Tuesday night, the county’s two main governing bodies came together to take the first step in working together into the future.
The Fayette County Commissioners and Fayette County Council held a joint public meeting Tuesday, the first in what will be an every-other-month occurrence, as part of their efforts to lessen friction between the two entities and get on the same page concerning the direction of the county.
The effort to hold joint meetings between the bodies was spearheaded by Commissioner Zane Badore, who has previously stated it was a goal of his since being elected to office in 2012.
Council President Mike Wenta, in opening the meeting, reiterated his thoughts that it was a good idea to hold the joint meetings between the two bodies.
“Commissioner Badore kind of spearheaded this and pulled us all together, made sure we did this and got this done. I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “We all have differing opinions and see things different ways, and I respect everybody’s viewpoint and how they see things. Let’s try to keep this civil. We’re not all going to agree all the time on everything, but let’s try to keep it civil.”
Wenta then went on to discuss how the meeting would not focus on how the county will use the slated economic development payments from NextEra Energy Resources — one part of the contracts the company signed earlier this year with the county regarding the Whitewater Wind Farm — due to the current unknowing nature of the situation and how it will pan out. That subject was originally listed as the agenda for the meeting.
NextEra Energy Resources is still currently seeking a purchaser for the energy to be created from the Whitewater Wind Farm, should it come to fruition.
“I know we were going to talk about the economic development payments. I think, to keep it kind of simple and not spend a lot of time on things that we don’t know about, I wouldn’t even worry about discussing 2016 because if they have not sold any power, the project won’t start,” Wenta said. “It doesn’t even make any sense to discuss it. We’re talking about theoreticals, what might or might not happen, and I’ve got it on good information it most likely won’t happen in 2016. So to me, there’s no point to even discussing it. It doesn’t mean we can’t, but the chances are we won’t even see a payment in 2016.”
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