Dear County Board Member [Anderson | Stuckert | Tobias],
I have a few thoughts I’d like to share with you about the
wind farm project since some of the proposed turbines are
about a half mile from my residence and I have concerns that
have not been adequately addressed by the limited information
that has been made public.
- Why has this project been kept so quiet? I would have
expected major information sharing, over months or even years,
for something this big. The short public notice that was given
immediately makes me suspicious that something is being hidden
about this project.
- Just how does the power company propose to guarantee no
loss of property value? They have not made any effort to
contact me in this regard, but the Midweek reported there
would be such a guarantee. When will I be informed about this
guarantee?
- What happened to the idea that the county board was trying to
preserve the agricultural character of the county? If all
these little portions of the county are changed to industrial,
there are sure to be other property owners, especially those
with areas that are totally surrounded by the new zoning,
who will no doubt want industrial zoning too.
- How are agricultural activities affected? Do the pilots
who fly crop dusters have any input? What about the farmers
who want to hire them?
- Is this project really worth the loss of farmland? Some
of the best crop land on the planet is in this area. There
will be a loss of farmland due to this project. After
seeing the land losses in DuPage and Kane counties over the
last three decades, how can any additional losses be
condoned? Surely there are areas without such prime farmland
that can be used for this type of project.
- If it happens to these townships, how can it be stopped
elsewhere in the county? The precedent for such changes
would be established and difficult to prevent in other areas.
- How is public safety affected? There are multiple examples
of turbines catching fire or exploding. Are any fire departments
in the county prepared to handle these instances? And what
about the problems these turbines might present to Lifeline
helicopter access? On Wednesday morning, 2/25, a helicopter
was brought in for an accident at Willrett and Fairview. While
this one incident is outside the proposed area, there have
been cases in the past where Lifeline was called in for
accidents within the proposed area.
- What are the real quality of life changes that I could see?
How will these changes affect my enjoyment of living in
the country? I wanted to live here to get away from noise,
will this suddenly change? Again, the lack of information
sharing makes it seem like something is being hidden from
the public.
- Finally, what about basic fairness? The majority of the
proposed industrial parcels are owned by people who don’t live
anywhere near them. It seems to me that the only people who
should have any real say in this decision are those who live in,
or adjacent to, the affected townships.
If you are still reading at this point, thanks for seeing it
through to the end. And please keep these concerns in mind
while you are making up your mind on this issue.
Sincerely,
David
