The Cherry County board of commissioners has vote to approve placing two meteorological towers on rangeland of southern Cherry county, west of Highway 83, and north of Thedford.
The conditional use permits requested by Bluestem Sandhills L.L.C. were approved at a public hearing on May 26th, 2015, according to meeting minutes as published in the local newspaper. Commissioner Adamson Storer voted aye, Commissioner Van Winkle abstained and Commissioner Mark Adamson voted aye.
Both motions carried.
A 197 foot tower would be constructed on private property at section 13, T25N R29W and another on Bureau of Educational Lands and Funds (BELF) property at sec. 36, T25N R29W.
Both sites are now prairie grassland, according to aerial photographs. There are 147 wind turbines proposed for the locality, according to FAA details.
A wind lease from the BELF on September 9, 2013 with the Cherry County Wind Energy Association authorized the placement of the met towers on this publicly-owned property, according to a spokesperson for the state agency.
Mark Adamson and Todd Adamson were listed as board members of the CCWEA in a wind conference presentation given in recent years, and as available online. Jerry Adamson was Cherry County Commissioner and voted to appoint members to the wind committee in December 2010.
The Cherry County Wind Energy Association formerly had a website, but a recent search for it was not successful. The group was a partner in construction of a wind turbine west of Valentine, which was dedicated in September 2014.
"Cherry County Wind, LLC has entered into a development agreement with Bluestem Sandhills, LLC, a project company of Bluestem, LLC," according to a May 2014 news article in the Banner-Press.