A proposal to keep wind turbines out of the Blue Mountains and foothills will go before the Umatilla County Planning Commission Thursday.

Richard Jolly of Milton-Freewater submitted a Goal 5 amendment to the county's comprehensive plan, which aims to set aside an area as a wind turbine-free zone. The protected area proposed by Jolly and the Blue Mountain Alliance is bounded by Highway 11 on the east, the Umatilla National Forest on the west, the Washington border on the north and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation on the south.

It seeks to designate the area as a viewshed, or a visual resource, which needs to be protected by the county.

Thursday's meeting is the first for the issue. The commission will address it again on July 23. If needed, the county may hold a third meeting in August in order to hear all the public comments on the issue, said Umatilla County Planning Director Tamra Mabbott.

The process

At Thursday's meeting, set in the media room of the county justice center, upstairs from the Umatilla County Jail in Pendleton, Mabbott will give a presentation on the process the planning commission could take for the amendment.

"It's really a three-step process," she explained.

First, the commission will decide whether or not there is a "significant resource" to protect, she said. If the commission decides there is no resource, then the process is done.

If it decides there is a significant resource, it has to complete an analysis weighing environmental, economic, social and energy impacts.

In the third step, the commission weights the pros and cons and decide what to limit - if anything.

"It's not a quick decision," Mabbott said.

Once the planning commission makes its decision, it will send the recommendation to the county commissioners, who then will hold a public hearing Sept. 22.

If the planning commission approves the Goal 5 amendment, they'd be making a change to the county's comprehensive plan.

Hoping for discussion

Jolly said he hopes everyone can have a chance Thursday to talk about the issue of wind turbines. He wants "everyone in the county" involved in the issue.

He said one of his initial reasons for becoming involved in the wind debate was companies were not revealing their intentions to the public. He pointed out wind companies would make offers to some property owners and not others, or they would not formally announce putting up a meteorological tower to study wind patterns and intensity.

"That is the whole thing," Jolly said. "We started out on this issue because of the secrecy involved in some of the development. Nobody knew what would happen until it happened. By coming to this meeting, they can be involved in the overall picture of our county. Be proactive instead of reactive. You can definitely speak out and speak up."

There may be many people there.

Mabbott said there may be standing-room only at Thursday's meeting. Mabbott is expecting such a big turnout the second meeting in July is scheduled for the Pendleton Convention Center.

The county sent out 2,300 notifications to citizens warning them the planning commission would be "considering a land-use regulation that may affect the permissible uses of your land." Mabbott said it's an official requirement to notify land owners within the area laid out for preservation by the amendment.

Since sending those out, Mabbott said within the past few weeks she's gotten about 60-70 phone calls and many e-mails.

Mabbott said her feeling is most people have a lot of questions they want answered or they're waiting for the public meeting to voice their concern.

Jolly and members of the Blue Mountain Alliance - a group of Milton-Freewater-area citizens against wind development in the Blues - have been preparing for the meeting for months.

The Goal 5 amendment

Jolly recently finalized his proposal, which included adding maps of specific resources in the foothills. He said he's also preparing to give a presentation at the meeting Thursday.

The first line of the Jolly's document gives one a good idea of the goal. It reads:

"The foothills of the Blue Mountains are a significant area because they contain many of the important attributes and resources that are valued in rural communities. Those resources include abundant wildlife, breathtaking scenery, an important watershed, open space, tribal hunting grounds and archaeological and historical areas."

Specific resource areas outlined in the amendment document include critical winter range for deer and elk, natural areas and historic and archeological areas.

It also notes important watershed drainages in the Blalock, Lincton and Basket Mountain drainages, and North and South forks of the Walla Walla River that flow through the area.

Jolly has said in the past that his goal isn't only to keep wind turbines out of the Blue Mountains, it's designed develop an far-reaching plan for siting wind turbines in Eastern Oregon. He said it's important to consider teh overall effect rather than siting project one at a time.

The Alliance's proposal will not stop wind development, he said. Besides, other economic factors, such as tourism and recreation, are more important in the Blue Mountains, the proposal contends.

At this time the only site publicly acknowledged for the Blue Mountains is a Lincton Mountain project, which Gaelectric - a company based in Ireland - is working on. It has not yet submitted paperwork to the state, which regulates projects larger than 105 megawatts. Counties regulate projects less than 105 megawatts.