Mahaska County Approves Wind Farm Tax Abatement

Mahaska-County-Courthouse

Mahaska-County-Courthouse

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Mahaska County took another step towards the development of a wind farm in the northwest portion of the county this week. The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors approved a tax abatement ordinance that would help clear the way for investors in wind energy.

RPM Access is one such company that has stepped forward indicating a desire to potentially invest in such a project.

The tax abatement ordinance would help wind energy developers like RPM Access reduce taxes on such a project. Board Chairman Mike Vander Molen said he is in support of the ordinance, and made a motion to waive the second and third readings of the ordinance.

Unlike a proposed and potential oil pipeline that could cross the county in the near future, the wind energy developer has no power of eminent domain. The company works with landowners to agree with the placement of wind turbines.

Jim Diamond, a representative with RPM Access, stated that the project, so far, is “going very well. I think we’re getting good reception with the land owners and we’re proceeding with the idea that construction would occur in 2015 or 2016.”

Diamond said that there is currently a set of tests being conducted, including environmental, cultural and FAA. These tests will help to determine the site of individual wind turbines.

Each turbine is nearly 4 million dollars, installed, with a total investment expected to be near 290 million dollars. This investment will additionally bring in nearly $60 million dollars to Mahaska County over a 30 year span.

Posted by on Aug 22 2014. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News