A new year brought a different approach to questions around wind turbines, which have occupied the quorum court for 18 months. At the Jan. 21 meeting, incoming Justice of the Peace Caroline Rogers sponsored a speaker who warned of wildfire hazards. Later in the meeting, she asked for discussion of a moratorium on industrial wind and solar installations.
Rogers introduced Steve Chase, who said he has worked with large commercial construction projects. He offered a draft ordinance to give the county more protection against wildfires. Chase said the Justices of the Peace had not seen the ordinance in advance, and he did not expect them to act on it at this meeting.
Chase challenged JPs to “live up to your duty as an elected and deliberative body.” He declined to answer a question about who had authored the draft ordinance. JP Harrie Farrow said, “If you’re asking us to take this ordinance seriously, we need to find out who wrote it. If you don’t want to divulge that, it also says something.”
Later in the meeting, Rogers asked for a discussion about a moratorium on further wind and solar farms in the county. She said Madison County had passed an emergency ordinance establishing a moratorium “to give them time to find out what’s in the best interest of the county.”
Rogers said a second phase could be added to the wind turbines south of Green Forest. She also warned of the potential for more wind turbines northeast of Berryville. Rogers said in 20 years, the county could have hundreds of turbines, along U.S. Hwy. 412, in Oak Grove, Grandview, and Blue Eye. “Will it be good for our county to have more turbines?” she asked.
JP Jack Deaton said he had been prepared to vote in favor of a previous moratorium proposal, then he began receiving threats and warnings. “If you threaten me, you’re not going to get diddly done,” he said. “Some of those techniques really irritated me and other JPs.” Deaton said the campaign behind that moratorium should have used different methods. Rogers agreed, but said, “There was no playbook on how to handle that.” She asked to turn from discussing the past to focus on the future.
JP Craig Hicks asked whether a proposed moratorium would apply to the Scout project currently underway. Farrow said the county could not retroactively regulate sites under construction, but that the county restricting other leaseholders would be “not really interfering.”
Rogers said the Madison County ordinance only affected industrial wind and solar operations, and private landowners could still install such structures. Hicks asked how it would differ if 30 landowners in one area decided to erect wind turbines.
This item was for discussion only, and the dialogue ended without any action. Before leaving the subject, JP Jerry King said he did not like the wind turbines but had major concerns about the county’s potential legal expenses. “We have to buy graders,” he said. “We can’t spend it on lawyers.”
Tyson Foods fire
Mike McKelvey, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, gave the JPs an update on the recent fire at Tyson Foods. He began by voicing concerns over politicization of the event. “I’m a little disappointed in the way firefighters and private citizens have been thrown under the bus,” he said. In response to a question, he explained that social media users had used the fire to warn of dangers from wind turbines. McKelvey described the Tyson fire as “a perfect storm,” and praised the volunteer firefighters who braved the difficult conditions to fight the fire. “This was an industrial fire at a large complex, and they worked to make sure people still have a job and a home,” he said. Although many of the responders required medical attention, McKelvey said all of them have returned to work.
Chemicals involved in the fire damaged some of the firefighters’ protective gear, and Tyson will replace that equipment. McKelvey said he and first responders are studying the event.
Public comments
- Greg Lentz, assistant chief of the South Carroll County Fire Department, objected to “scare tactics” used by opponents of wind turbines. “To leverage what we do is offensive,” he said. “Don’t drag the firefighters into this fight.” He lauded the commitment of volunteer firefighters, as he explained “what they’re willing to do for our community.” Deaton, a retired firefighter, echoed his praise. “These volunteers leave their jobs and families,” he said. “I appreciate you guys and every hour you put into it.” Deaton objected to efforts to use the Tyson fire as a warning against wind turbines and mentioned some “very disturbing” emails.
Lentz said people have raised the specter of flammable substances at the top of a wind turbine but said that farmers all over the county have fuel six feet off the ground. Responding to a point raised by Chase, Lentz said he has been with the SCCFD for more than 20 years, and washed-out roads have never kept the department from responding to a fire.
- Robert Anderson has frequently taken the microphone during public comments and returned last week with two recurring complaints. “Who’s really in charge? Does anybody really care?” he asked, as he reiterated grievances about the condition of his county road. He also said his towing business has been removed from the list of towing companies used by the sheriff’s office. “It’s not fair the way my business has been attacked,” he said.
Hicks told him the quorum court had no authority in either of those areas. “The sheriff’s office has power over your business, and the county judge has authority over the roads.” County Judge David Writer agreed, reminding that he had asked Anderson during his last quorum court appearance to contact him directly.
Bobby Wilson has consistently spoken in opposition to wind turbines. His public comment touched upon the fire at Tyson Foods, and the potential hazards of fighting chemical fires. He also quoted from a recent presidential speech opposing wind energy. Wilson renewed his questions about a land-use committee that Writer had promised to appoint almost a year ago.
- Arturo Calvillo has also consistently spoken on windmill issues but has leased property for the turbines. After welcoming new JPs to the table, he said he travels Carroll Road 905 every day. “It’s definitely changing, but talk to Kimes (in Green Forest), how much business he’s been getting from them. Talk about the crews coming into town for meals.” Calvillo also mentioned a major new business coming to Berryville. “They got that business by working hard for it, not by a moratorium,” he said.
In other business
- A grant of $16,000 had been received from the Administrative Office of the Courts for the adult drug court fund. The $13,000 remaining from that grant will be applied to the ADCF, “in accord with the grant for allowable supportive and restorative services.”
- Deaton said the budget committee has worked to set aside $9,000 for a new air-handling unit at the Carroll County Detention Center. The failing unit had been in place since the jail was built.
- A grant of $50,000 was allocated to the Peer Recovery Specialist Grant Fund. The grant comes through the Administrative Office of the Courts.
- JP Hunter Rivett was selected as Carroll County’s delegate to the Arkansas Quorum Court Association meeting in April. Rivett served in the same capacity last year.
- A resolution confirmed the appointment of Paul Sutherland to the Eureka Springs Library Board, for a three-year term through the end of 2027.
* During JP comments, Deaton mentioned that the quorum court had purchased a drone for the OEM. He listed some of the ways that drone has been used, and said the $6,000 cost was “money well spent.”
- The county judge’s comments come at the end of the meeting, and Writer took the opportunity to ask again for civility. “I’ve asked you before to be a neighbor to people,” he said.