Neb. college sells land in proposed wind farm area
Published on -2/2/2009, 12:39 PM
Printer-friendly version
E-Mail This Story
Related Story...
High bidders
By KALEY LYON
Nearly 2,000 acres of Ellis County farmland were sold at auction Friday.
The land, previously owned by York College of York, Neb., is located southwest of Hays and has been leased for wind energy development.
About 1,760 acres of the land are subject to a wind lease entered with Hays Wind. These rights have been transferred to the new property owners.
Hays Wind, headed by Iberdrola Renewable Energies, has been granted a conditional-use permit from Ellis County commissioners to construct a 200-megawatt project south and southwest of Hays. This decision has been challenged in district court.
The land was willed to York College following the 2003 death of Ellis County resident Donald Kraus. The college, which wasn't looking to get too involved in farming, decided the time was right to sell, said Todd Sheldon, vice president of finance.
"Property values were good here in Kansas at this time, and it just seemed like a good time for us," Sheldon said.
The university will maintain mineral rights.
The 1,800 acres of land was divided into seven tracts, and the property brought a total of almost $1.4 million.
The auction was held by Farm & Ranch Realty, based in Colby.
wind farms make property values go down? JP, please whip out your pen and woo us w/ your syllable dribble.
(Posted by: when the wind blows)
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
All comments are subject to approval before being posted. Please keep comments constructive and relevant. Opinions certainly can be expressed, but comments that are rude, abusive, slanderous, threatening, sexually oriented, contain profanity or are vulgar will not be tolerated. Comments will not be edited. Any comment that violates the above-listed rules will be deleted.
