Spanish Fork still working out wind farm details

SPANISH FORK — Developers hoping to secure three leases that would allow them to relocate a proposed wind farm in Spanish Fork Canyon came close to securing them on Tuesday — but were unable to get the deals completed as they had hoped.

City leaders were upbeat at Tuesday's City Council meeting when they updated residents about the process.

"It appears that all of those windmills will be moved up the canyon," Spanish Fork Mayor Joe Thomas said at the meeting. "There are still some details to work out . . . but everything looks very favorable there."

Project builder Wasatch Wind had originally planned to build the farm near the mouth of the canyon on its north side, but residents whose homes would have been as close as 500 feet to the windmills objected.

Wasatch Wind agreed to find an alternate site, and has been working for the last month to secure leases for a site farther up the canyon on its south side.

"(Wasatch Wind workers) did their best today to get everything done that they could . . . and everything that could have been done by now has been done," Thomas said.

Final details on two of the leases need to be worked out still, and the city must hold a public hearing before leasing its portion of the proposed site.

Residents who have led the push to relocate the facility said they felt Wasatch Wind was working in good faith and they remain confident that the alternate site will become a reality.