Marmaton Valley isn’t happy about the distribution of recent wind farm payments to schools.
Kim Ensminger, USD 256 superintendent, along with board member Bob Rhodes, shared their concerns with commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting.
“I’m expressing what the community feels,” she said.
In essence, their question was: if 70% of the wind farm is in the Marmaton Valley school district, why is USD 256 only getting 20% of the funds?
Recall, the Prairie Queen Wind Farm pledged to give $250,000 a year for ten years to area schools. In December, $50,000 was therefore given to Iola, Humboldt, Marmaton Valley and the LaHarpe tech center (along with $50,000 retained by the county), as part of the first payment.
Ensminger also spoke to why the wind farm had been allowed to develop in the first place, including that it was believed the windmills would financially aid the school district.
She further suggested that Marmaton Valley needed the funds more than other schools, given its small size and lack of financial resources.
“Our school district’s struggling,” she said, “and it’s going to continue to struggle.”
Ensminger therefore asked if commissioners would “reconsider how that money is divided,” which includes redrawing the original resolution.
When asked what she thought would be a more equitable distribution, Ensminger pointed out that 70% of the wind farm is in the Marmaton Valley district and 30% is in the Iola district, full stop.
Commissioner Jerry Daniels, who was the only commissioner serving when the initial resolution was developed, said that it had been divided equally since the original plan had been to provide safety and security equipment in equal amounts across the county.
“We did decide we’d take it year by year,” Daniels added, suggesting that he was at least open to the possibility of redrawing the wind farm resolution.
However, no official action was taken by commissioners at this time.
Jonathon Goering, economic development director at Thrive Allen County, spoke with commissioners about moving forward on the airport’s utilities expansion study.
Last week, he recommended that the county accept a bid from BG Consultants for $19,000, much of which will be paid by outside federal/state dollars.
