Details released on road dispute

PRINCETON - An attorney representing the Bureau County Board has released details of a dispute over a road agreement the county claims a wind farm company has failed to honor.

Earlier this week, the county board voted to take legal action, in an apparent attempt to force Iberdrola Renewables Inc. to agree to assessed road damage linked to the company's work on Providence Heights wind farm in rural Tiskilwa.

The dispute revolves around damage to stretches of Wyanet-Walnut Road and Kentville Road, which are adjacent to Providence Heights wind farm.

"The dispute really is over the scope of the repair, what costs are involved and what the repairs are," Sheryl Kuzma, the county board's attorney, told the BCR this week.

Kuzma said that in a study, civil engineering firm Willett, Hofmann and Associates Inc. of Dixon assessed $1.9 million in road damage near Providence Heights wind farm. According to the study, Iberdrola Renewables is responsible for a $1.3 million portion of those damages, Kuzma said.

Iberdrola has not agreed to that assessment, Kuzma added.

The county has had an active road agreement with Providence Heights wind farm since October 2006, according to records.

County officials have said two smaller wind farms, AgriWind and Crescent Ridge 1, have used roads near Providence Heights wind farm during their own construction projects. Kuzma said those two companies have agreed to road damage assessments in the Willett Hofmann study, as part of their respective road agreements with the county.

In a Sept. 18 complaint filed in Bureau County Circuit Court, Iberdrola Renewables argues that in 2008, it spent $300,000 repairing affected roads near Providence Heights. The complaint says Iberdrola then submitted a cost analysis for continued road repairs in 2009, but the county blocked that road work.

Instead, the county sent Iberdrola a July 28 letter demanding the company post another letter of credit for road repairs totaling $1.7 million, court papers said.

Iberdrola argues that sum and Willett Hofmann's study overestimate the scope and cost of road damage near Providence Heights. Also, Iberdrola argues that if the county continues to block it from finishing repairs on affected roads, time and winter weather will compound the damage, court papers said.

Bureau County State's Attorney Pat Herrmann said Iberdrola is the first wind farm group in the county that has failed to agree to a road damage assessment.

Herrmann deferred comment on legal issues tied to the dispute but suggested "skyrocketing" costs for road repair materials could be a factor complicating the issue.

Bureau County Highway Engineer John Gross was not immediately available for comment, and Iberdrola Renewables could not be reached for comment.