By KAREN MIKOLS

Hays Daily News

The protest petition for the proposed wind farm southwest of Hays was discussed during Monday morning's Ellis County Commission meeting.

Ellis County Clerk Alberta Klaus said the protest petition was delivered Wednesday.

"I don't know that you can act on the wind farm application today because of the protest petition I have in hand," Klaus said.

"At this point, I can't tell you if there's significant signatures or acreage," she said. "I'm working on that right now."

Klaus said she hopes to have that completed by the end of the week.

"You need to proceed with it if it's valid," Chairman Vernon Berens said. "Then you can get back with us, and we will meet with our attorney and see what direction we want to go."

The next step is for Zoning Administrator Dale Wing and Klaus to meet with attorney Dennis Davidson.

"We intend to meet this week to attempt and finish reviewing the petitions that were filed and make a determination as to whether the requisite of 20 percent has been filed," Davidson said.

Reporter Karen Mikols can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 143, or by e-mail at kmikols@dailynews.net.