(A) An applicant proposing to use any county, municipality, township or village road(s), for the purpose of transporting WECS or substation parts and/or equipment for construction, operation or maintenance of the WECS or substation(s), shall;
(1) Identify all such public roads; and
(2) Obtain applicable weight and size permits from relevant government agencies prior to construction.
(B) To the extent an applicant must obtain a weight or size permit from the county, municipality, township or village, the applicant shall;
(1) Conduct a pre-construction baseline survey to determine existing road conditions for assessing potential future damage; and
(2) Any proposed public roads that will be used for construction purposes shall be identified and approved in writing by the respective Road District Commissioner and the County Engineer prior to the granting of the special use application. Traffic for construction purposes shall be limited to these roads. All overweight and/or oversized loads to be transported on public roads may require a permit from the respective highway authority. Any road damage caused by the transport of the facility's equipment, or the installation, maintenance, or removal of such equipment, must be completely repaired to the reasonable satisfaction of the Road District Commissioner and the County Engineer. The Road District Commissioner and County Engineer may choose to require either remediation of road repair upon completion of the wind energy conversion system or are authorized to collect fees for overweight and/or oversized load permits. Further, financial assurance, in an amount to be fixed by the Road District Commissioner or County Engineer to assure to the road district or the county that future repairs are completed to their reasonable satisfaction, shall be provided. The applicant shall submit a draft form of said financial assurance with special use application.
(3) Enter into a road use agreement with the county and each affected road district that includes the following provisions, at a minimum;
(a) Project layout map;
(b) Transportation impact analysis;
(c) Pre-construction plans;
(d) Project traffic map;
(e) Project scope of repairs;
(f) Post-construction repairs;
(g) Insurance;
(h) Financial security in forms and amounts acceptable to the county; and
(i) The road use agreement shall require the applicant to be responsible for the reasonable cost of improving roads used to construct a WECS and the reasonable cost of repairing roads used by the facility owner during construction of the wind energy conversion systems so that those roads are in a condition that is safe for the driving public after the completion of the wind energy conversion system’s construction.
(4) All repairs and improvements to public roads and roadway appurtenance shall be subject to the prior approval of the county before being made and shall also be subject to inspection and acceptance by the county after such repairs and improvements are completed. The county's road use agreement, and any further agreements contemplated therein, regarding the maintenance and repair of public roads and highways, must be approved by the County Board prior to the issuance of any wind energy conversion systems building permit related to the construction of the proposed wind energy conversion systems.
(Ord. WEC-23, passed 8-8-2023)