photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Alan Claus Anderson, a Kansas City-based attorney representing NextEra Energy Inc., answers a question from Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024.

Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday unanimously voted to renew permits for several meteorological testing devices associated with potential wind energy developments in southwest Douglas County.

The commission approved the four permit renewal requests from NextEra Energy Inc. on behalf of Tower Associates — one for a 197-foot meteorological tower southeast of the intersection of North 400 Road and East 550 Road, and three for sonar detection and ranging, or SoDAR, devices in Marion Township. The permits will now last at least until Feb. 2, 2027, and they could be administratively extended for another year beyond that.

The county has yet to receive a permit application from NextEra for a wind farm. But all of the devices are used to collect weather data to evaluate the viability of potential wind energy projects.

Before the vote, county planner Karl Bauer gave commissioners some background on the devices. Bauer said one of the SoDAR units, located northeast of the intersection of North 1 Road and East 150 Road, was the subject of a complaint from a neighbor last summer — specifically, the neighbor cited “disruptive chirping sounds” during calm conditions and nighttime hours. Bauer said that after the complaint, the device was moved to an isolated corner of the property, and that county staff did not hear back when they reached out to the neighbor to follow up.

“So we’re considering that this complaint is closed,” Bauer said.

One public commenter who spoke at the meeting via Zoom, Catherine Morgan, identified herself as a neighbor of the property at East 150 Road and said she had a complaint about the SoDAR device. She said that the chirping sounds from the device were still audible even after its relocation, and that she feared that if plans for a wind farm were to eventually go forward, a turbine might be placed in the same place as the SoDAR unit.

“… The fact that I could hear a small SoDAR unit that was 1,500 feet from my house — can you imagine a large wind turbine?” she said.

Alan Claus Anderson, a Kansas City-based attorney representing NextEra, told commissioners there is no direct correlation between where SoDAR units are placed and the precise locations where wind turbines might be installed in a future project.

“These units are simply (to gather) atmospheric data,” he said.

Commissioner Shannon Reid said she appreciated the clarification that “the placement of SoDAR units doesn’t have any direct correlation to theoretical wind turbines.” She said she was confident that complaints from people living near the devices during the term of the permits would be adequately addressed.

“If staff is recommending that this be renewed for three years after having the one-year review, I feel comfortable knowing that they will be responsive to any complaints that they receive from neighboring property owners,” she said.

In other business, commissioners:

• Voted unanimously to authorize staff to negotiate a contract with Paymentus Corporation for its merchant card services.

• Voted unanimously to authorize staff to negotiate a contract with U.S. Bank for banking and procurement card services.

• Received a legislative update from Topeka-based lobbying firm Little Government Relations pertaining to the first two weeks of the 2024 Kansas legislative session.