Henderson County Fiscal Court members all voted in favor of hiring Harold “Mac” Johns to assist in lawsuits or other legal questions relating to renewable energy at its Tuesday meeting.
The suggestion to do so was made by County Attorney Steve Gold, who said that Johns is the attorney that the Kentucky Association of Counties uses when dealing with renewable energy issues.
Johns is a retired county attorney for Todd County. He currently works for the law firm English Lucas Priest & Owsley LLP.
“I believe it makes sense to go ahead and get him engaged,” Gold said.
Multiple renewable energy issues are currently being discussed by governmental bodies, with text amendments regarding wind turbines to the county’s zoning ordinances the most controversial.
The Henderson City-County Planning Commission has scheduled a series of seven public hearings to gather information and public comment regarding wind turbines. The first of these public hearings, with a topic of noise, vibration and shadow flicker, will be at 6 p.m., Wednesday, March 18.
Additionally, the fiscal court has recently voted to begin the process of putting a cap on the total amount of acres of land on which solar panels can be placed in the county. And, the fiscal court recently voted to start the process of implementing a one-year moratorium on any new applications for battery energy storage systems.
Johns’ hourly fee is $325, Gold said.
Gold said that renewable energy projects throughout the United States have led to lawsuits but he hopes that hiring Johns can help to avert any litigation here.
In other news:
- The fiscal court honored recently retired Green River Area Development District Executive Director Joanna Davis Shake with the county’s highest honor for those who serve the community, “The Tiller of the Redbanks.” Shake is retiring after working for GRADD for 32 years. Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider said there’s not a person who has helped the county in more and different ways than Shake. “It has just been an honor of a lifetime to serve Henderson,” Shake said.
- Niagara resident Lisa Thompson Meyer asked the fiscal court if anything could be done to prevent more deaths at railroad crossings in the Robards area. According to a recent report, four people have died at crossings in the past year. The crossings are owned by CSX railway, and Schneider said that the cost of putting up crossing arms and lights is an astronomical number, something like $500,000. He said later in the meeting that if there’s something county can do and CSX allows, we “will look at it.”
- The fiscal court heard second reading and gave final approval that would allow small farm winery farmstays to be a conditional use on agricultural land. The vote was unanimous approval. Read a previous article about the farmstays here.
- The fiscal court heard a second reading and gave final approval to cutting the county insurance premium tax in half. It had been 9.75% and starting in the new fiscal year the rate will be 4.875%. Read a previous article about the cut here.