LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Volkswind USA has halted its efforts to gain permission to build a wind farm near Hallam and Cortland in southeast Nebraska.

The company asked the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department to put its permit applications on hold. Sara Hartzell of the department says the Oregan-based company wants to do more noise studies and reach out to residents who are concerned about the project. Hartzell says placing an application on hold doesn’t mean the project is dead.

On Thursday, Volkswind USA’s president Jeffrey Wagner made a similar request for the company’s permit applications in Gage County. Wagner says the company wants to fine-tune the wind farm’s layout. He says he doesn’t know when the application process will resume.

Volkswind USA wants to build the wind farm on 7,000 acres of land in Lancaster County and 4,000 acres in Gage County.