Wind farms officially allowed as special exception

Wind farms are now officially a special exception in Putnam County.

Acting on the approval of the Putnam County Plan Commission, the Putnam County Commissioners voted Monday to allow wind energy conversion systems, as the behemoth windmills and turbines are more formally called, as a special exception in all zones in Putnam County.

The approval comes after much discussion by the Plan Commission, with that advisory board approving the change last month.

The commissioners’ approval now formally makes it part of the county zoning ordinance.

Commissioner Jim Ensley explained that the zoning ordinance, adopted in the early 1990s, previously did not address the issue at all.

While in his opinion this leaves no outlet for companies to place wind farms in Putnam County, aside from the rarely-approved use variance, he worried that others might interpret the lack of county laws as a chance to place them without county recourse.

However, as a special exception, any proposed windmill has to be approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals, which will conduct hearings not only to approve or deny a request, but can also place requirements on any such plan.

County officials have said that approving the change is not a way to make it easier to have wind farms in the county. Instead, they want more guidance for the BZA as well as having the ability to set the requirements.

In other business:

• The county got good news recently from insurance provider Anthem and agent Hayes Murphy Sharp and Brackney.

The county will be paying about $178,500 per month in employee health insurance premiums. That’s down from $186,500 in the last year.

The county is saving money through many employees switching to health savings plans, which are letting them know the cost of many claims.

“It has gone down because of claims,” Auditor Lorie Hallett said. “Our employees have become very aware of how much things cost.”

Last year, the county incentivized switching to HSAs by contributing to employees’ plans.

The county still needs to decide what to do about contributions to the HSA, though premiums going down $96,000 annually appears to be good news for employees.

Four years ago, the county was paying more than $200,000 a month for health insurance.

“I would recommend that we stick with this,” Woodall said. “This is the same plan — nothing different.”

Commissioners David Berry and Don Walton joined Woodall in unanimously voting to stay with HMSB and Anthem.

• As part of the shifting offices due to the addition of a third court, the commissioners approved an agreement with Trudy Selvia to lease office space at 23 W. Franklin St., Greencastle.

The space will house portions of the Community Corrections, GRASP and Adult Probation departments.

The lease is for $650 a month from May 1 through April 30 of next year.