Amended conditional use permit for Luther wind turbine wins approval

The Winneshiek County Board has given its unanimous approval to an amended conditional use permit for Luther College's planned wind turbine.

The vote Monday morning was necessary because Luther switched wind turbine manufacturers, deciding to buy its turbine from GE Turbines.  The new wind turbine will have rotor blades that are 1.6 feet longer than the blades on the other wind turbine that had been considered by Luther.

15 neighboring property owners did not object to the change.

Luther College President Rick Torgerson says installation of the wind turbine will now begin either the end of July or the beginning of August.  The contractor doing the work is presenting installing a wind turbine at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and will head to Decorah when the work is done at Carleton.