Williams County planning panel approves three temporary meteorological towers for Homestead Wind project

The Williams County Planning and Zoning Commission on March 20 approved three conditional use permits that would allow temporary 60-meter (about 197-foot) meteorological towers to be sited on properties within Bone Trail, Strandall and Full Butte townships as part of data collection for the proposed Homestead Wind project.

The permits, filed by Apex Clean Energy on behalf of Homestead Wind LLC, authorize tilt-up MET towers that the company said are temporary, require no concrete foundations and will be anchored with guy wires. The towers will carry small solar panels to power sensors that record wind speed, direction and density for potential future wind-farm siting and financing.

Why it matters: The MET towers are the first step in data gathering that Apex said will support a later permit application for construction of a wind farm. Residents and township officials raised concerns at the meeting about setbacks, effects on cropland and farm operations, access and how compensation will reach tenant farmers. Commissioners approved all three CUPs with staff conditions after public comment and roll-call votes.

Apex representative Matt said the towers are “temporary in nature,” are tilt-up structures with no excavation and that they stay below 200 feet to comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules. He said existing MET towers in the county have provided “a tremendous amount of data,” and that the company expects to perform additional geotechnical, cultural and agricultural studies before submitting a permit for the wind farm itself.

Michelle, Williams County planning staff, explained each application and the notification process; she said township officers were mailed packets and that county procedure will require broader outreach when and if a full wind-farm CUP is filed. The applications submitted for the three projects list five-year leases with options to extend if additional data collection is needed.

Public comment focused on the application in Strandall Township, where residents and township leaders said they had not received timely notice and where the township has adopted a one-mile setback policy for wind towers. Lane Larson, Strandall Township clerk-treasurer and resident, said the township’s established one-mile setback is intended to protect residents. “That being said, this is not a wind tower itself, obviously, but what it does is allude to the fact that that could potentially be where a wind tower goes,” Larson said.

Resident Desiree Arntzen, who said her farmstead lies about a half-mile from the proposed Strandall tower, submitted a written letter and asked whether environmental studies had been completed, how long “temporary” would last and whether farmers would be compensated for lost cropping or access. She said spring seeding begins in five to six weeks and asked whether construction could disrupt planting schedules.

Matt and other project supporters answered that MET towers do not require roads or excavation, that anchors sit on the surface and that construction for a single tower can be completed in a few hours. He said crop-damage and compaction payments are provided when crews must enter fields and that payments under the company’s leases are made to landowners; in many cases the lease or company arrangements route crop-damage payments directly to tenant farmers. He said the company typically increases voluntary setbacks in leases (citing 1,600 feet) beyond the county’s 1,400-foot setback from occupied residences.

Township chairman Bob Arneson, and others with right-of-way experience, urged Apex to communicate directly with tenant farmers and to make token or immediate payments to operators when short-term disruption occurs, saying that approach improves cooperation and reduces conflict during field operations.

Commission discussion and votes: Commissioners debated how to hear multiple CUP applications together (public hearing concurrent, individual votes), then took separate votes on each application. The three applications and final outcomes (staff conditions applied) were:

Votes at a glance: LUD-0100-24 (Bone Trail Township) — Approved (approximately 4 yes, 1 no, 1 present/abstain); LUD-0101-24 (Strandall Township) — Approved (3 yes, 2 no, 1 present/abstain) after an initial motion to deny failed; LUD-0102-24 (Full Butte Township) — Approved (unanimous among members present).

What the permits allow and limits noted at the meeting: Each CUP authorizes a roughly 60-meter (197-foot) MET tower set back approximately 280–285 feet from the outside property boundary identified in the application, with guy-wire anchors and no permanent foundation, electrical or sewer connections. Applicants said towers are typically decommissioned when construction begins on a project — the company estimated removal within about two years if the wind farm proceeds — and that some previously permitted MET towers in the county remain in operation.

What remains unresolved: Several residents asked for clearer notice procedures, confirmation that tenant farmers will be compensated for specific losses (seed, chemicals or crop revenue) and more detail about access points and any temporary approaches. Strandall Township said it did not receive the mailed packet and reiterated its one-mile setback policy for wind towers, requesting planning staff and future permit applications take township setbacks and the proximity of occupied residences into account.

The planning commission did not make any final determination about a full wind-farm permit; applicants and staff said a separate CUP and additional studies would be required before construction of turbines and access roads. Several speakers emphasized that road-use agreements, bonding and negotiated mitigation are typical parts of future phases if a wind farm were to move forward.

The commission set its next meeting for April 17.