Meeting planned in Muncie on wind, solar power

MUNCIE, IN — A meeting on Monday, July 28, at the Maring-Hunt Library, 2005 S. High St., will focus on “how solar and wind — or renewables — affect a county government’s budget,” according to a release.

The event, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Indiana, will begin at 5 p.m.

Speakers will be Randolph County residents Greg Beumer and David Lenkensdofer.

Randolph County is one of a handful of Indiana counties “at the forefront of the renewable energy movement,” the release said.

County officials and landowners started working with companies 10 years ago to build wind turbines and solar facilities. Today Randolph County has two wind farms and three solar facilities with a fourth solar facility under construction.

Beumer was Indiana’s District 33 state representative from 2013 to 2018. He served as a Randolph County commissioner for eight years. He is a past president of the Association of Indiana Counties, and for several years, Beumer served on the advisory board of Hoosiers for Renewables. 

In addition, he has two wind turbines on his family farm where he has lived for nearly 40 years.

Lenkensdofer, who lives in Union City, is the current president of the Randolph County Council. Previously he was a Randolph County commissioner for 16 years.

In the private sector, he has worked in the management consulting industry.