|
Logan County Board
May Zoning and Economic Development Meeting
[May 05, 2026]
On Monday, May 4th, the Zoning
and Economic Development Committee of the larger Logan County Board
held their monthly meeting in the first-floor courtroom of the Logan
County Courthouse just after 6:30 p.m. This was the first Zoning and
Economic Development meeting held since former Chairman Michael
DeRoss resigned from the board. Dale Nelson has been appointed
interim chairman until the board can officially fill the position.
Three of the five committee members were present; Nelson, Hannah
Fitzpatrick, and Joseph Kuhlman. The absent members were Vice
Chairman Kathy Schmidt and Bob Sanders. Board members JR Glenn and
Kevin Knauer, while not on this committee, were also in attendance.
The meeting began with introduction of guests. There were four
representatives from the Pike Creek Windfarm present due to the
three items on the agenda regarding the windfarm.
After guests were introduced, the previous month’s minutes were
approved before Nelson moved on to the three items under new
business. These were a decommissioning plan, a final drainage tile
remediation plan, and a project site plan for Pike Creek. The board
looked over each of these plans one at a time, before voting on and
approving them. No questions were asked of the Pike Creek
representatives.
These three brief items were followed by Nelson’s Zoning and
Economic Development Chair’s report. He informed everyone in
attendance that the data center ordinance was going to the Zoning
Board of Appeals (ZBA) and the Regional Planning Commission (RPC)
this week, and that there would be a meeting held later in the month
about it. According to the calendar on the Logan County website,
that special Zoning and Economic Development Committee meeting is
set to be held on Wednesday May 13th at 6:00 p.m. at the Oasis
Senior Center in Lincoln.
Next were public comments, but there was only one. Dayton Keyes
stood and asked about an email that he sent his representative
Fitzpatrick. She stated that she did not receive the email. Nelson
asked what the email was pertaining to, and Keyes informed the
committee that it was about an ordinance he was proposing. Keyes
then handed out a draft of the ordinance to each member. He
explained that the ordinance would be to have a public referendum on
all large projects coming to the county, such as the Hut 8 data
center. According to Keyes, this ordinance would make it so that
these projects would be put to a public vote so that “the people
would have the final say.”
[to top of second column]
|
Dayton Keyes hands out copies of a proposed ordinance that would require all
large projects coming to Logan County receive a public vote.
Keyes claimed that
the numbers the community have been providing to the board “do
not seem to mean anything.” He explained that the draft
ordinance he provided was based on one from the state of
Washington. This ordinance, according to Keyes, was used to
fight a data center in that state. He also wanted to know what
the next steps would be for his ordinance to move along.
Nelson explained that it would have to go to Executive and
Personnel. He explained that, since that meeting was the day
after this one, he might have to wait until the next month for
this ordinance to move along. This is due to a law requiring all
items to be discussed at a government meeting be posted for the
public to see at least 48 hours in advance. Administrative
Assistant Madelyn Hinton informed Nelson that the item on the
agenda for the Tuesday meeting simply said, “ordinance review.”
This was vague enough language that they could discuss Keyes’s
ordinance without having to put it off until the June meeting.
Glenn then explained the process that the ordinance would have
to go through. In short, it would have to come to the committee,
where two people would have to make a motion to send it on and
second it. It would then have to get through a vote before going
to the ZBA and RPC. After this, the ordinance would need to be
reviewed by some lawyers, including State’s Attorney Brad Hauge.
It would then come back to the full board for a final vote and
passage.
Nelson encouraged Keyes to come to the meeting the following
night to speak on his proposed ordinance during the public
comments time. This meeting, the Executive and Personnel
Committee meeting, is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, May 5th
at 6:00 p.m. in the first-floor courtroom. With no other public
comments, the meeting was adjourned.
[Matt Boutcher]
|
