(A) Construction standards. WESF shall be constructed in compliance with good utility practice for WESF. The applicant shall provide, as part of the building permit application, engineering drawings of the proposed foundation and tower design sealed by a licensed professional structural engineer.
(B) Construction observation. The applicant shall retain, at the applicant’s expense, the services of an independent engineering consultant to observe construction of the WESF. The consultant shall be approved by the County Board prior to beginning any work on the WESF. The consultant shall be a state licensed professional engineering firm pre-qualified with the State Department of Transportation in the following categories: structures (typical), highways (roads and streets), special services (land survey) and construction inspection. The consultant shall visit the site at intervals appropriate to the stage of construction, or as otherwise directed by the county, in order to observe the progress and quality of work completed by the contractor. The consultant shall prepare reports for each visit to the site detailing observations of the work performed and forward those reports to the Zoning Administrator within three business days following the date of the site visit.
(C) Compliance. If the county concludes that any part of the WESF was not constructed in compliance with the details of the permit application, good utility practice or constitutes a danger to persons or property, then upon notice being provided by the County Board, the applicant shall have 90 days to bring the non-compliant WESF(s) into compliance with the standards specified herein. If 90 days is insufficient time to cure the non-compliance, the applicant shall present a plan to the county describing the reason for the delay and the time frame for the cure to be put in place. Failure to bring the non-compliant WESF(s) into compliance or failure to provide a plan for compliance within 90 days shall constitute grounds for the county to demand removal of the WESF(s) at the applicant’s expense and all construction work on the WESF(s) shall cease until the non-compliances are resolved to the satisfaction of the County Board. The following minimum safety standards shall apply to the construction of the WESF.
(1) All wiring between the wind turbines shall be underground.
(2) The outside of the WECS shall not be climbable.
(3) All access doors to the turbines and electrical equipment shall be locked.
(D) Performance standards. Any wind energy conversion system or wind energy system facility shall be operated and maintained consistent with good utility practice for comparable facilities.
(E) State and federal standards. Construction of WESF(s) shall meet or exceed current standards and regulations, if any, of any other agency of the state or federal government with the authority to regulate wind powered generators. If the standards and regulations are changed and retroactive application is required for the change, then the applicant shall bring the WESF(s) into compliance with the applicable revised standards and regulations within six months of the effective date of the standards and regulations, unless a different compliance schedule is permitted by the controlling state or federal agency or approved by the county. A determination of “no hazard” for each wind turbine must be obtained from the FAA as a condition precedent for the installation of each turbine.
(Ord. passed 4-23-2009)