Material submitted by the Ellis County Joint Planning Commission for Wednesday’s public hearing regarding a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) request by Invenergy, LLC of Chicago:

 FACT SHEET:  BUCKEYE WIND ENERGY PROJECT

May, 2013

       * All statistics regard the project as proposed at this time

PROJECT NAME                                Buckeye Wind Energy Project (“Buckeye”)

LOCATION                           Buckeye is projected to be located on more than 28,000 acres of private land in Ellis County, Kansas.

PROJECT COST                   Approximately $335 million capital investment.

CAPACITY (MW)              Approximately 200 MW.

# OF TURBINES                  Between 87-125 turbines (depending on turbine model selection)

TYPE OF TURBINES          Turbine selection still is being finalized.

HOMES POWERED           Approximately 104,000homes.

LANDOWNERS                  Invenergy and its affiliates have signed more than 130 lease agreements with landowners in the project area.

JOB CREATION                  Buckeye would create approximately 300 construction jobs, and approximately 12 permanent operations and maintenance jobs once the farm is operational.

LOCAL ECONOMIC  IMPACT
                                                     During operation, the project is expected to contribute more than $1.25 million annually in local payments, including property tax revenue to Ellis County; lease payments to landowners; and salaries to local employees.

PROJECT SCHEDULE        Invenergy began development efforts on Buckeye in 2008, and currently we are seeking a power purchase agreement (“PPA”) for the project.  Therefore, construction details, including a timeline, have not yet been determined.

AVIATION                          Invenergy will apply for Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) determinations of ‘No Hazard’ for preliminary wind turbine locations.

WILDLIFE                             As with all of our wind projects, Invenergy has, and will continue to, coordinate with state and federal agencies in this regard.

PPA                                        Invenergy is actively seeking a PPA for the Buckeye project.

WIND STUDIES                  Invenergy has installed two meteorological towers in Ellis County, and one in Trego County, to measure wind speed, direction, and air temperature.  There also is one Sonic Detection and Ranging (“SODAR”) unit – a wind “profiling” system – in Ellis County.  The data collected from the met towers indicates that the project area has an excellent wind resource, and is an optimal location for a successful wind power generation facility.

INVENERGY STATEMENT

“With an excellent wind resource and community support, Ellis County is an optimal location for a successful wind project.   The Buckeye Wind Energy project (“Buckeye”) would provide substantial, long-term economic benefits to the local area.  We look forward to continuing to work closely with our host community, contributing to its economic development, and providing a new supply of clean, homegrown energy in Kansas.”

 ABOUT INVENERGY

Invenergy and its affiliated companies develop, own and operate large-scale renewable and other clean energy generation facilities in North America and Europe. North America’s largest independent wind power generation company, Invenergy is committed to clean power alternatives and continued innovation in electricity generation. The company’s home office is located in Chicago and it has regional development offices throughout the United States and in Canada and Europe.

Invenergy has developed more than 7,100 MW of clean energy projects that are in operation, in construction, or under contract, including 49 wind, 3 solar, and 6 natural gas power facilities. For more information, please visit www.invenergyllc.com.

 

“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.

FROM THE CITY OF HAYS

Due to the observance of Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, 2013, Refuse/Recycling route collection schedules will be altered as follows:

Collections will begin on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 starting with Monday’s route and progressing throughout the week. Although alley collections may not occur on your normal day, collections will be completed by the week’s end.

Monday and Tuesday curbside customers will be collected on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. Normal curbside collection will occur during the remainder of the week.

City of Hays customers that may have any questions regarding this notice should contact the Solid Waste Division of the Public Works Department at 628-7357.

We remind you to always have your polycarts out by 7:00 AM.

It is anticipated that heavy volumes of refuse/recyclable will be encountered around the holidays. Please make sure your polycarts are out by 7:00 AM and keep in mind that the trucks have no set time schedule.

There’s lots of good food to enjoy inside the Hays Senior Center meal site on east 8th Street.

But outside the site Tuesday morning, there was some throwing of rotten tomatoes.

This group of meal site participants and United Way of Ellis County representatives are part of this fall’s United Way campaign fundraiser video.

The video is being produced by Eagle Community Television.

The theme is still top secret so we can’t tell you too much, although we can identify Max Brewer (in the back) as the gentleman who also throws a bikini top.

We’ll keep you (Hays) posted.

An Ellis resident and student at Thomas-More Prep Marian High School in Hays has earned the highest Girl Scout Award for ages 14 to 18.

Allison Hohmann is a TMP junior and a recipient of the Girl Scout Gold Award.

Hohmann’s project involved making literacy kits for Spanish-speaking families in the Hays USD 489 school district .

“My goal was to create a tool that will benefit not only the children, but the whole family because they are learning English together, ” said Hohmann.

The kits include a book, a CD recording of the book, and a game to reinforce the concept being taught.  She also organized a check-out system for teachers in the school district.

Hohmann will be honored with a reception June 5^th at TMP.

Eleven Girl Scouts across the Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland council recently accomplished this coveted honor.

 

The state’s new Medicaid program, KanCare, is hosting more informational meetings in Hays today.

The sessions at the Fort Hays State University Robbins Center target consumers who receive long term services and support, giving them an opportunity to find out more about the program changes and to voice their opinions.

Tonight’s meeting is open from 6-8p.m.  Attendees can come at any time.

KanCare officials are asking participants to discuss what they like most and least about KanCare, and what is most important to them in choosing their KanCare health plan.

An afternoon session was also offered.

 

Donating dollars is the best way you can help the victims of  Monday’s killer tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, according to the American Red Cross.

Meagan Carver,  Hays  Service Center Manager of the Western Kansas ARC Chapter, says the American Red Cross does not accept or solicit donations or collections of items for emergency relief purposes.

“Small items such as collections of food, used clothing, and shoes often must be cleaned, sorted, and repackaged which impedes the valuable resources of money, time, and personnel needed for other aspects of our relief operation,” says Carver.

The best way to help a disaster victim is through a financial donation to the American Red Cross.

“Those dollars allow us to purchase exactly what’s needed for the disaster relief operation, and we can purchase supplies close to the disaster site which avoids delays and transportation costs in getting basic necessities to disaster victims,” she says.  An added bonus–purchasing relief supplies in or close to the disaster site also helps to stimulate the weakened local economy.

People who wish to make a donation should visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-REDCROSS or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation, or send donations to their local Red Cross office.

The Hays office address is: 205 E. 7^th St. Suite #151 Hays, KS 67601. Contact Meagan Carver for more information at  (785) 625-2617.

After serving 27 years in the military, Manhattan resident Tom Tavitigian medically retired last year.  He was  injured in an I-E-D explosion in 2008.  Tavitigian has had 17 surgeries since then.

“I’ve met many vets who have many issues,” Tavitigian says.

Two years ago he founded Wounded Warriors United to give back to those who’ve given so much.  Monday he was the guest speaker at the Hays Rotary Club.

“Wounded Warriors United is a non-profit organization exclusively founded for our Combat Wounded and Combat Veterans, ” says Tavitigian.  “What we do is provide free events to our heroes,  including hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and social events. These activities are therapeutic and help in healing their hearts and minds.”

Wounded Warriors United was formally incorporated in Kansas in 2011, although Tavitigian was organizing the events for nine years before that.  WWU has a number of corporate sponsors of the outdoor sporting events, but depends heavily on private financial donations.

“My goal is to reach out to as many veterans as possible, giving them three days of peace, or meeting someone they can pick up the phone and talk to, someone who’s been through what they’ve been through.”

A month from now, the members of Hays Boy Scout Troop 101 will be at Camp Laramie Peak, Wyoming, for their summer camping trip.

Today, they’re raising money to help fund the annual event.

About half of the 50-member troop, along with several adult volunteers, are busy washing cars this morning at Hays Chevrolet.

Dirty vehicles are driven to the west side of  Hays Chevrolet, where the Scouts use a lot of elbow grease, plus a few squirts of cleaner and bug and tar removal, loosening up the top layers of road filth.

Then it’s into the automatic car wash, and finally out into the parking lot again, where more volunteers hand dry each vehicle.

The group is accepting goodwill donations for the troop or in the name of a specific Boy Scout.

The Troop 101 car wash fundraiser is available until noon today.