The Iowa County Board approved an amended local operating agreement (LOC) with Invenergy Badger Hollow wind farm at their July meeting Tuesday.
The agreement was amended to help make sure the roads used during construction of a 117.8 megawatt wind energy generating facility with the affected townships Eden, Mifflin, Linden and Clifton.
During discussion some roads that will be heavily traveled on during construction were mentioned and supervisors emphasized they must be left in good condition with needed repairs made. There were also concerns with possible groundwater issues.
The board approved the amended contract, noting WEC is the new owner and will be included in the signing.
The board supported entering into a partnership with MHTC to help in obtaining a Broadband Expansion Grant.
With the grant MHTC would move forward with providing broadband to the underserved areas of the county.
Approving the partnership allows for a public/private venture.
The board approved an agreement documenting its statement of intent to support the partnership.
The agreement includes waiver of up to $10,000 in permit related fees associated with the project. The county will do what it can to expedite the permit process.
Controlled access will be reviewed case by case. The county does not expect to incur debt related to the project.
All county commitments will only apply to the grant and the construction approved with it.
A MOU and resolution will be presented at the August county board meeting.
“Iowa County values the opportunity to partner with MHTC to expand high speed broadband access to underserved areas of our community,” said Iowa County Administrator Clinton Langreck. “We look forward to continuing collaboration on this project.”
The board formerly recognized Lana Bowers on her retirement after nearly 30 years with the Iowa County Sheriff’s Department.
Approved were the appointments of Carol Anderson to the Southwest Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and Carrie Miller to the Unified Services Board.
The board approved a policy defining how virtual meetings will be handled. Discussion included how to handle a person coming on the zoom meeting late. The intent is to not leave anyone out of a meeting as it is a public meeting. Some tweaks were made to the policy before the board issued approval.
Approved was the waiving zoning permit fees for in-kind repair or replacement of structures damaged in the June 17 storm as long as the repairs are completed by June 17 2027.
The county’s use of county logo policy was updated with board approval. Tweaks included county administrator involvement in granting permission for use.
A decision was made to hold off on future bond debt obligations.
Several land use changes were approved. They included:
-Town of Brigham for JG Properties LLC and for Dennis and Peggy Bilse.
-Town of Highland for Cody Zoha. -Town of Linden for M&S Brokish Trust and Jake and Michelle Brokish and another one for James Kieffer.
-Town of Ridgeway for Robert and Jeanne Alfred.
The Administrator’s report included:
-Telling the board that Unified
Community Services pays $6,950 in monthly rent.
-The parking lot will be used for DodgeFest then later in the month, around August 24, it will be redone in two phases.
-The budgeting process is underway and will be part of the next General Government meeting.
-The cyber attack clean-up is now down to 10 years left to process.
The Chairman’s report included a search for a new director for SWWRPC. The former director resigned and is now the city administrator at Mineral Point.