|
 Wayne Woo was present at the hearing on behalf of Relight.
Relight is based in Italy, and they are the developers behind the
proposed Meridien Wind Farm. Woo is one of the owners of Relight.
The county board allowed for brief commentary from the public and
the applicant before they took their vote. People once again spoke
both in favor and against the application.
Jessie Butler spoke first in favor of the wind farm. Butler said her
family wants to see the county take advantage of the opportunity to
improve the county’s finances with the money this project would
bring in.
Cole Baker said he supports the wind farm because of greener nature
of wind energy. Cheryl Baker agreed with the idea, adding that the
wind farm in Emden is not very loud, the roads left behind are
helpful to farmers, and the turbines do not take much farmland out
of production.
Tom Martin spoke on the appropriateness of a wind farm on the land
in the area. Martin said that while wind farms may be a good fit for
agricultural areas, they are not a good fit for residential areas.
Martin also said that people in the area are still having a hard
time trusting Relight due to a lack of transparency and
communication. “The establishment of trust should happen the first
day, not five-and-a-half years later,” said Martin.
 Steven Smith, a former employee of Farnsworth (an engineering firm
working in Logan County), said that Relight had approached
Farnsworth for assistance when the design phase of the project
began. Smith said that initially, Farnsworth did not feel
comfortable with Relight. Since then, Smith said Farnsworth worked
with William Kelsey, the project manager Relight has hired for this
wind farm. Smith commended Kelsey’s work on past wind farms in the
area, saying that this project should do well under Kelsey and
Relight, and that Farnsworth is now looking forward to working with
Relight.
County Board member Scott Schaffenacher asked if Farnsworth was
investing any money in this project. Smith said Farnsworth is not
investing anything, and that Relight is looking to hire Farnsworth
for help with the wind farm.
Dan Curry of Mount Pulaski said he wanted to address the topic of
subsidies related to the wind farm. Relight would be receiving
federal tax credits in order to build their wind farm. Several
people opposing the wind farm have said that Relight would not be
building the wind farm without tax credits. Curry said that
subsidies are not a bad thing, and subsidies are taxpayer money.
“You’re gonna pay the taxes anyway…the benefit in this instance is
at least it comes back to us,” said Curry.
Joe Butler spoke on the topic of potential health hazards. Butler
said that his family lives near power lines, which also supposedly
cause health issues. Butler said living near grain elevators also
comes with its own risk, and there may certainly be people who
experience negative health reactions living near wind turbines, yet
many people live near these sources of risk. “People living in the
county learn to adjust, learn to live with it,” said Butler.
Wayne Woo briefly addressed the board following the public. Woo said
Relight has tried their best to respond to criticism and feedback
from the public after their previous application. Woo said that
Relight has written letters of commitment that were provided to the
board members with help from legal advisors. “After last week, we
heard that people were questioning our commitment to this process,”
said Woo.
Relight has also written similar letters to the various groups
that would receive the additional donations discussed in the
application process. These donations cannot be attached and enforced
as a condition by the county board as part of the process, which was
an idea previously discussed by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
County Board member Rick Aylesworth asked why the tax assessor would
be used as part of the appraising process in determining whether or
not a home is eligible for Relight’s proposed property value
insurance plan?
[to top of second column] |
This plan would set aside $1 million per year to be used for reimbursement
should it be proven that the wind farm reduced a property’s value.
Woo said Relight feels the assessor would possess the most neutral view of the
manner, and the tax assessor would possess all of the relevant information that
would be needed for the assessment.
Schaffenacher asked why Relight would choose five years for a sunset clause. Woo
said that the suggestion came from Gary Hickey, who spoke on behalf of citizens
in Mount Pulaski, and Relight agreed to the idea.
County Board member Gene Rohlfs said that he does not feel a wind farm can be
approved under the criteria for conditional use permits. “In my opinion, after
much study…this or any other wind farm, in my opinion, cannot satisfy or
satisfactorily meet in a positive way the first three of the five [zoning]
criteria,” said Rohlfs.
County Board member Jan Schumacher thanked everyone in the public for their
calls and communications in this matter. Schumacher said that she initially
voted no on the previous application because there were so many uncertainties
and so many people voicing opposition to the project with nobody speaking
positively. Schumacher said she has since changed her mind, due to the property
value plan Relight has worked on and that more people have spoken in favor for
this application.
“I wanted to make sure we didn’t have residents who were unable to sell their
home because of the project,” said Schumacher. Schumacher also said that she
does not want to see the school close down, as many other people have said,
because that could also drive away young families.
Schumacher also said that Woo’s credibility helped as well. “His attention to
all these details, a willingness to work with all these groups; he’s been very
frank and open,” said Schumacher.
Schumacher said she has been disappointed with the division this application has
caused. Schumacher said she knows other people have wanted to speak on this
issue, but they have been afraid to because of its sensitive nature. “That’s far
worse than any development that could come into the community. I would just
encourage everyone on both sides to put their differences behind and to move
forward,” said Schumacher.
The board voted on the matter following the discussion and public comments. The
conditional use application was approved with a vote of eight-to-four, with
members David Blankenship, Rick Aylesworth, Scott Schaffenacher and Gene Rohlfs
voting no.
All 12 board members were present at the meeting: Chuck Ruben, Gene Rohlfs,
Robert Farmer, David Blankenship, Pat O’Neill, Andy Anderson, Emily Davenport,
Kevin Bateman, David Hepler, Rick Aylesworth, Jan Schumacher and Scott
Schaffenacher.
[Derek Hurley]
Related Article
Proposed wind farm for Mount Pulaski to be voted Tuesday
|
