LYON COUNTY BOARD MEETING (Tuesday, November 15, 2022)

Renewable energy was on the tips of everyone’s tongue at Tuesday’s Lyon County Board meeting.
The board heard a presentation from Purple Skies, a national wind energy company that is looking to construct a wind farm in the area, and also approved a Conditional Use Permit for Balaton Solar, LLC to install a solar power farm on the outskirts of Balaton.
• Purple Skies, a project of Invenergy, is currently in the early stages of a project in Lyon County that ties in with new, proposed ExCel Energy transmission lines in the area, similar to what Box Car Wind is planning. Purple Skies has garnered about 16,000 acres in the county and a short-term target of the production of 500 megawatts, with an ultimate goal of 60,000 acres to someday operate a 1-gigawatt wind farm. The size of the project — and the size of the turbines — has yet to be determined.
Invenergy, the nation’s largest privately-held sustainable energy company, oversees 64 projects in the Upper Midwest — 38 wind, 17 solar, six energy storage and three natural gas.
Monica Monterrosa of Invernergy told the board that the plan is to have Purple Skies operational by the time the new transmission lines are up and running. It’s unclear where exactly the wind farm will be located.
Monterrosa said benefits of the project vary depending on if the wind farm is 500 megawatts or 1 gigawatt. Over the life of the project, she said more than $2 million will be collected by the county in tax revue (double with a 1-gigawatt wind farm) over the life of the project.
During the development stage, landowners who sign up for the program can expect receiving $25 per year, per acre, with a $10,000 bonus for 150 acres or more. The minimum development period annual payment is $2,000. There are also bonuses for contiguous acreage — from an extra $20 per acre for 5,000 contiguous acres, all the way up to an extra $40 per acre for 60,000 contiguous acres.
• Also Tuesday, the county board’s decision to approve a CUP for Balaton Solar opens the door for a 1-megawatt, ground-mounted solar power generation facility in Rock Lake Township in Balaton. The site will be leased from Mark Timmerman. The Lyon County Planning Commission met on Nov. 9 and approved to recommend to the county board to grant a CUP for the facility, regulated as a Large Solar Farm by the Lyon County Zoning Ordinance.

In other business from Tuesday …
• The board OKd the purchase of a new van for Lyon County Veteran Services to transport vetereans to medical appointments in Sioux Falls, Montevideo and St. Cloud. The $45,120 van will be purchased from Lockwood Motors in Marshall.
• The board approved the hiring of Scott Spitzer as a Building & Grounds worker with a starting rate of $19 per hour; and the hiring of Joana Duran, a certified interpreter, as Technical Assistant III in the Auditor/Treasure Office, with a starting hourly rate of $21.02.
• County boards from Lyon and Murray counties set up a Joint Powers board for Murray County Ditch 14.
A redetermination of benefits ordered by Murray County showed that a small tract of land in Lyon County is benefitted by the ditch. The new board will consist of three members of the Murray County Board (Dennis Welgraven, Lori Gunnink and Molly Malone), and two from Lyon County (Gary Crowley and Rick Anderson). The board will meet on a date yet to be determined.