JEFFERSON COUNTY, NE — There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the wind farm zoning saga in Jefferson County.

Officers on the county planning and zoning commission delivered their recommendations to the county commissioners Tuesday. The suggestions for updated regulations come after a year of gathering public input on the subject.

Commissioner chairman Mark Schoenrock thanked them for their efforts.

"All the studying I've done this is to protect the health, the safety and the welfare of our citizens," Schoenrock said. "I'm going to ask you [Randy Welsch] and each of you that have served in the planning and zoning process for the past year has that been your objective?"

The planning and zoning officers replied yes.

The two groups discussed the issue for over an hour. Planning and zoning commission chairman Randy Welsch noted the subject has the county divided. Jefferson County is not an exception in that. Welsch cited conversations he’s had with people from Republic County Kansas home to the High Banks Wind Project. According to the agreement struck between NextEra and Republic County October, has the potential for over 200 wind turbines to go up.

The regulations used for that project are no where near as strict as the recommendations on the table from the Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission. 

"I mean you've got fathers against sons," Welsch said. "They won't talk to each other right down here in Republic County. One guy told me a grandfather is threatening to go to court and take everything away from his son because he wants to put them in."

The commission said the input was valuable but some studies submitted to them gave conflicting results on impacts of wind turbines.

"You can manipulate a lot of numbers, ask any farmer who does taxes," Welsch quipped.

The groups were discussing a study by Oklahoma State that looked at the impacts of property values in areas with wind farms at the time.

Commissioners posed the question of the recommendations being too restrictive since turbines are not outright banned in the county. Welsch and the other officers say they believe that is not the case.

"We're not setting back a grove of trees from a corner here, guys," Welsch said. "We're not doing those things. We're trying to regulate a 600-foot tall tower. That's a whole different ball game."

The commissioners will consider the recommendations on the regulations in a public hearing Thursday night. They have the final say on what is put into place.

"Our citizens are engaged in the process and have provided us their feedback and that's what we want," Schoenrock said. "That's what our representative democracy is all about."

The public hearing starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds 4H Building.