Suit over 3rd wind farm settled

County commissioners Monday settled a lawsuit filed in September 2020 over what could be a third county wind farm.

Plaintiff Roger Buller will not get cash, but will get a year to apply for a construction permit.

Buller claimed county zoning director Sharon Omstead was wrong when she deemed that Buller’s company, Stonebridge Investments, did not have standing to install turbines in an area originally planned for wind farm development by Rex Savage.

The proposed turbines would have been south of US-50 in an area within a Flint Hills wind farm moratorium.

Savage sold rights to conditional use permits held by his Windborne Energy to Stonebridge in 2015.

In 2018, the county required companies to apply for building permits that year. Buller claimed the county didn’t send Stonebridge written notice of the change.

Stonebridge submitted four applications for permit extensions in 2020. All were denied.His suit had sought more than $75,000 in damages and the 2018 amendments nullified.