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It’s discouraging to see local government actually vote according to what they want instead of considering the desires of the impacted parties. The DeKalb board approved the turbines for DeKalb county. Check out the comment about how the few must suffer for the good of the rest.

Video: 6/27/2009 07 PM

About 100 people attended the meeting in the 285-seat Jenkins Auditorium at Kishwaukee College, many of them adamant opponents to the wind project. No public comment was allowed at the meeting, in keeping with county board policy of not allowing comments on topics that were already subject to a public hearing, said committee chairman Ken Andersen, R-Sycamore. Andersen noted that approximately 26 hours of public testimony have been taken on the subject over the course of two public hearings.

County planner Paul Miller read through a list of 34 conditions staff recommends be tied to approval of the special-use permit. Among the conditions were a requirement for building and site development permits for each turbine, a bond to decommission turbines, a guarantee to offset additional costs for crop spraying, setbacks from structures and property lines, an arbitration process and a property value guarantee.

The committee amended the property value guarantee to give property owners the right to request a third appraisal if they are not happy with a property appraisal and to require NextEra to buy a home at fair market value if it does not sell within six months and an independent appraiser confirms it is because of the wind farm.

The committee agreed to a proposal by Pat Vary, D-DeKalb, to reduce the number of hours a residence can be subjected to “shadow flicker” – a phenomenon in which the shadow of the turning blades creates a strobe-like effect – from 40 hours per year to 30 hours per year.

“I think there’s been enough discussion about shadow flicker, enough concern about it, that we need to cut down the amount of time anyone is subjected to it,” she said.

The company submitted its proposal in early January, and a February public hearing was postponed because the venue was too small. A March 21 hearing lasted nearly 19 hours, and hearing officer David Dockus recommended the committee not approve the permit because of several concerns with the proposal. NextEra submitted supplemental information to address the concerns, and Dockus recommended approval of the proposal after a two-day hearing May 11 and 12.

NextEra, a subsidiary of Florida Power & Light, has proposed a total of 151 turbines for the project. Of those, 119 are in unincorporated DeKalb County and in Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships. Other turbines are proposed for Lee County and the village of Shabbona, both of which have approved them, and for the village of Lee, which has not acted on the proposal.

The special-use permit request is scheduled to be heard by the county board June 17.

By Dana Herra

Daily Chronicle

27 May 2009

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Video: 5/12/2009 FPL Closing Statements

Audio: 5/12/2009 FPL Closing Statements
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Wind farm hearing continues

DeKALB – A public hearing for a proposed wind farm that an energy company wants to build in the county will reconvene today so more testimony can be heard.

At least 100 people were at the hearing Monday, which started at 9 a.m. in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University. Another 100 people attended an evening session of the hearing, which started at 7 p.m. and ended around 10 p.m. Today’s hearing will start at 9 a.m. and will allow those who did not get to speak Monday a chance to have their say.

The hearings center on a proposal by NextEra Energy Resources, which wants to build and operate a 151-turbine wind-energy plant; 133 turbines would be built in Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships. Eighteen more turbines would be in Lee County.

Monday’s public hearing was the third to be scheduled on the wind farm proposal. A Feb. 19 public hearing was canceled because of inadequate space at the chosen venue, and the rescheduled hearing March 21 lasted nearly 19 hours.

After that hearing, hearing officer David Dockus made a recommendation against the proposal to the county board’s Planning and Zoning Committee. NextEra has added new information to its application for a special-use permit to address some of those concerns, which the committee determined required a new public hearing.

Dockus made it clear as he opened the first of Monday’s two hearings that testimony from the March hearing still stands and that he was interested only in hearing testimony regarding new information.

Specifically, the new documents include a property value guarantee for properties within three-quarters of a mile of a turbine, agreements to repair any damage incurred to roads or drainage tiles by construction of the turbines, posting of a $3.5 million security at the beginning of construction to pay for the cost of decommissioning the turbines, an agreement to pay taxes using the current tax formula even if wind farms are eventually exempted from property tax obligations, and a formal process for dispute resolution.

Much of the early session’s testimony was dominated by attorneys and an expert witness in acoustics, who testified that wind turbines generate dangerous levels of low-frequency noise that can have a negative effect on health. Several residents of wind farms in other states also offered testimony, saying the turbines have negatively affected their quality of life.

The biggest concerns expressed by the seven county residents who spoke in the six-hour early session were potential impacts on property values and health.

“For most families, their biggest asset is their home. If its value declines due to the economy, changes in zoning or a negative impact from a neighboring parcel, that is a matter of great concern,” said Beth Einsele, a Shabbona resident and real estate agent.

Shabbona resident Mark Johnson said he had concerns for the potential effect noise from the turbines might have on a chronic health condition and the impact they would have on his property value. He said he feels NextEra has not been genuine in its claims of trying to be a good neighbor.

“Neighbors talk to each other,” he said. “No one from Florida Power & Light has ever come to me, shook my hand and said, ‘We’d like to talk to you.’ All they do is talk to people they want something from.”

Speakers at the evening hearing also focused on health issues and property value concerns, as well as concerns about the ability to crop dust near the turbines and how the land would look if the wind farm is approved.

Marcia Dempsey, a Waterman resident, said during her evening testimony that it would be good that temporary jobs would result from the wind farm. But she noted that people like her family, which has lived in the area for 100 years, would have to live with the turbines forever. She said there would be no turbines in the back yards of county board members, but noted they are the ones who would vote on the proposal.

“This is a governmental, political, green movement,” she said. “It’s all about the green – the green, almighty dollar.”

Not everyone objects to the proposal. Alfred Aspengren, of Shabbona, said the Shabbona Business Association as well as community residents support the turbines and the “clean, renewable energy” that they would produce.

What’s Next?

The public hearing on changes to NextEra Energy’s proposed wind farm is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University, at the corner of Lucinda Avenue and Normal Road in DeKalb.

By Dana Herra

Daily Chronicle

12 May 2009

I am writing in response to the lead story in the April 16 edition of the Telegraph titled “Turbines divide neighbors.” These wind companies still have everyone fooled. That wind farm will not produce an average 226 megawatts. As I stated in a previous letter, the average output will be about 50 megawatts. It will not power 55,000 homes.

The article states very few people would talk. There’s a reason for that. Once a landowner signs a lease to have a windmill, they can talk about it only to family members, a lawyer, or other landowners involved with the same company.

They forfeit the right to complain if there is an unforeseen problem. Neighbors who sign up for money are legally silenced, too.

What do the windmill companies have to hide? Why would they take away your due process if these things are so great? Would you have someone work on your house who gave you a contract like this to sign? If they are so great, then why did Renewable Energy Systems start having small meetings at a private residence?

By having small, personally invited groups, the windmill companies must feel they won’t be questioned by people who have done their research and won’t be asked the tough questions that come up in a more public forum. To meet this 25 percent renewable energy resource, it will take thousands and thousands of windmills. Apparently our Lee County Board wants all of these windmills in our county by making it so easy for these wind companies to come in and set up.

The zoning board won’t let a landowner sell off 1 acre from a farm to a family member to build a house because they don’t want prime farmland taken out of production, but this same board has no problem letting a wind company put three or four windmills on this same farm, taking up as much or more land with the turbine site and access roads as a 1-acre home site.

When will it end? When every parcel of land in rural Lee County is blanketed with windmills?

This is an excerpt from an RES brochure: “Usually, sites are located in high wind areas on larger parcels of undeveloped land.” Is Lee or DeKalb county a high wind area with undeveloped land? Then why are they allowed to come in so easily and disrupt people’s lives?

Neil Miller
Ashton

saukvalley.com

23 April 2009

Planning and Zoning Director Paul Miller has determined that on Monday, May 11, beginning at 9 a.m. at Northern Illinois University, a public hearing is to be held related to the Florida Power & Light wind farm proposal amendments. There is nothing “public” about this public hearing.

Taxpayers are forced to choose between earning a livelihood or attending the hearing. This is another example of county officials deliberately designing the public hearing process to place all burdens on the taxpayers while providing undue advantage to FPL. It is neither fair nor reasonable for DeKalb County officials to use such a financial weapon against the citizens.

To further make attendance unpalatable, the public hearing location is the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center at NIU. County residents will be subjected to distant parking, parking fees, long walks and a less-than-impartial setting.

The standard public hearing time in DeKalb County is 7:30 p.m. In fact, DeKalb County has held public hearings in various townships at 7:30 p.m. Why do our county officials insist on a work-day, marathon wind farm hearing? The obvious answer is to prevent the public from attending, and therefore rationalize their biased vote favoring FPL’s special-use permit. Other counties appear more willing to accommodate their citizens. McLean, Livingston and Logan counties in Illinois held wind farm hearings over three, five and more evenings.

This wind farm hearing process is a flagrant violation of our rights as DeKalb County taxpayers and most especially for those forced to endure a lifetime of living within the shadow of 133 industrial wind turbines, which are 400 feet tall. The Holmes Student Center, with its 16 floors, has dominated the county skyline but will now be dwarfed by these 40-story towering turbines.

The taxpayers and residents of Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships deserve to have the public hearing(s) held in our townships at a time when we are able to attend. A series of meetings held in each township at 7:30 p.m. would allow this process to be conducted in a reasonable and fair manner as is the right of the citizens of this county. Our county officials have yet to provide a fair and reasonable hearing process concerning the FPL application.

Sherry Hellmuth
Afton Township

Daily Chronicle

21 April 2009

Wind farm proposal goes back to public hearing

MALTA – The public will have a chance to be heard once again on an energy company’s proposal for a wind farm after the county’s planning and zoning committee sent the application back to a public hearing.

The DeKalb Planning and Zoning Committee voted 7-0 Wednesday on a motion to have a new public hearing based on an opinion rendered by DeKalb County State’s Attorney Ron Matekaitis. The state’s attorney’s office advised that new information on the application – the company has made a series of concessions since its original proposal – should render a new opportunity for public testimony to be heard by the hearing officer, Planning and Zoning Committee Vice Chairwoman Pat Vary said.

NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of FPL Group, has proposed building and operating a 151-turbine wind-energy plant; 133 turbines would be built in Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships and 18 turbines would be in parts of Lee County.

The date of the public hearing is tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. on May 11, Vary said. She said that they would have liked to hold it earlier, but Hearing Officer Dave Dockus, who last week recommended the application for a special use permit be denied, will be out of town.

A location is still to be determined, Vary said, and if the public hearing is held on May 11, it would end by 5 p.m. and continued to the next day if need be.

Margaret Foshe, a Lee resident, said she would like to see more meetings in the southern part of the county.

“We have more of a vested interest,” she said, adding that while it may not change the county board’s final decision, it would bring a higher turnout of people living in the area of the proposed wind farm.

The public hearing is the third to be scheduled on the wind farm proposal. A Feb. 19 public hearing was canceled because of inadequate space when about 400 people showed up, spilling into the hallways outside of the multipurpose room of county health facility. Rescheduled to March 21, more than 700 people attended the beginning of a 19-hour hearing held in a high school gymnasium that lasted until nearly 4 a.m.

More than 100 people gathered for Wednesday’s Planning and Zoning Committee meeting, which lasted less than five minutes. Public comment was not to be heard.

After the meeting, audience members, company representatives and county board members shared sentiment that the proposal deserves more careful attention – no matter what side of the issue one stands.

“I didn’t know what to expect at this meeting,” said Roger Craigmile of Milan Township, who is against the proposal.

Vary said that the state’s attorney’s recommendation came as a surprise, as she and other county board members learned of it just hours before Wednesday’s meeting.

“FPL representatives responded to the hearing officer’s recommendation by offering to meet all of his objections,” said Michael Haines, D-Kingston. “It essentially changes the application, and the public deserves a chance to respond to the new application.”

“It sounds like the right thing to do,” John Emerson, R-Genoa, added. “It sounds like enough of a change where public opinion can be heard.”

NextEra has proposed a series of conditions to the application. The biggest change is the addition of a property value guarantee program, in which the company would compensate landowners whose properties had devalued, NextEra spokeswoman Mary Wells said.

“That had been an issue that many people expressed concerns about,” Wells said. “We listened and heard them and the county said that is something they would like to see.”

The company has also agreed to place a financial assurance, like a letter of credit, at the beginning of the project as part of the decommissioning process, rather than in 15 years as originally proposed.

In his report, Dockus listed eight reasons to deny NextEra’s proposal. Among those, the proposal lacked both a property value guarantee plan and a sufficient decommissioning process, he said.

Project manager Anthony Pedroni said even if the DeKalb County Board ultimately votes against the project, that wouldn’t necessarily kill plans for the 12 to 18 turbines permitted for northeastern Lee County.

“Obviously, it’d be a dramatic shift from the proposal we have right now, with the whole project together,” Pedroni said.

If in fact DeKalb County does opt out of the project, NextEra would conduct another wind study to see if building only a portion of its original plan would be financially feasible.

Pedroni said he is confident, though, that that won’t happen.

“We’re going to work hard to get to a successful conclusion of this project, and when we get there, we’ll have a wind farm everyone can be proud of,” he said.

Shaw Newspapers reporter Chase Castle contributed to this report.

Daily Chronicle

1 April 2009

In a March 25 report, DeKalb County Hearing Office Dave Dockus recommended the special use permit that was applied for in January by NextEra Energy Resources be denied based on eight findings.

Those reasons include “significant disagreement” between expert sources on the effect wind turbines have on property values and the effect noise of the turbines has on public health. Dockus also cited a lack of evidence on the impact heavy trucks would have on local roads.

But the officer’s recommendation isn’t the final say in the matter. The county board’s Planning and Zoning Committee is scheduled to meet April 1 to discuss the issue, and will make its own recommendation to the DeKalb County Board.

“The county board has a full range of options in front of it,” said Paul Miller, the county’s planning director. These include following the hearing officer’s recommendation and denying the application, approving the application, approving it with conditions, or tabling it and sending it back to the hearing officer.

“The point is that the hearing officer’s recommendation is just that – it’s a recommendation,” Miller said.

In his report, Dockus stated the company provided an inadequate property value guarantee plan, no clear plan on how it would pay property taxes after the current formula expires after 2011, an inadequate decommissioning process and no plan to correct drainage problems that may result during the proposed project.

Lastly, crop dusting and other farm activity would be affected by the proposed wind farm, Dockus stated in the report.

“I think I’m disappointed,” said DeKalb County Board Chairwoman Ruth Anne Tobias, noting that Dockus was the hearing officer who approved a wind farm proposal in 2002.

A 19-hour public hearing on the new proposal was held Saturday at Sycamore High School, after an earlier hearing scheduled in February was canceled because there wasn’t enough space for the several hundred who showed. Officials estimate more than 700 attended Saturday’s public hearing, which lasted until nearly 4 a.m.

Tobias said she was unsure what course of action would be taken.

“We have done that before – we have gone over the hearing officer’s recommendation. I don’t know what will happen this time,” Tobias said.

Dockus, contacted by Miller’s office, denied a request for comment.

To download a copy of the findings, click here.

By Elena Grimm

Daily Chronicle

26 March 2009

Read the full report.

SYCAMORE – More than 700 people filled the bleachers and folding chairs in Sycamore High School’s gymnasium Saturday morning; just a handful stayed for the entire public hearing on a proposed wind farm, which stretched into the late evening.

As of 9:30 p.m., the public hearing was still in session, extending beyond the Daily Chronicle’s deadline.

Guy White and Charles Hart may sit on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to the wind farm issue, but both said they stuck out the entire day because they had no other choice.

Rick Porter from Citizens for Open Government speaks during Saturday's public hearing at Sycamore High School. (Wendy Kemp – For the Daily Chronicle)

“It’s our life; it’s our history,” said Hart, a fifth-generation farmer in Milan Township who will have about about six turbines surrounding his property if the proposal is approved. “If this determines the lifestyle of yourself, your children and your grandchildren, don’t you think it’s important to stay around?”

White, an engineer and member of the Local 150 union, is passionate about utilizing wind as energy, and had a speech prepared for whenever his turn at the microphone would come Saturday night.

“This is what we need,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.”

The question before DeKalb County Hearing Officer David Dockus – and that will be before the DeKalb County Board next month – is whether wind turbines fall into the category of an “essential service structure” under the county’s zoning ordinance. The project requires a special use permit, which is determined by the DeKalb County Board.

NextEra Energy Resources, owned by FPL Group, wants to build and operate a 151-turbine wind plant; 133 turbines are proposed for DeKalb County, and 18 have already been approved by the Lee County Board for portions of Lee County.

Hours of testimony were heard from company representatives, lawyers and more than two dozen nearby residents to gather information on the project and help the hearing officer make a recommendation to the DeKalb County Board. Public comments weren’t heard until after 9 p.m., following NextEra’s three-hour presentation and a question-answer session that lasted eight hours.

Company representatives responded to a number of concerns – some of which included what effects turbines could have on chickens, honeybees and people who suffer from migraines or attention-deficit disorder; proximity of turbines to pipelines and crop dusting planes; and the possibility of turbines falling or catching fire.

One of the main concerns raised Saturday was the amount of noise created by wind turbines. Company representatives say they will comply with standards set by the Illinois Pollution Control Board.

“IPCB standards in no way state people will not hear these turbines,” NextEra developer Tom Factor said. “Yes, there will be a quiet sound that will be variable. What causes annoyance to one person may be a quiet whisper to everyone else.”

Waterman resident Tammy Duriavich believed the noise would be more than a whisper.

“How is it right that FPL has the right to make me listen to your stereo 24/7 within the boundaries of my 10 acres?” she asked.

Though they packed the gym early Saturday morning in neon shirts, just a few labor union members stayed until the end of the hearing to voice their support for NextEra’s project as a way to create local jobs.

Anthony Pedroni, the company’s project director, said the company was committed “100 percent” to hire local labor during construction – at least 300 would work at the peak of construction – and that about 20 maintenance staff that will operate the turbines could also be hired locally.

Under the proposal, NextEra would lease the land used for the turbines, and projects $50 million total to be paid to 75 landowners over 30 years, according to company documents.

Company representatives also described a community partnership agreement program, in which 200 homeowners living within three-quarters of a mile of any turbine would be paid $1,000 a year for 30 years.

However, zoning staff preferred a property-value guarantee program over the community agreement.

“Why not do both? The property value guarantee, by your own testimony, is not going to cost you anything,” County Planner Paul Miller said, referring to earlier statements made by NextEra officials that wind farms do not adversely affect property values.

“We feel that we’ve come up with a better program,” Pedroni responded. “We believe that our proposal for a community partnership agreement impacts more citizens of the county.”

However, a property-value guarantee program would be considered if the county board wishes, he added.

Kathy Bock of Waterman asked NextEra representatives if they have any turbines in their backyards, to which John DiDonato, vice president of development, replied: “We have real-life experience of having 7,000 turbines in areas like this.”

The special use permit request for the wind farm will next be discussed by the county’s Planning and Zoning Committee on April 1, with the county board scheduled to take action April 15.

By ELENA GRIMM - egrimm@daily-chronicle.com

Web Link:  http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2009/03/21/89657564/index.xml

Hundreds of men and women of all ages flocked to the Sycamore High School gymnasium, 555 Spartan Trail, at 9 a.m., on Saturday to voice their opinions in a public hearing regarding the proposal of a wind farm in DeKalb County.

What many of these attendees didn’t know was that the hearing would last until about 3:40 a.m. the next morning.

The original hearing on Feb. 19 was canceled due to overcrowding.

The proposal included a plan for 129 turbines to be erected throughout the county and lasted until about 3:40 a.m.

DeKalb hearing officer David Dockus presided over the hearing. He said the purpose of the public hearing was to view all of the evidence and to listen to all opinions, not to make a verdict.

“I am not a judge … nor is this a courtroom,” Dockus said.

Paul Miller, DeKalb County planning director, stressed the importance of the hearing.

“This will be [the public’s] one and only opportunity to ask questions,” Miller said. “There will be no future opportunity for public input or commentary.”

Once the introductions were finished, representatives from NextEra Energy Resources, owned by FPL Group, pitched the idea of the wind farm to the community.

Project director Anthony Pedroni gave an overview of the turbine placement in the county. If the plan is approved, five turbines will be built in Clinton, 22 in Afton, 29 in Shabbona and 73 in Milan. Shabbona will also be the location for the operation center, Pedroni said.

The proposed turbines are to be nearly silent, producing no more than 45 decibels of sound. John DiDonato, FPL executive director said, however, the noise will be audible.

“There will be a quiet sound,” DiDonato said.

Cheryl Tate, Illinois Wind Watch affiliate, found FPL’s pitch to be misleading to the community.
“I felt the representation from the wind developers was not accurate or true,” Tate said. “All of their studies were skewed to their perspective.”

Despite some attendees’ apprehension, DiDonato said the goal of FPL is to help the community be more comfortable with the wind farming process.

“We want to be your neighbors, and we hope to be your friends,” DiDonato said.

By KIM SKIBINSKI
Web Link: http://www.star.niu.edu/article/6827
Last updated on 03/22/2009 at 6:48 p.m.