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 As the meeting began, Vice Chairman Robert Farmer asked for a
moment of silence in honor of Dean Toohey, a former ZBA member who
passed away in December.
Relight and Meridian LLC have applied for a conditional use permit
in order to build a series of wind towers in Logan County. Relight
is a wind farm corporation with headquarters in Italy. Relight US,
the subsidiary working on this project, is wholly owned by Relight.
The wind farm would be located south and west of Mount Pulaski, with
towers stretching into Elkhart and Broadwell. The wind farm would
consist of 81 wind turbines, collector lines, sub-stations,
transmissions lines, access roads, meteorological towers and related
appurtenances. In total, the project would encompass 8,100 acres
across the county.
Originally, the plan called for 140 turbines. Now the plan is down
to 81 turbines. The towers will be 98 meters high, or a little over
300 feet. With the blades attached, the tip of the blade would reach
491 feet high. The turbines would generate 2.85 megawatts, and would
be built by General Electric.
 Prior to this meeting, the application was recommended for approval
by the Regional Planning Commission. A result of 'no recommendation'
came out of the Zoning Board of Appeals hearing process.
Barbara Stroud-Borth of Mount Pulaski was the first to speak.
Stroud-Borth said she is very concerned over the possible health
effects of living near wind turbines. Stroud-Borth cited a
resolution passed in Brown County, Wisconsin, where the board of
health declared the area unsafe for inhabitants or people passing
through due to the wind turbines. Several other speakers referenced
this resolution during the meeting, and echoed Stroud-Borth’s
concerns over health issues. Stroud-Borth also said that the Brown
County wind farm is much smaller than the proposed Relight wind
farm, but the people there are suffering from several negative
health effects, including insomnia, chest pains, headaches, anxiety
issues, and other similar effects due to infrasound.
Dave Opperman spoke on behalf of the Logan County Farm Bureau.
Opperman said that the Farm Bureau is not in favor of the wind farm.
“Our board of directors is unanimously opposed to the Relight Wind
Project and encourage a ‘no’ vote,” said Opperman.
Robert Paladino, the vice president of Relight US, spoke on behalf
of Relight. Paladino said that plans for this project began in 2009.
At the same time, the county passed a resolution approving the
Economic Development Master Plan. Paladino said that the Master Plan
includes language on encouraging the development of Wind Farms in
the county.
“It basically says that the goal of this document is to strengthen
the county’s position as Illinois’ wind capital,” said Paladino. “It
is the perfect place to encourage companies to come to Logan County
and start their wind projects in Logan County.”
Paladino also said that the turbines would be fully compliant with
all of the environmental rules and regulations set by the state and
federal government. Due to a tax extension, Relight will be able to
slow down their construction schedule, as they would now have until
the end of 2016 to qualify for federal tax credits.
“This is a $400 million investment,” said Paladino. Relight
estimates that the county could receive $2.4 million in property
taxes in the first year, with 70% of that going to school districts.
In addition, Paladino said that over $800,000 in total would be paid
to land owners, with non-participants in the area being compensated
at a rate of $5 per acre or $500 per year, whichever is higher.
 Paladino also said that on the subject of property values, a number
of studies have been released that show that property values are not
affected by the presence of wind turbines.
Robert O’Neill, a sound engineer working with Relight on this
proposed project, spoke after Paladino. O’Neill said that as part of
planning this wind farm, Relight conducted a sound study. According
to their results, the noise levels of the turbines would fall within
state regulations for sound during the day, and at night the towers
would need to be adjusted to fall within regulations.
O’Neill said the turbines would emit low levels of infrasound, but
there should not be any issues due to it. O’Neill said that
infrasound is always around us, and that any infrasound generated by
wind turbines should not be the cause any ill effects.
O’Neill also said he has researched the Brown County health
resolution. O’Neill said he questions their decision to declare the
area a health hazard, as he does not see strong scientific evidence
for such an action.
Robert Cowen of Mount Pulaski said he wants to see absolute proof
that there will be no health problems in the area after the turbines
go up. Cowen also said he is worried about the future and whether or
not there would be more piles of concrete in the ground after the
turbines are taken down.
Chris Cowen said he is struggling over the idea of whether or not
the county needs the tax money that would come in from Relight.
Cowen said that while the extra money would be good, the people
living in the county should be the ones to provide the taxes, not a
bank outside of the area that is holding money for a company.
Cowen also said that any buyer looking to buy his home in the future
would have to take the wind farm into consideration. “If your home
was next to a wind tower, would you expect to get the full amount
out of that? I don’t know, I have my doubts on that,” said Cowen.
Several other speakers echoed his comments, saying that property
values will be negatively affected by the wind turbines.
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Derek Martin of Mount Pulaski said that there were long
stretches of time over the past few years where people in the
area heard nothing from Relight as to the status of the project,
even those who agreed to have a turbine on their land. Martin
said some of the landowners in Mount Pulaski only heard about
the project via notification from the ZBA. “That was the first
time those residents even knew this project was going through,”
said Martin.
John Stewart, a member of the Mount Pulaski School Board, spoke
on his previous experience building wind towers. Stewart said he
built towers in nine states over four years, including one in
Emden. Stewart said that he saw a similar conflict over wind
farms in every location he worked in during those four years.
Stewart said noise definitely becomes an issue in situations like
this, when a wind farm is built in a residential area.
Stewart said only one person has spoken for the wind farm at the ZBA
hearings. That one person was the mayor of Mount Pulaski, Jim
Fuhrer. Stewart also said that the money would help the school and
the county, but there would be too many negative consequences.
Bill Thomas spoke on behalf of the Economic Development Partnership.
Thomas echoed earlier statements on the language on wind farms in
the Master Plan. “If a change is made in our strategic plan at this
time, it could prove challenging as our office moves forward to
recruit other investors to our county for projects of this size,”
said Thomas.
Tom Martin of Mount Pulaski questioned whether or not the Master
Plan is still relevant in regarding wind farms. Martin said that
every business has to be able to adapt from time to time. “Much more
is known today on every issue on every economic development than
what we knew when this plan was developed,” said Martin.
Terry Coppinger said that he feels these turbines will be very
intimidating. “You will see these driving down 55. You will see
these from Lincoln. They’re going to tower over Pulaski,” said
Coppinger.
Gena Monicahl Ruhl of Mount Pulaski also addressed the health
concerns that could come up in the future. Ruhl said that there are
people in other areas in Illinois and in other states who have
become sick after the towers are turned on, eventually forcing some
of them to leave their homes. Ruhl provided copies of several
studies on health effects to the board members, as well as contact
information relevant to several researchers.
Ruhl quoted one of the studies as saying, “this case has
successfully shown that the debate should not be simplified to one
about wind turbines can cause harm to humans...the debate has now
evolved to one of degree.”
Ryan Mott of Mount Pulaski said that General Electric recommends a
farther setback from roadways than what Logan County requires. “The manufacturer recommends a setback
that is 449.95 feet further than our current county ordinance,” said
Mott. Mott also said that he feels Relight should be prepared to
offer landowners real property protection that would include
purchase of the property should a problem arise.
Hugh Campbell, a wind technician who worked on the Railsplitter Wind
Farm, spoke in favor of the project. “I haven’t seen a whole lot of
people speaking for them,” said Campbell. Campbell said he looks at
this from a broader view, and that new technology is going to
require more access to electricity, which is why wind energy is so
important. Additionally, Campbell said that Illinois has lost a lot
of industries in recent years. “We have a big business looking to
move in here because we have this commodity,” said Campbell.
Jim Drew of Lincoln said that this seems to be a one-sided issue,
which is unusual. “Out of almost twenty years of ZBA meetings, this
is the first time it’s been this one-sided,” said Drew.
Larry Cyrulik of Mount Pulaski spoke in favor of the wind farm.
Cyrulik said his family owns land within the footprint of this
project. “I’m gonna get money off my property because I’m within
that footprint,” said Cyrulik. Cyrulik said there are likely at
least eighty families that also have signed agreements with Relight.
“It’s their ground that’s gonna have the concrete in the ground.”
 Cyrulik also sees this as an opportunity to bring a new and clean
energy industry to Logan County. “Any industry that can come in to
this county, to keep our kids here, to provide tax money that you
can use or that the school can use - I’m willing to go along with
it,” said Cyrulik.
In addition to all of the comments from the public, a petition was
given to the board members with 802 signatures against the wind farm
being approved.
Jan Schumacher said that at the recent meeting of the Health
Department Board, the members expressed a lack of satisfaction with
what research can be done. “They felt like there was nothing firm
they could hang their hat on,” said Schumacher.
The discussion ended with a straw vote, which was inconclusive. The
county board is expected to vote on the conditional use permit on
Wednesday the 21st.
Board members present at the meeting were David Hepler, Chuck Ruben,
Gene Rohlfs, Robert Farmer, David Blankenship, Pat O’Neill, Andy
Anderson, Emily Davenport, Kevin Bateman, Jan Schumacher, Rick
Aylesworth and Scott Schaffenacher.
[Derek Hurley] |
