(Radio Iowa) – A two-year moratorium on wind farms in a northwest Iowa county has failed on a tie vote. Dickinson County Supervisor Levi Markwardt proposed the moratorium on new construction.  “I’m not trying to change things that have already been approved,” he said. Another supervisor on the Dickinson County Board joined Markwardt in voting for the moratorium. It failed on a two-to-two vote after the fifth member of the board cited a business conflict and abstained. Supervisor Kim Wermersen of Okoboji voted against the moratorium.

“I support the right of landowners to choose to place them on their property for income,” he said. The other no vote came from Supervisor William Leupold, of Spirit Lake. “Zoning laws, regulations and our wind energy ordinances are in place to determine where those turbines are placed,” he said.

Markwardt, the supervisor who proposed the moratorium, defeated an incumbent last November to win a seat on the board and he says the placement of wind turbines in Dickinson County was a major issue in the race.