyer presided over the hearings. Also present was Cherry County Attorney Eric Scott. There were also members of the planning commission. The proposed changes were recommended by the Cherry County Planning Commission and were the same ones rejected by the commissioners at a public hearing in February. This time the planning commission sent the changes as individual recommendations instead of a complete package. County Attorney Scott advised that the board could not negotiate the recommendations, only approve or disapprove as presented.
The courtroom was packed with citizens both for and against the changes. Commissioner Storer called the meeting to order at 4:35. Albert Erickson and Herb Pabst spoke on behalf of the planning and zoning board.
7 of the 8 recommendations were rejected, all on split votes. The only change approved was a minor modification in wording defining property lines in one regulation.
Several people testified both for and against the proposed changes during the hearing which lasted almost 3 hours. The unofficial count was 20 people testifying in favor of new regulations and 16 against.