“The meeting went more smoothly than I expected.”

Ellis County Joint Planning Commission Chairman Kendall Krug says last night’s public hearing for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for commercial wind developer Invenergy LLC resulted in a unanimous vote of support for the CUP. The recommendation now goes to the Ellis County Commission, which must allow a two-week protest period before voting on the issue.

Buckeye Wind Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Invenergy, owns the project. It covers about 28,500 acres north of Interstate 70, between Ellis and Hays.

The area is well outside the city of Hays on land zoned for agriculture-use, which Krug points out, allows wind turbines.