Donley County Commissioners approved creation of a reinvestment zone for a proposed wind farm but took no action on the energy company’s tax abatement application Monday, September 9.
The reinvestment zone is a necessary first step before any tax abatement can be awarded, and this zone encompasses about 21,700 acres in the northeastern part of the county bordered on the north by Interstate 40.
Commissioners held discussions in closed session for about one and half hours and met with attorney James Wester, who is representing the county, and Cielo Wind Power representative Robert Peña.
The court will meet again on September 23 and take up Cielo’s tax abatement proposal at that time.
Peña told the Enterprise that everything is looking good for the company to begin developing a 161-megawatt wind farm in 2014 with the possibility that some construction may start this year. Two-thirds of the project is expected to be constructed in Donley County with the remainder residing in Gray County.
“We can confidently say that we’re here and we will have a presence in Donley County,” Peña said.
Cielo has already erected a meteorological testing tower at Clarendon College’s Pampa Center, and Peña said the working relationship with Donley County officials has been positive and professional.
In addition to finalizing the local tax abatement agreement, Peña said he still has some work to do with the Groom Independent School District and said Gray County officials will also meet later this month to finalize an abatement agreement in that county.
Last month Peña said the market value of the project would be about $95 million, and the project expects to generate about $1 million in direct sales taxes. At that time, Cielo proposed a 100 percent tax abatement for ten years, but Peña said that direct payments in lieu of taxes would be discussed in a closed session of the court.
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