Wind project workers boost business from Mitchell to Chamberlain

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Wind turbines stand in various stages of construction last week in an area north of White Lake. (Photo by Chris Huber/Republic)

Talk about it

WHITE LAKE — It’s morning, but Jacki’s Cafe owner Jacki Konechne and employee Marie Johnson aren’t cooking sausages and eggs.

Instead, they’re flipping burgers for a lunch delivery to the workers constructing 108 wind turbines 15 miles northwest of town.

Next to the grill, Lynne Cain frosts 10 dozen chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing — an order to celebrate a couple of workers’ birthdays.

Konechne is benefitting from the presence of workers building the PrairieWinds wind turbine project. She makes about 100 breakfasts per day, selling for $3 to $5. On a recent morning, she cooked five dozen cheeseburgers and made enough chili for 60 people, charging $5 to $7 per person.

Cain’s husband, Lamont, delivers and sells meals at the construction site.

At night, workers stop for dinner until the cafe closes at 8 p.m.

“This time of year, we usually have 12 customers total,” Konechne said, watching Johnson work the grill. “It’s real exciting. It’s like you are having Thanksgiving every day.”

As the landscape north of White Lake changes with new wind turbines springing up in the distance, it’s the 400-plus construction workers and contractors at the project site who are serving as the catalyst for economic change in White Lake, Kimball, Wessington Springs and other communities along the Interstate 90 corridor from Mitchell to Chamberlain.

45 turbines up

The project is moving along steadily, with 45 turbines erected without wiring as of Tuesday and roughly 60 that have just the towers erected, said Kelly Davis, a general superintendent for Wanzek Construction, the general contractor from Fargo.

Davis anticipates having 70 to 80 turbines completed by Christmas, with the entire 108-turbine project done at the end of January.

At the job site, where a fatal accident occurred in early October, 35-mph speed limit and headlight signs are posted at the turnoff onto 241st Street from 374th Avenue. Three signs refer to the presence of high-voltage power lines overhead.

Paul Telehey, construction coordinator for Bismarck, N.D.-based Basin Electric, said project officials worked to create paths for wind towers and collector lines and to build access roads initially.

Given that the project started later than Basin anticipated, the pace of construction has been accelerated, Telehey said. Crews work at night to erect more turbines if it’s too windy to operate cranes during the day.

Workers are starting in the southwest corner of the project area and moving northeast, said

Wangler, project engineer for Basin. She anticipated turbines will be operational by mid- to late February.

Craig Huimiller will serve as Basin’s operations and maintenance supervisor for the PrairieWinds project, Telehey said.

“We’ve got a lot done, but … there’s a lot left to do,” Telehey said. “If the weather holds, we’ll be sitting nice.

“It’s kind of like building a house. You can see the building shell.”

Changing communities

Tracey Orsburn, White Lake and Kimball marketing coordinator, has been in charge of finding PrairieWinds construction workers a place to stay in the two towns. She knows of employees also staying in Mitchell, Huron, Wessington Springs and Woonsocket.

Prior to the project’s start, the White Lake Commercial Club conducted a survey with Wanzek about its needs for housing and services, Orsburn said.

“It will be interesting to see how it has changed the community,” she said.

White Lake bought four Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers and placed them next to the campground on the north edge of town. The city also bought that campground, made repairs to sewer and water services and created eight campsites. A few workers are staying at Parkway Campground on Highway 45 in Kimball, Orsburn said.

Not only are motels, property owners and campgrounds pitching in, but those who own hunting lodges are providing space when no hunters are there.

“People have really stepped up to provide homes for them, rooms for them,” she said.

Orsburn is noticing the impact of additional workers in town.

Businesses have begun catering to the needs of wind turbine workers. The community-owned grocery store in White Lake has extended its hours, opening at 5 a.m. and closing at 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, employee Sharon Beckmann said.

“It’s hard keeping stuff on the shelves,” she said of staples such as bread, fresh meat and milk. “When we think it’s full, it’s gone.”

Orsburn noted workers flock to the CHS Farmers Alliance convenience store in White Lake or Corner Pantry in Kimball at 5 a.m.

“For small communities, it’s great to bring those workers in to help local businesses,” she said.

‘$20,000 worth of fuel’

Lamont Cain, American Legion commander in White Lake, noted Basin and Wanzek have used the Legion Hall for meeting space, adding he has had a good experience in dealing with them.

Mike Pederson, senior project manager for Wanzek, said the company has never had this many employees or subcontractors at one site. He stays at a motel in Kimball when he comes to the area.

“People are staying from Mitchell to Chamberlain,” Pederson said.

Davis said Wanzek alone has up to 230 workers on site. The rest are subcontractors.

A few top Basin, General Electric and Wanzek officials stay at a Mitchell hotel, Telehey said.

Davis, one of the first employees on site just after Labor Day, is renting a house just north of White Lake with Steve Bachmeier, a civil superintendent for Wanzek from Harvey, N.D.

Local plumbers and electricians were hired to wire nine trailers on the job site for Wanzek, Basin Electric and subcontractors, Davis said. Accounts have been set up at local hardware stores and gas stations for fuel.

“About every three days, we’re buying $20,000 worth of fuel from the local co-op,” he said, adding that goes for cranes and forklifts.

Some local residents have moved out of their homes to live with friends or family and rent their homes out in White Lake, Davis said.

He guesses his employees are spending $800 to $1,000 per person per month on rent, gas, groceries, beer, Gatorade and cigarettes. Some of that money is spent at Walmart in Mitchell if workers have time, but the bulk is spent in area towns, Davis said.

Davis said the community has been great.

“We tell (employees) every day that we’re a guest here, treat everyone with respect, don’t burn any bridges, keep the locals happy, because we’re lucky to be here,” he said. “So far it’s been good.”

Locals ‘appreciate us’

Paul Anderson, a lead foreman for Wanzek from Trail, Minn., and a co-worker worked with Orsburn to find a house to rent south of Kimball. They had to wait a week before the owners from Seattle left after hunting.

“They figured they might as well have people stay there while they are gone,” he said, adding that renting a house is cheaper than a motel room.

Anderson, who works 10- to 16-hour shifts, has found the White Lake grocery store closed by the time he gets off work. If he has free time, he’ll go to Walmart in Mitchell for groceries. He said he spends a minimum of $250 per week on supplies, gas and food.

One laborer, Doyan Greenfield, a Bentonville, Ark., native, is renting a motel room in Wessington Springs with his brother, Shaun Hepler. They buy gas at one of the convenience stores and food at the local grocery store if they don’t have time to go to Walmart in Mitchell. They stop at a restaurant for dinner in town if they get back in time.

Greenfield, 20, spends about $400 a week on supplies. He said the reception from the community has been great.

“Most of the locals seem to appreciate us,” he said while eating a bowl of chili and a cupcake. “If it wasn’t for the cold, this would probably be a place I would stay.”

Laura Sellers, 23, a Salina, Kan., native who serves as site administrator, joined Wanzek in June. She is sharing a place in Plankinton with an acquaintance of a friend’s brother, moving in around Oct. 1.

Sellers, who works in Wanzek’s main trailer, buys kitchen and office supplies for the company at Walmart. She buys breakfast and lunch from Jacki’s Café and, if possible, buys some groceries at Plankinton’s market before it closes at 7 p.m.

Sellers’ first experience of living in a small town has been a positive one, she said.

“Pretty much everybody I have come into contact with has been welcoming.”

‘Quiet after they leave’

Siding 36 Motel and RV Park, which has six motel rooms and 10 camping sites on the south edge of White Lake, has had mostly hunters since mid-October in the motel. But four or five campers parked at the campground belong to PrairieWinds workers, Manager Rhonda Bies said.

It’s been a challenge to balance having turbine workers with hunters who book rooms a year in advance, she said. Bies has had to refer turbine workers to Geyer Bed and Breakfast, A-Bar-Z Motel, the campground on the north end of town or Orsburn.

“If we don’t work together as a community, it’s going to fall apart,” Bies said.

Once hunting season wanes, Bies anticipates her motel rooms still being full with construction workers for weeks starting Dec. 3.

“I think they’ve really brought a lot of business into town,” she said. “The community has worked hard to accommodate them.”

Wessington Springs is noticing a boost in business as well.

Laura Kieser, Wessington Springs Area Development Corporation coordinator, said convenience stores and restaurants such as Springs Inn Cafe, Hideout Bar and Grill, and Prairie Lounge have more customers.

“When we go to dinner, we don’t see the faces we normally see,” she said.

The development group placed an ad in the local newspaper asking landlords to provide information about available housing for construction workers, Kieser said.

Some are staying at Traveler’s Motel. Six or seven workers found a place to live at Grohs RV Park in Wessington Springs. Others are living at the former Storla nursing home, owned by Dihl Grohs, of rural Kimball.

Area business owners are growing accustomed to the boom in business, and they say it’s hard to imagine Main Street not being full of cars before sunrise or at night, or convenience stores or truck stops in White Lake and Kimball not being packed in the mornings.

“I know things are sure going to be quiet after they leave,” Bies said.

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