A multi-year effort of drafting, reviewing, re-drafting and re-reviewing a reworked wind energy ordinance for this township is now heading down the final stretch towards approval. During the May 16 meeting of the Montcalm Township Planning Commission, Commissioners voted unanimously to send an amended version of section 7.24 of the township’s zoning ordinance otherwise known as Private and Commercial Wind Energy Conversion Facilities to the Montcalm County Planning Commission for review.
A member of the Montcalm Township Planning Commission was given the go-ahead to continue discussing and working on a wind energy ordinance after her fellow commissioners determined she does not possess a conflict of interest. During the Planning Commission’s April 4 meeting, it was brought to their attention by a township resident that Commissioner Karon Baird allegedly had a conflict of interest regarding a nearly finished wind ordinance that the Commission has been working on since the summer of 2020.