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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><SPAN sizcache="2" sizset="95"><SPAN sizcache="2"
sizset="95"><FONT size=6 face="Times New Roman">By </FONT><A
href="http://www.heartlandconnection.com/about/bio.aspx?id=273"><FONT
title="http://www.heartlandconnection.com/about/bio.aspx?id=273 CTRL + Click to follow link"
size=6 face="Times New Roman">Emily Finnegan</FONT></A></SPAN><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=6><SPAN class=date>Tuesday, October 06, 2009
at 3:31 p.m.</SPAN><BR><BR></FONT></FONT>
<P><FONT size=6><FONT color=#ff0000 size=7>KIRKSVILLE, MO</FONT>. -- County
officials continue to work toward bringing a <FONT color=#ff0000 size=7>nearly
60,000 acre wind farm</FONT> to the Heartland.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>The proposed Shuteye Creek wind farm would span Sullivan, Adair
and Putnam counties. The Adair County Commission met with representatives from
TradeWind Energy on Tuesday to discuss creating an enhanced enterprise zone in
the county. An enhanced enterprise zone, or EEZ, is an area in which new or
expanding businesses in certain industries receive tax credits.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>The project has the potential to bring in over $800,000 dollars
a year in tax revenue for Adair County.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>TradeWind says Adair County needs to create an enhanced
enterprise zone in order for the Shuteye Creek wind energy project to move
forward. Sullivan County has already set up an enhanced enterprise
zone.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>“So the ball is really now in your alls court to take and pursue
and draw the enterprise zone boundaries based on the communication you now have
with all the taxing entities in the entire county,” said TradeWind Energy
Project Manager Rod Northway.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>Representatives from the Novinger School District also attended
Tuesday’s meeting. The district is one of the largest taxing entities that
would impacted by the creation of an EEZ.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>Superintendent Bill Lake and several members of the school board
voiced their support for the creation of an enhanced enterprise zone and for the
project as a whole. However there's some concern that members of the Kirksville
School Board and some Kirksvilel residents are against creating an enhanced
enterprise zone.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>“What we're telling you now is if they don't want to participate
we can move forward with the full-blown site plan that we've presented to you
with the benefits of that and the same tax revenues without them. So that's your
all's call,” Northway said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>Presiding Commissioner Gary Jones says unless they receive any
extreme opposition, the commission will move forward with the paperwork to make
the entire county an enhanced enterprise zone. The commissioners say including
the entire county could make it a more attractive location for other businesses
in the future.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>Jones says he thinks once the Kirksville school board
members and other Kirksville residents hear from TradeWind
and the Missouri Department of Economic Development at the community
meeting they will support the project. He said he can see no reason not to move
forward with it.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=6>The county commission plans to hold a community meeting with the
Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, county residents and all the
taxing entities in the county in the near future. An exact date has not yet been
set.</FONT></P>
<P sizcache="2" sizset="96"><FONT size=6>For more information on the Shuteye
Creek wind project click </FONT><A
title="http://www.kansaswindpower.com/Project.aspx?id=230 CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="http://www.kansaswindpower.com/Project.aspx?id=230" target=_blank><FONT
size=6>here</FONT></A><FONT
size=6>.</FONT></P></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>