A road agreement needed for the development of a Livingston County wind farm is nearly complete, but some details still need to be worked out, the County Board heard Thursday.

"The technical aspects are really in the final form," Livingston County Highway Engineer David Winters said. "We are quite satisfied with this agreement as far as county road use."

Iberdrola Renewables, a Spanish company, wants to erect 155 electricity-generating turbines on sites scattered across 15,000 acres between Saunemin and Odell. Construction is expected to begin this fall.

Construction and maintenance of the Streator Cayuga Ridge South Wind Farm will require the use of 6.25 miles of county roads and 41 miles of township roads. That means Iberdrola needs road use agreements with the county and the townships.

The county's agreement is nearly done, and the County Board plans to meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 28 to discuss and possibly vote on the final document.

Special use permit

The board approved a special-use permit for the wind farm in July on the condition that Iberdrola and the county reach a road agreement within 45 days. The deadline for that approval is Sept. 2.

Winters said the townships also should have completed their road use agreements by the deadline.

Winters said that the county agreement allows for an upfront payment of money to be used for road repairs, but the mechanism for the money needs to be worked out.

Iberdrola would deposit $500,000 in and escrow account to be used by the county if Iberdrola does not honor obligations in the agreement, County Attorney Tom Blakeman said.

"We have been pressing to have the agreement with a local facility in Livingston County and initially they wanted to use a bank of their choosing," Blakeman said. "We have progressed to the point in talking about Livingston County banks ... but we haven't come to terms of the type of investment."

Blakeman said bankers still need to talk to financial representatives of Iberdrola to get the details worked out.

Iberdrola attorney Mike Massie said that the developers are willing to set up the account in a local bank.

"I think from a public relations standpoint, we would like to see you invest that money ... here in Livingston County and that it could be used here in Livingston County," County Board Chairman Bill Flott said. "Hopefully we can work out some kind of arrangement."