Dates to watch

MONTEREY — There are several deadlines and important dates affecting the proposed industrial wind energy utility; they include:

• June 11 — The date Highland New Wind Development submitted its site maps and erosion and sediment control plans. This date determines the deadline building official Jim Whitelaw must meet in reviewing the E&S plan.

• July 13 (Monday) — The county's Technical Review Committee meets for the second time to review the status of HNWD's efforts to meet all the conditions attached to its county permit.

• July 15 (Saturday) — The date HNWD would like a building permit. The company told county attorney Melissa Dowd there was no concrete reason for choosing that date, and Dowd told county officials they are under no obligation to issue a building permit by this time. This week, supervisors agreed it would be impossible to give HNWD a construction permit by next week as requested. And, in fact, HNWD has not made a formal application for a building permit.

• July 27 (Thursday) — The date by which Whitelaw must approve or deny HNWD's erosion and sediment control plans. If he takes no action, the E&S plan is considered approved. The county asked engineers at Mattern & Craig to review the plan, but the firm said this week there was not enough information provided to conduct a final review.

• Aug. 4 (Tuesday) — The next meeting of the board of supervisors. The board will vote this day on whether to extend HNWD's conditional use permit.

• Aug. 17 (Monday) — Potentially, this is the date HNWD's conditional use permit expires. The developer's attorney calculated this expiration date by adding and subtracting days when the permit was active. Though it was issued in July 2005, the county stipulated the permit's two-year timeframe would not include any days in which legal actions were under way, and several lawsuits were filed that did not officially end until September 2007. Dowd said she will check the conclusions, but agreed this was probably the right date for expiration. Supervisors have the authority to extend the permit for any length of time, and any number of times, if they choose.

• Dec. 20 (Sunday) — The date HNWD's state permit expires. On Dec. 20, 2007, The State Corporation Commission issued the company a two-year limit for meeting all conditions attached to the state permit and getting construction started. The SCC has the authority to extend this permit if requested.