Wind farm officials won’t attend meeting, still plan to address resident concerns

Officials with Dragonfly Industries International plan to respond to community concerns as expressed in 250 questions submitted by local residents. But no company representative will attend Monday’s (Dec. 21) council meeting, according to Dragonfly CEO Jody Davis.

Davis said company officials recently received a copy of the questions and need more time to respond.

“The legal department is reviewing the list,” Davis said in a telephone interview.

The questions were developed after a meeting last month of the city council when more than 50 residents said they needed more information on the Dragonfly proposed wind farm on 311 acres that has been annexed into the city.  The questions were submitted to and compiled by the city’s Planning Commission at its last meeting.

City officials at first announced a Dragonfly representative would attend the council meeting Monday to respond to those questions. However that plan changed late last week when Dragonfly officials said no one from the company would attend.

The project appears to be in a state of flux after Cody Fell with Elite Energy withdrew a zoning request before the Planning Commission to rezone the property from agriculture to industrial. No reason was given for the sudden withdrawal of the request, which came during the last planning meeting a week ago. Elite Energy owns the property and asked Dragonfly to partner in the development of the wind farm.

“We’re not backing away from the project,” Davis said, adding, “We’re taking a step back to review our manufacturing needs. It seemed time to put the brakes on. We still plan to start to address the community in January. … Getting the technology in the air and proving itself is first and foremost.”

The wind farm is projected to generate 80 megawatts of electricity to be sold to a power grid, using enclosed turbines that resemble a jet engine. The turbines are said to be simpler, quieter and more efficient than existing windmill-style turbines as seen in areas like western Oklahoma or Kansas. One of the concerns of residents is that the turbines are new, never tested and the impact is unknown.

“We don’t want residents to have concerns or fears,” Davis said.

A group called “Stop the Elm Spring Wind Farm” has been successful in its effort to get an election to ask voters to overturn the annexation. That election is March 1. Opponents have focused on concerns of the health and safety of living near the farm, the impact the wind farm could have on property values, and the impact on wildlife, such as deer and bald eagles, which are seen frequently in the area.

Other opponents have said they are concerned that the beauty and peacefulness of the rural area where the farm is planned would be destroyed. The tract is located off Kenneth Price Road.

The history of Davis also has been called into question. He plead guilty in 2009 to 18 counts of wire fraud and 64 counts of money laundering in federal court in Oklahoma. He served more than three years in prison, and was on supervised released through July 2014. Davis and the company have acknowledged the criminal record.