You could say that Victor Wagler represents the future.

Ironic, since his Amish culture is so often identified with the ways of the past.

But with the diesel fuel that powers his generator still costing well in excess of $4 a gallon, Wagler is willing to make certain allowances – which is why he has asked Allen County officials for permission to erect an 87-foot steel tower to be topped with a wind-driven, electricity-producing turbine.

“With the cost of fuel, it should pay for itself in three years,” said Wagler, 63, whose project – assuming it is approved Tuesday by a zoning hearing officer – will cost about $15,000 and, along with the generator and a solar panel, power the lights in his home and barn on Van Zile Road near Grabill, along with the refrigerator and freezer. According to papers filed with the county, the proposed turbine would generate about 538 kilowatts of electricity per month at a wind speed of 12 miles per hour.

Although many American Amish rejected high-voltage electricity in the early 1920s because of the power lines that would have connected their people to the outside world, Wagler said limited use of site-generated, low-voltage electricity is acceptable. And even a cursory drive through northeast Allen County’s Amish country indicates he’s right: Several barn roofs are adorned with high-tech windmills that – while much closer to the ground and smaller than Wagler’s proposed 7-foot blades – have much the same function.

“Twelve volts is OK,” Wagler said, demonstrating the dimly lit electric lamp in his kitchen. But he still didn’t want his picture taken, because the Amish traditionally consider photographs contrary to the Bible’s prohibition against “graven images.”

“Probably 70 percent of my customers are Amish. I’m Amish, too,” said Brian Burkholder, owner of Solar Energy Systems of Nappanee. Burkholder’s literature was included with Wagler’s application for a variance that would allow his tower to exceed a height of 35 feet, the maximum under current zoning regulations. “Our business is tripling every year. (Amish) are supposed to have no electricity except for battery power. You just about have to have electricity for some things today, but you want to keep your kids from being tempted by TV and radio.”

The purpose here is not to explore the nuances of Amish life but to point out how a society supposedly averse to change and technology seems to be adapting to alternative energy sources perhaps more quickly than society at large – at least in northeast Indiana.

In 2006, for example, the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals approved installation of a 190-foot tower near the state line due east of New Haven to test the feasibility of locating a huge “wind farm” there. At least two companies have expressed interest in locating as many as 150 windmills there, each of them soaring up to 400 feet and costing $5 million. But Larry Coomer, who owns hundreds of acres in the area, said no firm proposal has been made – although a similar project in nearby Paulding County, Ohio, may be moving forward.

Lack of an application for an Allen County wind farm apparently makes Wagler the first to seek the county’s permission to erect a wind-driven generator. Which raises an obvious question: If wind power is to become increasingly common, should bureaucratic approval be required every time somebody like Wagler wants to erect a high-tech windmill far too short to jeopardize aviation?

“Our zoning codes haven’t been updated since the 1970s. There’s no mention of wind or solar power, or day-care centers, either,” said Kim Bowman, executive director of the Allen County Department of Planning Services, who said a review may be in order. “The purpose is to produce a stable set of rules. What do we want to allow without requiring a hearing?”

And even if government changes its rules, what about neighborhood covenants that currently prohibit solar panels or windmills?

Despite our obvious need for additional energy, in other words, politics will influence the manner in which that need is met – if it is met at all. As U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd District, noted this week, the record on that score has not been good, with the Democrat-controlled Congress blocking efforts to increase supplies through increased use of nuclear power, domestic drilling and conversion of coal shale into oil.

What he didn’t say was that Congress’ record under Republican control was no better.

Wagler isn’t waiting for our bureaucracy to catch up with our technology. Maybe we should all be so “backward.”

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A quick update from my Aug. 15 column: A 15-foot loading zone with a five-minute parking limit has been approved in front of the Stop & Shred shop at 3810 Illinois Road after owner Betty Forehand said lack of such a zone led to a $50 fine in July for an elderly customer who had just had knee surgery.

Forehand, who paid the fine herself, wanted to thank the Fort Wayne Fire Department for its speedy, response – and so do I.