3208
1 STATE OF ILLINOIS ) ) SS 2 COUNTY OF LEE )
3
4 In the Matter of the Petition 5 of 6 Green River Wind Farm Phase 1, LLC, 7 a Delaware Limited Liability Company
8 Lee County, Illinois
9
10 Volume XXVII, Pages 3208 - 3341 Testimony of Witnesses 11 Produced, Sworn and Examined on this 5th day 12 of February A.D. 2013 before the Lee County 13 Zoning Board of Appeals
14
15
16 Absent: Mike Pratt 17 Tom Fassler
18 Present: 19 Bruce Forster 20 Gene Bothe Craig Buhrow, Chairman 21
22 Alice Henkel, Zoning Clerk Chris Henkel, Zoning Officer 23 Tim Slavin, Facilitator
24 Reporter: Doris J. Kennay
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3209
1 APPEARANCES:
2 ATTORNEY DOUGLAS LEE,
3 of the firm of Ehrmann, Gehlbach, Badger, Lee
4 & Considine,
5 215 East First Street, Suite 100,
6 Dixon, Illinois 61021,
7 Counsel for Mainstream Renewable Power.
8
9
10
11 ASSISTANT STATE'S ATTORNEY MATT KLAHN,
12 of the Lee County State's Attorney's Office,
13 309 South Galena Avenue,
14 Dixon, Illinois, 61021,
15 Counsel for Lee County Zoning Board.
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3210
1 INDEX
2
3 Closing Arguments Page
4 Kendall Guither...... 3213
5 Rich Boris ...... 3226
6 Giles Kalvelage...... 3251
7 Steve Robery ...... 3270
8 Marcia Thompson...... 3294
9 Dennis Thompson...... 3302
10 Rita Hanna ...... 3302
11 Gary Hanna ...... 3306
12 Shirley Magnuson ...... 3307
13 Charles Laskonis ...... 3310
14 David Cargil ...... 3313
15 Elizabeth Hartman...... 3315
16 Eleanor Zimmerlein ...... 3332
17 Jeff Thake ...... 3334
18 Dale Smith ...... 3337
19
20 EXHIBITS
21 Exhibit Marked
22 Exhibit Nos. 122, 123 and 124...... 3211
23
24 Certificate of Shorthand Reporter...... 3341
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3211
1 (Exhibit Nos. 119, 120 and 121
2 marked for identification.)
3 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Well, it's a couple
4 minutes after 7. We'll get moving here this
5 evening. We'll call the meeting to order.
6 Alice, will you call the roll, please.
7 (Roll call was taken and all were
8 present except for Mr. Pratt and
9 Mr. Fassler.)
10 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Thank you. Do we have a
11 motion to approve last evening's meetings?
12 MR. FORSTER: So move.
13 MR. BOTHE: Second.
14 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Second by Gene. Motion
15 carried.
16 I think that's all of the details the
17 Board has this evening.
18 Judge, we will turn this over to you --
19 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
20 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: -- for the continuation
21 of the hearing.
22 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
23 We continue with closing arguments from
24 interested parties this evening. I know I keep
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3212
1 giving the same admonition at the beginning, and
2 I apologize, but I really want us all to be on
3 the same page. And I kind of struggle to
4 explain the concept that I've been trying to get
5 across. And I thought on the way up here, maybe
6 an explanation like this would help.
7 Imagine yourself charged with a very
8 serious criminal offense, and I don't mean to
9 suggest this proceeding is some sort of criminal
10 proceeding. But for purposes of my explanation,
11 imagine yourself charged with a very serious
12 criminal offense, and then someone, a neighbor
13 or somebody you don't even know, stands up in
14 front of the jury and starts telling them the
15 reason they feel you are guilty, what they saw,
16 what they know, without being under oath and
17 without you having -- you or your lawyer having
18 the opportunity to cross-examine that person.
19 That's the essence of what I've been trying to
20 explain is the purpose of closing arguments.
21 That's what the justice system really calls due
22 process, being under oath and having the
23 opportunity for the other party to ask
24 questions. That's why when folks give a closing
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3213
1 argument that brings up new matters, things that
2 weren't testified to, aren't in evidence, that I
3 just am compelled not to let them say because
4 they're not under oath, and they're not subject
5 to questions from the other parties.
6 A closing argument should be confined,
7 must be confined, to the evidence that's been
8 produced during the hearing and to reasonable
9 inferences from that evidence, and it is not to
10 bring up new matters.
11 So that having been said, I wish everybody
12 good luck in giving their closings tonight, and
13 we start at the top -- well, we continue with
14 the list, Kendall Guither.
15 MR. GUITHER: First of all, I would like
16 to thank the Zoning Board for your time here and
17 your concern, trying to meet your obligation to
18 take care of the public safety, welfare, and
19 their health as far as how things can affect the
20 citizens of the County.
21 I do not live in Lee County, but according
22 to Mr. Lee, he feels that concern should be only
23 for people that live inside Lee County and not
24 in Bureau County, but as I was testifying, I was
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3214
1 testifying by my experiences on wind farms that
2 extend from Bureau County to Lee County and how
3 we have been affected. To reiterate, that it
4 happens other places to and in the neighboring
5 county.
6 There will be several homes in Bureau
7 County that will be effected by this project
8 because they border close by, and that can be
9 with noise or shadow flicker. The visual
10 intrusion of the 500-some foot towers, blade
11 motions that make some, like me, motion sick and
12 maybe even contending too with the FFA -- FAA
13 lights that are blinking every night.
14 Mainstream forgets that some of us that
15 may not actually live in Lee County, do farm in
16 Lee County were we can be affected by the
17 consequences of some of these decisions, because
18 of farming there and trying to harvest our crops
19 or spray our crops using airplanes for aerial
20 spraying and/or seeding of cover crops.
21 We heard that aerial application is being
22 used a lot, and there was talk about how cover
23 crops are being used more and more as an tool to
24 manage soil and nutrient losses. Applicators
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3215
1 were here informing us that -- how dangerous it
2 is for them to fly around the turbines, and they
3 expressed concern about their safety and even
4 their life being at risk. Mr. Lee stated that
5 there's only a 1 percent accident rate for
6 aerial applicators. If each of you were pilots
7 and you were sitting on the end of the airstrip
8 waiting to take off, would you be wondering, is
9 this my day to be that 1 percent?
10 I believe throughout life we continue to
11 learn. As we learn, we do not have to
12 personally experience all mistakes in order
13 learn from them. We can learn by the
14 experiences of others and try to avoid those
15 mistakes that sometimes could be irreversible,
16 such as, building 500-foot towers that intrude
17 on health, safety, and welfare of Lee County
18 citizens and their neighbors.
19 You have learned from several citizens
20 that wind farms have ruined their outdoor
21 enjoyment because of noise, as well as, intruded
22 into their homes effecting their lives by shadow
23 flicker and noise levels. You have learned from
24 Bureau County residents living in wind farms
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3216
1 that their lives have been drastically altered
2 by wind farms. They can no longer enjoy bird
3 singing because of noise from the wind turbines'
4 generators. They can no longer enjoy a gentle
5 spring, summer, or fall breeze because they can
6 not open their windows when the turbines are
7 turned on, since the noise intrudes into the
8 homes, makes it possible to get a peaceful
9 night's sleep. You have learned that the
10 constant noise from these wind towers causes
11 ringing in citizens' ears while they are in the
12 wind farm. You have learned that the noise of
13 the turbines' generators make is so loud that it
14 comes right through the walls and windows of
15 some people's homes. It can be heard above room
16 air conditioners or the TVs that are playing.
17 You have learned that as the windmills are
18 turned on and off, residents' senses are
19 adversely affected as they are continually put
20 on edge and alerted to noise changes in their
21 environment.
22 You've learned that shadow flicker
23 intrudes into farm yards, making it difficult
24 for motion-sensitive people to live and work on
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3217
1 their own premises. You've learned that shadow
2 flicker intrudes into residents' homes,
3 regardless of whether or not they have shade,
4 drapes, trees, or porches. You have learned
5 that antenna television reception is also
6 affected by wind turbines. You have learned
7 that contractors hired by wind companies
8 sometimes do not care if they intrude on
9 non-participating land or compact the cropland
10 or take samples on ground that is not even in
11 the project. You have learned that wind farm
12 companies do not care whether they actively
13 represent participating landowners or not on
14 maps that they circulate around to get other
15 landowners to participate.
16 Throughout these hearings, you learned
17 from an expert audiologist that low frequency
18 noise is wearing on people long-term and that
19 the windmills should not be built closer than a
20 mile and a half from a residence. You have
21 learned that people of wind farms have had to
22 evacuate their premises due to intolerable noise
23 and vibration levels. You learned that
24 Mainstream believes noise shouldn't be a problem
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3218
1 because people live in Chicago where it's noisy.
2 But what Mainstream didn't say is that many of
3 those buildings are concrete and are built with
4 insulation to help prevent noise. Should all
5 Lee County residents have to -- living in the
6 footprint have to rebuild or renovate their
7 homes to stop that noise intrusion? You've
8 learned that people have chosen to retire in Lee
9 County because it is a peaceful and attractive
10 place to live.
11 You learned from a real estate expert, who
12 took the time to actually do comparisons of
13 property sales, that property valuation loss for
14 non-participants can be between 25 and
15 44 percent. Should these peoples' real estate
16 suffer loss of value because the wind company
17 wants to get stimulus money? He also stated
18 that agricultural property was reduced
19 10 percent. You've learned that Green River
20 Preserve and Foley Nature Preserve are
21 considered prime environmental assets to Lee
22 County. You've learned from an Illinois DNR
23 expert that endangered species will be affected
24 if Mainstream is allowed to put the wind mills
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3219
1 where they have proposed. You have learned
2 these animals' ability to forage, hunt,
3 reproduce can be effected by shadow flicker,
4 ground vibrations, and FAA lights. You've heard
5 from an educated person who has taken numerous
6 classes and studied the animals in question that
7 recommendations should be at least a half mile
8 for Green River Preserve and one mile for the
9 Foley Sand Preserves. You have learned
10 Mainstream thinks they know better than a
11 renowned expert, and it is okay to put turbines
12 a third to a half mile away. I don't believe
13 the public welfare should suffer the visual
14 destruction that these tourist attractions and
15 loss of endangered species. You've learned from
16 salvage experts that Mainstream has not
17 submitted a proposal to put up nearly enough
18 money to decommission the wind farms when that
19 time comes.
20 You've learned from expert aerial sprayers
21 it is dangerous to fly in and around the towers,
22 and they recommended towers to be no closer than
23 two miles from air strips. You've learned that,
24 once again, Mainstream thinks they know better,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3220
1 even though none of the representatives from
2 Mainstream admit to ever having flown an
3 airplane. Should non-participating farmers have
4 to pay more their aerial spraying or altogether
5 lose the ability to have the aerial spraying
6 done because it's too dangerous for the planes
7 to get that close when they want to do a
8 fungicide spray or an application for cover
9 crops?
10 From other testimony and pictures you
11 learned that windmill generators do catch fire,
12 and even the windmill companies tell their
13 employees to stay back and do not try to put
14 them out. That distance may be 1700 feet, I
15 don't remember exactly, but it did look a long
16 distance away. So for a non-participant, where
17 is that -- affect them if their property happens
18 to be closer than even that suggested setback?
19 We have learned that windmills can throw ice as
20 much as 1800 feet. I believe we have enough ice
21 storms here in Northern Illinois for that to be
22 a real concern, like the storm we had last
23 January 27th.
24 You have learned that the majority of
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3221
1 residents and farm acreage in Hamilton Township
2 do not want the wind farm. You've learned that
3 one man's family will have eight proposed
4 turbines within one mile of his home and 11
5 within a mile and a quarter. After all the
6 testimony about noise and shadow flicker
7 intrusions, no one can believe that will be
8 health or -- healthy or safe for his young
9 family.
10 You've learned from Hamilton Township
11 Drainage District that any change to the lay of
12 their land, either from access roads acting as a
13 dam or they're recessed a little bit as a
14 channel to redirect surface water flow or to
15 crushing of tiles, can have a devastating effect
16 on their agricultural production and their
17 economic life, let alone their responsibility to
18 maintain the drainage district and the water
19 flow above and below ground, accordingly.
20 You have learned that, according to John
21 Martin, Mainstream believes they are a good
22 neighbor because it will bring a small amount of
23 economic increase for a few years. But that's
24 only a temporary thing. We're looking at
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3222
1 long-term effects.
2 You've learned that automatic FAA lights
3 are available that would drastically reduce the
4 constant of blinking red lights at night and be
5 better for the endangered species and possibly
6 for the comfort of people living in the area.
7 But Mainstream doesn't want to do that because
8 it would cost them more money. You've learned
9 that they think more highly of money than
10 animals or peoples' health, safety, and welfare.
11 We learned from John Martin, Mainstream's
12 representative, that they would offer to pay a
13 thousand dollars for undue noise levels,
14 vibration levels, interrupted television
15 service, and shadow flicker make one sick or to
16 evacuate their home. That does not seem like
17 fair compensation for everything they're going
18 to be going through. Nor do they have a
19 proposed plan for reimbursing residents for crop
20 loss, due to limited or lost aerial spraying.
21 I believe our house is supposed to be a
22 refuge to get away from outside environment, a
23 shelter for peace and quiet and for safety. The
24 way our homes are currently constructed, we
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3223
1 can't stop noise, vibration, or shadow flicker.
2 Mainstream says trees could be planted to stop
3 shadow flicker. I have bushy trees that are
4 larger than you can transplant. Those trees
5 don't stop shadow flicker. Mainstream says dark
6 curtains will stop shadow flicker. We have dark
7 curtains, they don't work. Mainstream says
8 awnings would stop shadow flicker. Look at
9 awnings that are installed, they are designed to
10 stop late morning and early afternoon sun, not
11 to stop the sun at sunrise or sunset when shadow
12 flicker does occur. Erin Johnston testified for
13 Mainstream that the only place shadow flicker is
14 a problem is inside the house. Even though she
15 has never personally been in a house to witness
16 it. And only then when looking at the cur -- at
17 the curtain type windows or curtains was that
18 supposed -- the shadow flicker was supposed to
19 be a problem. You have heard testimony and seen
20 videos from local people that will disagree
21 completely with her testimony. She also stated
22 that shadow flicker is not a problem outside.
23 Board Member Tom could tell you that he had to
24 get off his roof because of shadow flicker. I
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3224
1 can't work in my fields because of shadow
2 flicker without getting sick. A reminder that
3 shadow flicker can travel a mile and a half.
4 Mainstream advertise in fliers and on their web
5 site that a computer model could help plan the
6 siting of windmills and no shadow flicker would
7 happen. Yet in their petition, they're asking
8 for 10 to 30 hours of shadow flicker before they
9 would consider any compensation. That is two
10 completely different messages. And they only
11 considered the primary structure in their
12 reference here, and I'll refer back to this is
13 off the web site which was presented as
14 evidence, I just don't remember what number the
15 evidence was that -- with a properly planned
16 wind farm, there is no reason for anyone sitting
17 in their home to be effected by shadow flicker.
18 We can adjust the planned layout of the wind
19 farm in order that shadow flicker does not cause
20 a problem. Okay. There again, referencing to
21 residences or primary structures, but they don't
22 even mention about the fields as stated on Page
23 14 of the petition and this information here. I
24 informed you earlier when I testified that I
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3225
1 believe my -- that I know myself and believe
2 anyone else subject to motion sickness can't
3 work outside in shadow flicker. So trees,
4 awnings, dark curtains don't stop shadow flicker
5 in our homes. I believe tin foil or plywood
6 would, but I didn't move to my spot -- and my
7 house to live in a cave. I moved there for the
8 view.
9 You have learned that Mainstream has never
10 actually built a wind farm, that they're
11 actually the front company to secure permits and
12 then sell to other companies who would do the
13 actual building and running of the project.
14 Please use all that you have learned from
15 the experiences from others to deny Mainstream's
16 Special Use Permit. For many non-participating
17 Lee County residents, it is not in the best
18 interest of their health, safety, and welfare.
19 We've always been taught, if we're going to err,
20 to make a mistake -- and make a mistake, that
21 make one that doesn't adversely affect other
22 people's livelihood. The decisions you make
23 will affect many Lee County citizens' health,
24 safety, and welfare, not for just a few hour a
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3226
1 day, one or two days a week, but will affect
2 them for seconds, minutes, day after day, after
3 week after week, after month, after year after
4 year, for the rest of their lives or that the
5 time they are living in that project.
6 I believe no one has stated that they want
7 a wind turbine because they'd like to look at
8 them. I believe no one has stated that they
9 want a turbine because they'd like to listen to
10 them. I believe no one has stated that they
11 want a wind turbine so they can watch the cat
12 chase the shadows across the living room floor.
13 Again, I implore you to reject
14 Mainstream's proposal, deny them the ability to
15 infringe on the public health, safety, and
16 general public welfare of the citizens and their
17 neighbors. Thank you.
18 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you, Mr. Guither.
19 Rich Boris?
20 MR. BORIS: My name is Rich Boris. I live
21 in Willow Creek Township within the Village of
22 Lee. I'm also the village president.
23 While I've been at many meetings with the
24 Zoning Board of Appeals, I've never really
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3227
1 introduced myself. Just quickly, I have two
2 adult children: One is turning 40 this year and
3 the other is in her 40's. And you should be
4 able to tell by the size of my cauliflower ears
5 that I went to parochial school because I met
6 with the principal on occasion, and he lifted me
7 on my tip toes by the ears. No. But I
8 internalized those values. And raising my
9 children I told them, if you don't always tell
10 me the truth, your parents that is, then we
11 won't know when you're telling the truth and
12 when you're not. So we'll have to be verify
13 what you're telling us. And those were the
14 values that we're instilled in me in my
15 formative years in parochial years. I served in
16 the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany during the
17 Cuban crisis. After that, I went -- I took an
18 English course, night school, and the
19 Spanish-speaking instructor said words that were
20 burned into my memory. She said, if we are not
21 ever vigilant of our rights and our freedoms,
22 they will very slowly but very surely be taken
23 from us. If we are not ever vigilant of our
24 rights and freedoms, they will very slowly but
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3228
1 surely taken from us. And that's what I think
2 is happening here with wind turbines and those
3 citizens who have been adversely affected by
4 their proximity to their homes and their
5 property. If all citizens sit on their thumbs,
6 how many more of us will become collateral
7 damage of the same process.
8 Now Mr. Lee's repetitive questions were,
9 do you live within a distance of 15 miles? Now,
10 what is happening here is -- he said zoning
11 rules generally say you're supposed to live
12 within a certain distance of proximity from
13 where the proposed construction is, but what
14 we're talking here is the precedent for wind
15 turbines throughout the whole County. So I
16 question the appropriateness if he wants to pick
17 and chose what rules we want to follow. Because
18 he said the precedent has been set, we're going
19 to waive rules and ordinances, and then say, but
20 here we're going to follow it.
21 Now, going to college, I took both macro
22 and micro economics. And from a macro point of
23 view, let me provide you an overview of what's
24 happening with wind energy. What's needed is an
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3229
1 objective third-party performance audit of wind
2 companies and the wind industry to help sort the
3 wheat from the chaff and determine what net
4 full-time permanent jobs are created, an hourly
5 summary of net electrical energy produced and an
6 hourly summary of the curtailment of wind energy
7 that -- electricity that doesn't even go on to
8 the grid because the grid can't handle it.
9 I attended, with a group of other mayors,
10 the ComEd workshop last month. And they said
11 what happens, wind energy comes on to the grid
12 if there's grid capacity, but then when it's --
13 the capacity is filled up and can take no more,
14 the next new potential user of that is supposed
15 to pay the cost for a new line.
16 JUDGE SLAVIN: Rich, you're getting --
17 you're getting into things that weren't in
18 evidence. Sorry.
19 MR. BORIS: Okay, okay. I apologize.
20 If we follow the money, another premise is
21 that the primary value of wind turbines is not
22 electricity but production tax credits. Whether
23 or not electrical energy is produced or
24 curtailed from being put on our electrical grid,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3230
1 peak production tax credits can be bought and
2 sold in our ingenious hyper-tax loop holes for
3 corporations and financial institutions. GE and
4 other corporations can significantly reduce and
5 eliminate federal income taxes. They can
6 increase profit more than increase in market
7 share can bring about. Why is so much concern
8 for the percent of income individuals pay on
9 income tax when the use of production tax
10 credits for corporations and other entities can
11 significantly minimize their federal income tax
12 or eliminate it? Perhaps there's a primary
13 reason there is broader support for inefficient
14 wind energy is, other industries can buy those
15 production tax credits and decrease their income
16 tax. In the past, production tax credits -- or
17 in the past tax credits were applied to a
18 specific industry or a specific buyer of some
19 product, but these can be bought and sold so any
20 corporation can buy them and even private
21 individuals.
22 Now, another macro concern would be is:
23 Why is our nation and states divert scarce
24 funding to a part-time, primarily nighttime,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3231
1 intermittent energy source that also requires a
2 massive investment in thousands of miles of
3 transmission lines, and we see that with the
4 proposed state line that goes westward, and
5 there's no talk about the energy lost along
6 those hundreds of miles of transmission.
7 Instead, shouldn't we be investing in the
8 replacement or improvement of the energy plants
9 that can operate 24/7 that can consistently
10 produce electricity during peak time electrical
11 loads? Is wind energy the highest and best use
12 for a limited national and state funding? Why
13 is -- where is any scientific proof that wind
14 turbines alleviate global warming or climate
15 change? The prediction that wind energy will --
16 predictions are that wind energy will increase
17 the cost of electricity are materializing in
18 direct and indirect ways. Because we have a
19 consumer-driven economy, increased energy costs,
20 reduced consumer disposal income, and confidence
21 in our economy will result in more job losses.
22 Increased energy cost -- costs will also
23 increase the costs of U.S. goods and services
24 and make us less competitive globally.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3232
1 I was listening to a radio announcer and
2 he talked -- was talking about the higher gas
3 prices when gas prices were shooting up, and he
4 said, higher energy costs suck money out of our
5 economy and that results in a net job loss due
6 to the economy because we are a consumer-driven
7 economy.
8 Wind turbines create economic dead zones
9 that can land lock municipalities, especially
10 when safe distances for humans, farm animals,
11 and other creatures become known. If a rural
12 county board allows the siting of wind turbines
13 in all available locations, will subsequent
14 county boards only have minimal economic
15 development decisions to make, except perhaps
16 for garbage tipping fees. You know, wind
17 turbines, they try and place them along side
18 roads to minimize costs to set them up. That's
19 where typical economic development would like to
20 go. Once you put a turbine within a certain
21 distance from a road, that precludes it from
22 being widened, to say a four-lane highway in the
23 future. Now, we're not talking about just
24 current, but we're looking into the future
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3233
1 decades and criticism of American corporations
2 is they only look at the short-time, couple
3 years, and I'm afraid that's what's happening in
4 this County, too. We're just looking at the
5 short-term revenue of the permit fees and some
6 additional property tax which turns around will
7 be shifted, all except 30 percent of it, to the
8 taxpayers of Lee County, over a period of years.
9 And should a turbine project go belly up, that
10 cost significantly can shift to the taxpayers,
11 say after five years or ten years.
12 Does the setting of required safe setbacks
13 of wind turbines by government authorities
14 inherently create liability exposure related to
15 health property value declines and lost income
16 that should be borne by the wind companies?
17 Because of potential liability exposure to
18 federal, state, and local entities, shouldn't we
19 put on hold the continued massive beta testing
20 of the siting of wind turbines without first
21 securing informed protections from the citizens
22 whose sleep, health, property values, net worth,
23 and livelihood may be adversely effected by
24 siting wind turbines too close to humans, farm
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3234
1 animals, etcetera.
2 I have had one person who said he was a
3 trucker. Turbines were near his house. At
4 times, he has to drive several miles away to
5 get --
6 JUDGE SLAVIN: Rich, you're doing it
7 again.
8 MR. BORIS: Okay, I apologize. I don't
9 recall if I testified to that or not.
10 JUDGE SLAVIN: Not that I recall. You can
11 certainly refresh my recollection if you want to
12 try, but I --
13 MR. BORIS: Okay. Now, from the micro
14 level, I'd like to take to you the micro level
15 with an analogy. The Village of Lee faced a
16 smaller decision in August of 2009, and I want
17 to read you some of the things I shared with the
18 board that day of the hearing I chaired. I
19 cited in an e-mail to them, for important
20 decisions, useful approach is to develop a list
21 of each variable of the decision. After
22 verifying the list is complete, by sharing it
23 with others, carefully review the list and then
24 circle the more important variables of the
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3235
1 decision and then call these the determinants of
2 the decision. Okay? I was involved in
3 automation of administrative computing systems.
4 If you do that, you have to identify all the
5 variables to make sure you cover all the bases
6 and all the automation needs and then handle the
7 remainder by manual receipts. So it's a more
8 thorough process, and then you more understand
9 the impacts and magnitude of what's needed.
10 Premise 2. As the elected leaders and
11 decision makers of the Village of Lee, our
12 primary responsibility is to make decisions that
13 best serve the current and future residents that
14 live within our village boundaries. I think
15 that would apply in the County level, too.
16 No. 3. The above responsibility trumps
17 our own personal interests and whatever our
18 friends, neighbors, relatives, or all persons
19 outside our village boundary may think is best
20 for the village. The input of these other
21 persons should perhaps be a variable
22 consideration, but it should not be a primary
23 determinant of those decisions. This should
24 hold, no matter what the relative wealth or
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3236
1 clout of the person.
2 Premise 4. The current and future
3 residents in Premise 2 directly implies the
4 decision making should consider both the
5 short-term and the long-term best interests of
6 the village and its residents. So not just
7 looking at the short-term, the next first few
8 years, you need to look at the long-term.
9 As a school business manager, we took bids
10 on copy equipment. We've got five vendors, one
11 gave free machines the first year. But when we
12 put that in a spreadsheet and worked that out
13 for five years, in five years they were more
14 expensive; and if the level of copies increased
15 the first or second year, they would be more
16 expensive than all things, but it initially
17 looked like that was the best choice. So you
18 have to look at the longer term and look at the
19 financial implications of that.
20 If any one attempts to offer any gift
21 compensation, service or employment to sway your
22 vote that should be reported to our village
23 attorney and or the mayor. It is not
24 desirable -- and this came from a management
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3237
1 course -- to accept what you read or hear as
2 true or factual without evaluating the source of
3 the information, what motivation they have to
4 tell the truth, if they are motivated to fairly
5 provide both sides of the issue, and also asking
6 yourself, what personal or business benefit will
7 they realize. In one sense, from one
8 perspective, that's common sense, but I think
9 that's good to remind ourselves.
10 Testimonials, Premise 7, are generally
11 only a value if they are unpaid and offered by
12 persons who have a reasonable amount of
13 experience with comparative products or
14 businesses. If you have someone first time
15 exposed to anything, they can give rave reviews,
16 but testimonials are only of value to those who
17 have experience in that area.
18 Premise 9. If the six proposed turbines
19 in the village are not approved, FPL has said
20 they will be constructed in other locations, so
21 the amount of cumulative tax returns -- tax
22 revenues would be received. It's important to
23 note that the 83,000 in local taxes would go to
24 the County, not to the Village of Lee. They
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3238
1 told us they'd move them somewhere else, but
2 months later, after the lawsuit was over, I
3 talked to the DeKalb Planning and Zoning
4 Director, and they said, they never applied for
5 all the permits, and they're not about to go
6 through another hearing process for six
7 turbines. So they told us one story and did
8 something else when they filed the lawsuit.
9 Now, the concern is whatever motivation in
10 contracting with landowners within the
11 mile-and-a-half extension of the village limits.
12 The result is a foot-in-the-door approach to
13 gain a foothold in this area. If we allow any
14 turbines -- any turbines within this area, a
15 precedent will have been set. What possible
16 rationale will be used to say no to any and all
17 landowners who subsequently request one or more
18 wind turbines installed on their land? The FPL
19 transformers destination is close to the Village
20 of Lee, so that makes the Lee area a more prime
21 location for more turbines. If any wind
22 turbines are approved in a mile-and-a-half area
23 in a relative short span of time, wind turbines
24 in the mile-and-a-half area may encircle the
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3239
1 village and look like a 400-foot fence.
2 Premise 14. The close proximity of the
3 wind turbines likely discourage persons from
4 purchasing village residential property on the
5 market, property values will decrease, and the
6 residents will have decreased incentive to
7 maintain their homes. The current lawsuit
8 opposing the approval of wind turbines provides
9 some support for the concern of all property
10 values. Expert witness -- expert appraiser,
11 hired by the wind farm opposing attorney, states
12 that in the general area, residential property
13 values would likely drop by 30 percent and farm
14 property about 10 percent within a wind farm.
15 We did a spreadsheet of what the one-time
16 $60,000 payment to the village would be for the
17 village, and they offered 3,000 a year
18 thereafter. We did a little spreadsheet,
19 computed the number of our water meters, so if
20 each water meter owner contributed $10, in five
21 years, it would have -- in four years, it would
22 have contributed about $500 and that would have
23 exceeded the amount of money that we were
24 offered by the wind company. And now, if you
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3240
1 look at just a 10 percent drop in the property
2 price, you know, a hundred thousand dollar home,
3 that's a 10 percent, $10,000 drop. So the
4 trade-off was relatively clear, why would we
5 want to accept the risk of property decrease
6 when we can -- the alternative is to donate $500
7 in four years.
8 Premise 19. If wind turbines are
9 approved, that approval may become the first
10 page of the epitaph of the Village of Lee.
11 Encircle the small village and block out future
12 economic development, and it likely will become
13 dying. They put some turbines just outside the
14 mile-and-a-half perimeter, and at the DeKalb
15 hearing, I presented the point that the setback
16 area should not protrude into that mile and a
17 half where we have responsibility, and right
18 after the break, I had two wind company people
19 come to me, and first one asked where to you
20 work? I told them I was retired. He said,
21 well, you look too young to be retired. I've
22 heard sometimes they come after you through your
23 employer, try and stop you from speaking up.
24 JUDGE SLAVIN: All right. I think we're
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3241
1 getting a little afield there, okay?
2 MR. BORIS: All right. And the other one
3 said the only way --
4 JUDGE SLAVIN: No, no, no, we're not going
5 to get into conversations outside.
6 MR. BORIS: Okay. Okay. Richard James
7 testified that the sound model used by wind
8 companies is a daytime model, but wind is often
9 stronger at night. This gives rise to a premise
10 conclusion that the sound model used is not
11 conservative and does not fairly represent real
12 conditions during nighttime hours.
13 I recall the statement, the whole is
14 greater than sum of its parts. During the FPL
15 hearings, maps of even the Village of Lee were
16 handed out specifically determining the proposed
17 location of the turbine sites, as it was done
18 for the Lee County turbines were -- specifically
19 where they were located. As it was done in
20 DeKalb County identifying the sites, and they
21 also provided a heavy-haul map where the roads
22 would be used for hauling the turbines because
23 of their excessive weight to minimize damage
24 through culverts, bridges, etcetera, etcetera.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3242
1 Now, a member present here, I understand,
2 patched maps together, provided all the partial
3 maps together to try and get an overview,
4 because the whole is greater than the sum of its
5 parts, and if you look at the map it's -- you
6 know, it surrounds a significant number of acres
7 where they can be effected, but that's not known
8 to the citizens here on where those turbines are
9 except by little strip maps that don't really
10 give an overview.
11 Now, Mr. McCann, who was the expert
12 appraiser for the persons who filed a lawsuit
13 against DeKalb County wind farm, said there will
14 be a 25 to 40 percent drop in residential
15 values. Mr. Crowley here in this hearing
16 process certainly polled a number of appraisers
17 and drew his conclusion that there is no affect
18 on value. Because that survey cannot be
19 validated and because each parcel of land on
20 earth is unique, from a real estate course I
21 took, his conclusion should be discounted
22 because he did not use an accepted appraisal
23 method by the Appraisers Association.
24 In crossing John Martin's testimony, I
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3243
1 asked him if he knew whether the turbines
2 Goldwind erected came from a foreign country.
3 He responded he understood that. The turbines
4 were -- were then 60 percent American content?
5 A week later, I asked him if -- and 60 percent,
6 it might have been 65, but well above 50
7 percent. I asked him later if the 60 percent
8 content was by the weight of American scrap
9 metal or by value added? He said he didn't
10 know. I concluded he shouldn't have made his
11 response on what percent content came from the
12 U.S. unless he could adequately explain that.
13 Now, the question comes up why, in spite of so
14 many turbines being erected in the United
15 States, do we have no data on decommissioning,
16 on taking the turbines down? So the premise is,
17 through the contract, wind companies have evaded
18 that responsibility and/or through their
19 multiple LLC layers, Limited Liability
20 Corporations; so, therefore, there's no real
21 data on that because there's, I understand,
22 thousands of turbines in California and even in
23 Hawaii. We have some people who went there
24 recently and saw a turbine just rusting away and
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3244
1 not taken down. So that appears to be the best
2 response on why there are no values of
3 decommissioning available.
4 I agree with basically all of Bob Logan's
5 statements. He went into a number of issues and
6 problem areas with the County. And one thing
7 I'd like to reinforce is what we heard from the
8 State witness is there's no real enforcements of
9 the protection of creatures on endangered
10 species. There's no required reporting, and, I
11 believe, he said he only got one or two reports
12 over a period of years. So what we have is no
13 actual enforcement. So whatever happens,
14 happens; and it gets swept under the rug, you
15 know. There's really no economic incentive for
16 a wind company or even the farmers to report the
17 killing of endangered species or the killing of
18 other creatures that help our crops, like bats
19 and other wind creatures, etcetera.
20 At the County level, we have rules, we
21 have ordinances, but no one to enforce them. At
22 the village, we talked about that, why create a
23 law if we can't enforce it? Why create an
24 ordinance? Now, a real question here is if we
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3245
1 have rules, shouldn't we be following them? And
2 who has the authority to waive ordinances? And
3 I'm looking at a zoning manual, it says the
4 Zoning Administrator should be very careful, and
5 his authority should be -- any authority he has
6 to waive something should be under standards.
7 So what we have is a real issue, a management
8 issue, and that authority should be coming from
9 the Board. And if there's any question about
10 waiving that, that the Board hasn't approved, it
11 should be brought to the Board.
12 Now, the other -- another issue we have
13 is, I understand, past contracts have allowed
14 the wind turbine companies to change the
15 turbines out, increase their size and their
16 noise, and again, with no enforcement of the
17 noise or -- or the creatures. What are we doing
18 but causing problems for our residents in the
19 long-term. And I recall the testimony of an
20 elderly lady who walked slowly up here and said
21 they were putting -- dry walling one side of the
22 house, and so they added sound insulation to
23 help drowned out that noise. Now, is that what
24 we should be doing to people who may be in their
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3246
1 last 10 years of their life? Now, admittedly,
2 it's not 24/7 because wind doesn't blow all the
3 time, but is that what we should be giving to
4 our citizens because we think the permit fee and
5 the property tax is going to keep our employees
6 employed and maintain their pension plans? The
7 primary goal of the County should be to serve
8 the best interest of its citizens, and I think
9 we need to carefully look at that and look at
10 the long-term effect of the property -- property
11 taxes that shift to the residents and decrease
12 State payments of State aid because that's going
13 to be relatively permanent. You know, that's
14 one of the reasons the State is happy to see
15 wind turbines go up because our assessed values
16 go up, and then they can decrease their State
17 aid to our school districts. And as Bob has
18 testified -- Bob Logan has testified, there's a
19 constant depreciation of the wind turbines. And
20 then when that happens, the taxes that would
21 have been paid by the wind turbine gets shifted
22 to the other residents of this County and/or the
23 other taxing bodies within the area of the wind
24 turbines. I don't think that has been looked
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3247
1 at. I was talking to a broker -- a real estate
2 broker about a village issue, and he mentioned
3 he looked at a property that was near a wind
4 turbine, and it was a good price so he was
5 interested in buying it, but then he said he
6 found out --
7 JUDGE SLAVIN: Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
8 You're getting outside again.
9 MR. BORIS: Okay. Okay. I apologize.
10 The -- when the DeKalb County hearing
11 created its initial Findings of Fact, they
12 denied the hearing permit, a special use permit,
13 and let me recite five -- or four of the things
14 that they said: The proposed wind turbine
15 decommissioning process, as proposed, is not
16 adequate or satisfactory. A letter of credit
17 should be obtained for each turbine to be
18 acceptedly removed. Item 6. An adequate
19 Property Value Guarantee Plan has not been
20 proposed, and they did require that before it is
21 approved. No. 7. There is no evidence to
22 clearly show how FPL will pay property taxes
23 after the current formula for paying property
24 taxes in Illinois expires after 2011 and now
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3248
1 it's after 2016, and the real estate taxes
2 expire in 2016 for turbines. And as we are
3 looking at this petition, wind lobbyists are
4 trying to exempt the wind turbine industry from
5 taxes and/or minimally increase the taxes. And
6 No. 8. Concerns expressed about impact of the
7 proposed project on drain tiles in an A-1
8 agriculture district are legitimate. There's no
9 evidence to show that the petitioner has a plan
10 to correct any drainage problems that may result
11 during the proposed project. And they required
12 all those to be satisfied before any -- before
13 the board passed it. And at the board hearing,
14 the board made changes to the text amendments in
15 meeting that it was approved.
16 Now, as I recall, we were told by Mr.
17 Henry Dixon that if the Board wants to make any
18 changes, they're supposed to recommend back to
19 the ZBA and then the ZBA sends it back to the
20 Board. But what I hear is it appears at some
21 level of zoning, they're waiving ordinances --
22 ordinance conditions that should probably be
23 waived by the Board. So why can't the Board
24 make those changes in a Board meeting because
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3249
1 that is the authority for this County?
2 So I'll try to summarize now, at long
3 last. As I look at specific criteria for
4 special use requirements, it says, is it
5 necessary for the public convenience at that
6 location? Clearly, no. Most hours of the month
7 Illinois is a net energy exporter to the east.
8 When wind energy is the strongest, we have our
9 nuclear plants that are excess capacity, wind
10 energy is at -- electrical energy is at its
11 lowest during the nighttime hours and early
12 morning.
13 Now, another requirement it is so designed
14 and proposed to be operated that the public
15 health, safety, and welfare will be protected.
16 We've heard evidence to the contrary of that.
17 If you just look at sleep deprivation and the
18 adverse effect that has on job performance and
19 safety of operating farm equipment and driving
20 trucks not to mention the health issues, I think
21 that fails there.
22 Will not cause substantial injury to the
23 value of other property in the neighborhood in
24 which it is to be located. You've heard
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3250
1 testimony from Michael McCann and other
2 information that property values for residences
3 decline, and, so it fails on that criteria.
4 And so my recommendation would be the
5 Motion to Dismiss should be approved because the
6 best interests of the current and future Lee
7 County residents needs to be put at the
8 forefront of any income through permit fees
9 and/or property taxes which will -- the bulk of
10 which will be shifted to the population.
11 So I thank you for your attention. Thank
12 you very much.
13 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
14 Anna Donnelly? Anna Donnelly? Last
15 chance.
16 Marie DeSomer? Marie DeSomer?
17 MS. ACKERSON: I spoke with her, she can't
18 make it this evening, but they may be here
19 tomorrow night. Can you try again tomorrow
20 night for Miss DeSomer?
21 JUDGE SLAVIN: No, we talked about going
22 through this, and you get one shot.
23 Giles Kalvelage?
24 MR. KALVELAGE: Yeah.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3251
1 Good evening, everyone. Members of the
2 Zoning Board of Appeals, I want to thank you for
3 allowing me the opportunity to speak which is
4 opinion night, I guess.
5 One of the great -- or one of the things
6 that I want to -- that I was really impressed
7 with some of the -- or some of the closing
8 arguments last night, especially by Miss Kelley.
9 I've also heard some excellent other closing
10 arguments by Bob Logan, very powerful. Thanks
11 to that, he probably took about a half an hour
12 off of my -- my opinion here.
13 Without further adieu, I want to let you
14 know how much I love being a resident of Lee
15 County. I've been -- in the last year, I've
16 been pretty active in township government. I
17 did a -- I did a testimony, which related pretty
18 heavily on some of the procedures that we
19 followed in Willow Creek Township, so I was a
20 little bit taken back with the question why my
21 service might be questioned because I don't live
22 within the footprint of the existing -- or of
23 the wind farm which is being proposed. Because
24 in my opinion, I think that everybody should be
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3252
1 allowed to testify or make comments or question
2 what's going on in this great County that we
3 live in.
4 I'm excited to see our friends from the
5 labor union up in Rockford, excited to see the
6 -- some representatives from the school board.
7 Surprised, actually, that they hadn't been here
8 earlier, because I would have liked to have
9 heard what they said.
10 I was very honored one night, after giving
11 testimony, it was kind of ruined some after --
12 after testimony activities, because no one
13 talked to me, but I was being fair -- being fair
14 in my testimony, bringing both sides of what
15 Willow Creek Township has experienced. I felt
16 that was important, our experiences in Willow
17 Creek Township, because we were the Township
18 that had the first wind turbine. We've got a
19 lot of experience living with those turbines.
20 We had the ups and the downs, and I kind of
21 testified to some of that as well.
22 I mention -- or I found out through
23 testimony with Mayor -- with Mayor Boris that
24 Willow Creek Township didn't get a portion of
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3253
1 tax dollars that may have been allocated to
2 them, because we did an oops, we didn't know
3 that we had to file and ask for the money that
4 we thought we would just be getting because we
5 had the turbines. So there's a lot of big
6 business that goes on with government is
7 something that we've learned. Uhm, but it's
8 painful. It's painful when you're living with
9 these.
10 As time goes on, we found out that -- that
11 -- I testified that I heard noise, on occasion,
12 the township supervisor heard noise on occasion
13 from the Mendota Hills Wind Farm site. But it
14 wasn't too -- too aggressive, and we lived about
15 8 to 9/10ths of a mile away from the farm, him
16 living farther north, and me living farther
17 west.
18 I also notice in some of the testimony
19 that we had from our -- from this past -- past
20 hearing that one of the noise experts said that
21 about 9/10ths of a mile is an appropriate
22 setback for noise, that that distance is going
23 to mitigate the noise. I did some calculations
24 and found out, gosh, that's where, Bob Book and
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3254
1 I, that's how far about our distances are away
2 from the Mendota Hills.
3 I also mention that there was kind of a
4 mag -- well, not kind of, a major faux pas in
5 some of the siting of some windmills down by
6 Houghby and County Line Road where three houses
7 were surrounded by eight turbines and two other
8 houses off to the side didn't fair much better,
9 and I was hoping that was just kind of a mishap,
10 somebody didn't read a map right. They didn't
11 know that just because they are a minimum
12 1400 feet away that they wouldn't be affected.
13 I believe that area is very strongly affected,
14 and I believe that when one of the owners when
15 he tells me it's very difficult to sell his
16 house. So those are some of the things that --
17 that really concern us.
18 Now, back in the early 2000s, and even as
19 late as, I would imagine, a few years ago, I
20 don't think that we really were able to see the
21 testimony. We heard a lot about it. We heard
22 how land values were going to go down. We heard
23 that noise wasn't going to be an issue and that
24 shadow flicker, not a problem. But thanks to --
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3255
1 thanks to the people that came in and spent time
2 coming to these -- this hearing, over the course
3 of the last few month -- months that were pretty
4 adept at providing evidence, showed us pictures.
5 They showed us what it was like in their home.
6 They showed us how disturbing it was. Maybe it
7 wasn't 24 hours a day. I mean, after all, the
8 sun's not up 24 hours a day, but it was actually
9 -- no one should live that way. No one should
10 be forced to.
11 One of the things that was mentioned a
12 couple times, but really wasn't stressed during
13 this hearing, was the setbacks of -- to the
14 house or the down side versus setbacks to
15 property lines. I believe this is a very
16 important issue that the ZBA needs to consider.
17 Once you get past a property line, you're going
18 past someone else's castle, someone else's
19 property, and to take that and to trespass that
20 with shadow flicker or even noise and taking
21 that without any compensation or any relief from
22 taxes, that's -- that's not right. And as we've
23 seen from some of the pictures that has been
24 presented, it's going to affect your yard, it's
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3256
1 even affecting inside people's homes.
2 Now, you know with a name like Giles, if
3 I'm riding horses, which I do, I'm riding
4 English. So a lot of the people here don't know
5 me, that I ride so much, but I can attest that I
6 know and I believe what I've heard and from what
7 I've seen through my experiences, that shadow
8 flicker, even pieces of paper floatin' in the
9 wind is going to spook a horse. English riders
10 call that shine. Regardless of whether English
11 or Western, when a horse zigs when it's supposed
12 to zag, a lot of times you'll find out that the
13 ground is a lot harder than you remembered it
14 the last time. So it can be a dangerous
15 situation. If you can't get away from it on
16 your property, it's a problem.
17 Let's follow up with some of the -- I
18 don't know why larger landowners decided that
19 they wanted to break off a few pieces of
20 property here and there over the course of time,
21 over maybe the last hundred years, maybe it's
22 because of, you know, a growing family, maybe
23 it's because they needed, you know, a little
24 extra cash to buy some new furniture, I don't
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3257
1 know why. But out in our area, there seems to
2 be an awful lot of 10-acre farms, 20-acre farms,
3 up to 50, maybe even 80-acre farmettes. It
4 seems the preponderance of these -- these farms
5 are owned by people that are horsemen. They
6 come out here because, obviously, if their from
7 the Chicago suburbs, they frown on having a
8 16-hand horse grazing in your backyard, so they
9 come out here, and we enjoy it. I mean, that's
10 the reason, you know, my family moved out here.
11 We talked about this a little bit with Mr.
12 McCann when he was up here. We decided that,
13 you know, we're a paying a stables $500 a month,
14 let's invest in the land, buy some land and
15 we'll have our own horses out here, and it will
16 be good for us. I bring this to the property
17 value issue. I can't prove it; I feel it. I
18 don't feel I can sell my place because when I
19 purchased it in 1999, I don't believe that the
20 value went up past 2003 prices. We've been here
21 15 years now almost, coming up -- well, 14 years
22 for sure. And, thankfully, I like Lee County,
23 and I don't want to move, so right now we're all
24 right, but if I ever did have to sell it or if
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3258
1 more additional wind turbines came our way to
2 Willow Creek Township, that would really degrade
3 the pleasure I would have, and I would want to
4 move. And I don't think I could get as much
5 money for it as I could. I expected it would be
6 worth a lot more money now, and it just doesn't
7 seem that it is. It kind of effected the way I
8 kind of treated the property. I really didn't
9 do a lot of upgrades. I'm a little bit upset
10 with Google maps because I did invest in putting
11 steel roofs on the barn and corncrib, and they
12 haven't updated the photos yet, and it shows the
13 ones that aren't as lovely, and that's pretty
14 the biggest upgrade that I've made. And I've
15 slowed down on that because why put money into a
16 place that I might just not be able to get it
17 back. So that's kind of that on some of my
18 personal things that hit the Kalvelage Family
19 issues.
20 But I still have a lot of opinions about
21 Willow Creek Township. God forbid that a man
22 from Willow Creek Township Planning Commission
23 is going to skate by without mentioning
24 something about LESA scores. It's always been a
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3259
1 touchy subject with Willow Creek Township. We
2 believe that subdivisions do need to have LESA
3 scores. It's something that -- that is in
4 our -- our use plan that suggests that we want
5 to maintain as much of the rural culture of
6 Willow Creek Township as we possibly can. And
7 whether it's a bunch of houses or if it's a wind
8 farm, we believe that LESA scores are
9 imperative.
10 We mentioned, you know, last -- last year,
11 I mean, it's been brought forth in this --
12 actually with my testimony back in December, we
13 did mention a little bit about -- about the
14 previous -- previous ordinance that we attempted
15 to -- or that the County attempted to build.
16 And we mentioned why Willow Creek couldn't stand
17 to support it. And some of the reasons were the
18 density, we don't -- we don't think that houses
19 should be surrounded by wind turbines. I think
20 we have some of that going on, if we listen to
21 the testimony that's been -- well, yeah, the
22 testimony, as well as some of the opinions. I
23 believe, that there's a few houses that are
24 being surrounded with this -- this new
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3260
1 application. We strongly feel that shadow
2 flicker is trespassing on adjacent
3 non-participating properties. We don't like the
4 noise, obviously, if we're sitting next to the
5 turbines or within a few thousand feet,
6 especially when they're compounded with multiple
7 turbines, and we can't get away from them even
8 in our own house. We do -- we do believe that
9 that -- that's -- that is just something that
10 the County needs to help protect us from.
11 But even so, we were also concerned about
12 participating landowners. We've had setbacks of
13 one-and-a-half turbine height to the homes,
14 well, we didn't go with the property lines,
15 obviously, with the -- with the participating
16 landowners, but we went with the homes because
17 we were afraid that possibly there would be
18 children who would have no say on where they
19 lived or a landowner who had turbines might run
20 on his property because he might be an absentee
21 landowner, or he might live somewhere else.
22 Again, the thing with property lines that came
23 up, property lines don't use our property to
24 site your special use, whether it's a wind
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3261
1 turbine or a grain elevator or a public school,
2 property line's it. And a lot of it was -- a
3 lot of the discussion we felt was that there's
4 going to be future building. I don't know
5 what's going to happen to my property in 10
6 years. I may want to build another barn. The
7 old barn that I've got right now is about a
8 hundred years old, and I'm glad it's still
9 standing, but I can't make any guarantees after
10 the next windstorm. So who knows what will go
11 up. And I don't want to ever have to worry that
12 if a wind turbine comes in, it's going to knock
13 off three of my buildable acres. So -- and it
14 doesn't have to be a wind turbine, it can be
15 anything, again, special use, but wind turbines
16 are the ones that seem to be getting the
17 attention at this hearing, also the ones that
18 set off a -- set off a shadow flicker for very
19 long periods of time, and it's also something
20 that I can't control my animals over the shadow
21 flicker or the noise. If they're going to be
22 scared, I'm going have to get rid of them.
23 Plan for decommissioning, I can't tell you
24 how important that is to our Township. We are
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3262
1 the first Township that's got turbines, and
2 they're 10 years old now, this year. They got
3 about 10 years left. We have no idea what kind
4 of plans is in effect. We've tried to find out.
5 Apparently, the wind farm changed hands a few
6 times. We don't know what -- what plans there
7 are for decommissioning. We are afraid of the
8 plan that's obvious is well, we'll just hope
9 somebody removes them someday.
10 This is kind of scary, too. I drive back
11 and forth every now and then from Princeton and
12 I've noticed the new skyline that we've got,
13 we've got wind turbines starting in -- I get to
14 see -- when I leave my home to go to Princeton,
15 I get to see all the Lee County wind turbines
16 pretty much. It's a skyline. When they start
17 -- when they start rusting and deteriorating,
18 there's no plan for decommissioning. We're
19 going to have a long skyline of junk around, so
20 we really got to be careful. That's where the
21 Zoning Board comes in. You need to -- you need
22 to re-think this through. I implore you that do
23 you that.
24 We've got a plan for protecting property
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3263
1 values. If there's three people that are
2 fighting to buy your property, you know your
3 property price just went up or you're asked too
4 low. You got one person asking to see your
5 place every four or five months, why that's
6 going to be an issue. And I know that if I were
7 to look for another property, I'd probably look
8 for something a little closer into an urban area
9 so that I might -- might be able to avoid wind
10 turbines. And if I ever did give up on the
11 horse business at all, I would probably move to
12 a suburban area. Even though I love it, I love
13 the openness. I love no stoplights, that is so
14 great. I -- the vision, the landscape for me
15 has just been devalued.
16 I don't think the Zoning Board is ready --
17 the ZBA is ready to move on this application. I
18 think we've got to go back to an appropriate
19 wind energy ordinance first. There was -- there
20 was a big kickback back when we tried to
21 redesign the ordinance last time. We don't know
22 exactly what went wrong. I was following it
23 pretty closely with you guys, that's when you
24 guys started to meet me. We got some poor
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3264
1 advice from some counsel. We think that maybe
2 there was too much emphasis that was placed on
3 the rules that were provided by petitioner at
4 the time. We got two townships opposing the
5 County-wide ordinance, that was a challenge. A
6 significant number of Board members opposed the
7 ordinance. When we've got the two townships --
8 or even one township with a planning commission
9 opposing it, that forces the Board to up the
10 ante to get a three-quarters approval. I don't
11 know why everybody voted the way they did. I
12 heard some rumors out there. But the biggest
13 one was we've got a lot of wind turbines
14 already, when is enough enough? And that's
15 something I tried to find out from our -- our
16 witnesses that came in, our expert witnesses,
17 and nobody, from either side, either the wind
18 turbine side or the side which is generally
19 known to oppose wind turbines, no one could give
20 me an answer. I don't have an answer. The
21 answer that I know is that Willow Creek Township
22 has one-and-a-quarter wind turbines per square
23 mile. That seems pretty -- pretty excessive.
24 It's pretty -- we don't get away from them in
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3265
1 Willow Creek Township, so we are kind of
2 concerned about that.
3 We're concerned too whenever the developer
4 makes the provisions for -- for whatever
5 development it is, it really needs the Zoning
6 Board of Appeals and site evaluation. And the
7 place that I'm working now is big on, they call
8 it Lean Six Sigma and there's a lot of
9 communication that goes on from anybody that
10 knows anything about the subject at all. And
11 that's why I was hoping to hear from the school
12 boards, I was hoping to hear from the labor
13 unions. That's why I welcomed our friends from
14 Boone County. That's why I welcomed all of the
15 expert witnesses, so that we might be able to
16 look through and pick the best of what they've
17 got to offer. You've got opposing views, that's
18 kind of tough. You got one person that says
19 it's $13,000 for removing a turbine and the next
20 guy says it's $5 million or $3 million or
21 however million dollars. It's just way too big
22 of a difference. I don't know if we can find an
23 adequate argument for that, so we've got to find
24 the right one. Uhm, we've got to have ordinance
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3266
1 that is written with enforceable rules and
2 penalties.
3 Mr. Logan, you know, powerfully expressed
4 his -- his experience with the policeman who
5 might stop him for going too fast. And I
6 certainly can understand that. And it's fair.
7 It's also fair for the petitioner so that the
8 petitioner has targets that they can aim for as
9 well. They don't want to have to the deal with
10 a bunch of residents who -- who's going to offer
11 some complaints that cannot be validated. And
12 obviously, your residents, you don't want to
13 ignore your residents, they're your residents.
14 So you really need to have some kind of
15 enforcement.
16 Our evaluations are based on set goals and
17 achievement standards. We should be here as
18 well. Gosh, I mentioned about the -- about the
19 planning commission. I was kind of excited to
20 learn that there were four townships that have
21 planning commissions: Willow Creek, Hamilton,
22 Palmyra, and, I believe, Alto Townships. Well,
23 I haven't really been able to meet anyone from
24 Alto Township, I've met the others, and they
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3267
1 really have some -- some good thoughts. They
2 don't always agree, and I never asked for that.
3 In fact, you know, people that I've talked to
4 I've said, you know what, you and I aren't going
5 to agree. You and I aren't going to agree,
6 right? But please tell me what your stance is,
7 so that we can reasonably, both might agree.
8 And that's what I'm looking for. I'm not going
9 to say windmills are bad. I have my opinions
10 about, you know, the taxes. I have my opinions
11 about the subsidies. But technology's really
12 interesting. But I also don't want to see
13 shadow flicker on my property. I don't want to
14 be kept up at night. And gosh, I really don't
15 want to see, as McCann says, 30 percent or more
16 property devaluation because that's my
17 retirement, or it was. So it's kind of exciting
18 when it works. If you're going to allow it,
19 you've got to find a way to make it work. Okay?
20 So some of the concerns that I have is --
21 with this application, and I know I don't live
22 in the footprint of it, but as we look at it,
23 it's changed so many times. We don't know
24 exactly how many turbines are going to be
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3268
1 erected. We know somewhere where they might be
2 erected. We don't have any exact -- exact
3 location. I was once told that if I wanted to
4 build a shed, wasn't here in this County, that I
5 had to be able to draw a picture, show exactly
6 where it was going to be on my property, and I
7 said well, I don't know. They said, well, if
8 you can't draw it, how in the heck are you going
9 to build it? So I think the same thing goes on
10 here. Mainstream asked for an extended period
11 of time. I'm not a hundred percent sure of why
12 they've asked for an extended period of time.
13 Might be time -- they might be trying to sell
14 the project, I don't know. I don't know that it
15 really matters. But with an extended period of
16 time, with an open-ended statement, an
17 open-ended approval, so many different changes
18 can happen. We've seen it over at the Big Sky
19 project, we had a pro wind -- a person that was
20 pro the project, and he was frustrated. So over
21 the course of three years, there can be many
22 things that change. I would suggest that
23 Mainstream should put a final project together,
24 so we know what kind of turbines they're going
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3269
1 to use. We know where they're going to be
2 located. We know how much monies they're going
3 to make. We know exactly where the shadow
4 flicker is going to fall. And then we give them
5 a year to complete it. Should for any reason at
6 all they decide mid -- if it's Mainstream or
7 whoever purchases it afterwards, if they decide
8 to make changes to turbines, to blades or to
9 positioning of where those will be cited, they
10 need to come back, restart the process with
11 another hearing. It's fair, it's honest, and
12 testimony will help -- help the Zoning Board of
13 Appeals, as well as the County Board, be able to
14 look at issues and be fair and non-biased on
15 granting any requests for variances.
16 Again, I want to thank you. I think you
17 should deny this application, and I think you
18 should delay future requests until a new
19 ordinance is developed. And I think the new
20 ordinance does need to address the pitfalls of
21 wind energy farms, especially as it relates to
22 the issues that I've addressed tonight. Thank
23 you so very much.
24 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3270
1 Kathryn Guither?
2 MR. GUITHER: I forgot to tell you, she
3 couldn't come tonight.
4 JUDGE SLAVIN: Steven Robery?
5 MR. ROBERY: Thank you for allowing me to
6 make a closing statement tonight. As a citizen
7 of Lee County, I would like to voice my
8 objection to the special use application for the
9 Green River Wind Farm Phase I.
10 First, very briefly, the special use
11 request should -- should be rejected based on
12 the inaccuracies and incompletion --
13 incompleteness of the application alone. Mr.
14 Porter and others have already gone through the
15 problems in the application in great detail, so
16 I don't want to repeat this, except to say that
17 overlooking that and saying well, the Applicant
18 did not provide what they were supposed to
19 provide according to our ordinance, but it's
20 close enough. That would be wrong. That would
21 be disrespectful to the people of Lee County,
22 especially to the residents of Hamilton Township
23 and East Grove Township. And it would be a
24 violation of the ordinance.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3271
1 This petition, and industrial wind
2 turbines in general, are without question the
3 most intrusive special use that this County is
4 likely to ever come across. And it warrants
5 more scrutiny, which it has received over the
6 past seven months, and it warrants tight and
7 strict adherence to the rules and regulations,
8 nothing less. So even though this special use
9 request could and should be rejected, based on
10 inaccuracies and incompleteness of the
11 application alone, there are numerous other
12 reasons to reject this petition, and that's what
13 I would like to focus on.
14 First and foremost, is the potential
15 adverse health impacts from wind turbines. This
16 can no longer be denied. Ten years ago when you
17 approved the first wind farm in Lee County, you
18 didn't have the information about adverse health
19 impacts. Now you have it. Please use it.
20 Based on the testimony that's been provided over
21 all these months, the proposed conditions
22 submitted by the Applicant are entirely
23 insufficient when it comes to protecting the
24 health, safety, and welfare of the citizens of
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3272
1 Lee County. A vast amount of evidence has been
2 presented during the course of this hearing that
3 confirms that serious intrusions negatively
4 impacting the quality of life of -- of existing
5 residents, up to and including, adverse health
6 impacts, will occur in some people forced to
7 live near the turbines. These will occur
8 without a doubt unless you implement further
9 restrictions, such as, longer setbacks,
10 meaningful and enforceable noise standards, and
11 further limitations on shadow flicker. No
12 evidence has been submitted that would indicate
13 that there will not be health impacts. In my
14 testimony, I mentioned there is one report out
15 there that I know of that does not caution
16 against health impacts associated with living
17 too close to industrial wind turbines. And that
18 was prepared for, guess who, the American and
19 Canadian Wind Energy Association. Everyone
20 else, besides the wind energy, says there are
21 potential problems. And when I say everyone
22 else, I'm not kidding, I'm not exaggerating.
23 During my testimony in December, I presented and
24 submitted into evidence Exhibit 79, consisting
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3273
1 of 25 papers from various experts, including
2 acoustical engineers, physicists, scientists,
3 and physicians, specializing in the functions of
4 the inner ear that come to consistent
5 conclusions that some people living near wind
6 turbines do, in fact, experience adverse health
7 effects. Adverse health effects associated with
8 the operation of the turbines. Here's just a
9 sample of the findings that I summarized during
10 thigh testimony: Keith Stelling concludes that
11 contrary to claims made by the wind industry,
12 there is a growing body of peer-reviewed
13 scientific research showing a wide spread
14 consensus that wind turbines cause noise
15 pollution which can lead to sleep disturbance
16 and associated health issues for those living
17 nearby. Dr. Carl Phillips, an expert in
18 epidemiology, the Study of Health Effects on
19 Populations also concludes that there are --
20 there is ample evidence that wind turbines can
21 causes serious health problems for some people.
22 Dr. Alec Salt, from the Washington University of
23 Medicine -- Washington University School of
24 Medicine, a specialist in the functions of the
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3274
1 inner ear, concludes that wind turbine noise is
2 dominated by low frequency and infrasound
3 components and disputes wind industry claims
4 that infrasound below the audible level is of no
5 consequence. Dr. Christopher Hanning, a sleep
6 disorder specialist, discusses sleep physiology
7 and the associated health effects from sleep
8 disturbance caused by wind turbines and
9 concludes that the only effective mitigation is
10 to place sufficient distance between the
11 turbines and places of human habitation. Dr.
12 John Harrison, Physics Department, Queen's
13 University in Kingston, Ontario, advocates
14 reduction in noise limits to 35 decibels, with a
15 5 decibel penalty for amplitude modulation,
16 which is the time varying thumping or swishing
17 noise and discusses the inadequacy of a
18 15-decibel intrusion in rural areas. 25 papers,
19 all coming to similar conclusions, wind turbines
20 can cause health issues in some people. And you
21 know what? There are not 25 other guys that are
22 saying it's not a problem, there just isn't.
23 Mr. Lee made a statement, during his
24 closing arguments, that the project will not
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3275
1 impact the health, safety, and welfare of the
2 people. That's all he said. And if you're
3 talking about impacts to natural areas, he just
4 kind of slipped in a statement that said, this
5 project will not adversely impact the health,
6 safety, and welfare of the residents. Then he
7 moved right on to talking about decommissioning.
8 He offered nothing to support his statements.
9 Why? Because no evidence has been presented in
10 the last seven months that indicates there will
11 be no problems. No evidence was presented that
12 supports his statement that the project will not
13 impact the health -- health, safety, and welfare
14 of the people, causing some health problems
15 ranging from relatively minor health and quality
16 of life issues to serious bil -- debilitating
17 conditions. So what more evidence do you need?
18 Well, here's some more. Margina Schwartzbach
19 from West Brooklyn testified as to sleep
20 problems, noise and shadow flicker from a
21 turbine located 1400 feet from her house. She
22 described it as unbearable in the summertime.
23 Barb Draper, who lives in Ohio near the Big Sky
24 Wind project testified that she has 12 turbines
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3276
1 within one mile and suffers from motion sickness
2 and eye pain from the shadow flicker and
3 testified that the turbines negatively impact
4 the quality of her life. Kathryn Guither, down
5 in Bureau County, reported noise problems,
6 especially at night from turbines 1400 feet,
7 1700 feet and 2200 feet from her home. She
8 reported sleep problems that did not exist prior
9 to the operation of the turbines. She testified
10 as to feelings of disorientation and no prior
11 problems with vertigo and dizziness. Kendall
12 Guither testified as to problems with nausea,
13 vomiting, headaches, migraines, and stability
14 and balance issues. On December 4th, Brian
15 Van Laar from Boone County summarized testimony
16 of people living near the Shirley Wind project
17 in Brown County, Wisconsin. Their testimony to
18 the Public Service Commission of the State of
19 Wisconsin included the following: Darren
20 Ashley, whose home is a mile to the closest
21 turbine, suffered from ear pain coinciding with
22 the operation of the turbines and pressure in
23 the head and the ears. His 16-year-old daughter
24 couldn't sleep. His son would get dizzy playing
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3277
1 in the backyard. Sarah Cappelle, who lived
2 1200 feet to the nearest turbine, half a mile to
3 the next nearest turbine and about a mile from
4 four others, testified as to new onset symptoms
5 of headaches and insomnia. Her 6-year-old son
6 suffered from sleep problems. She vacated her
7 home in 2012 and both their symptoms went away.
8 Dave and Rose Enz, whose home is over a half
9 mile to the nearest turbine, described symptoms
10 of blurred vision, unsteadiness, ear pain,
11 nausea, and concentration problems and described
12 how the symptoms went away when they left their
13 home, and the symptoms came back again upon each
14 return to their home in the wind farm. Is that
15 what you want to happen to Lee -- want to happen
16 in Lee County?
17 Yes, the Petitioner has proposed
18 increasing the setback from 1400 feet to
19 1700 feet. That's roughly three-and-a-half
20 times the height of the turbine. But in much of
21 the evidence presented, the people were greater
22 than 1750 feet to the closest turbine. There
23 was absolutely no evidence, no testimony has
24 been offered, no studies have been done that
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3278
1 would indicate that increasing the setback to
2 1700 feet would alleviate these problems. It's
3 Applicant's burden to prove this, and they have
4 not proven it because they can't. You know
5 what's increasing the setback from 1400 feet to
6 1700 feet will do? Here's how you should look
7 at it. Imagine that I was to come up -- I would
8 come up to you and poke you in the eye and
9 instead of poking you in the eye 12 times, I
10 poke you in the eye 11 times. That's how much
11 better it's going to be.
12 Another reason you should reject this
13 application is due to the limitations of the
14 noise models that the Applicant used. And the
15 noise regulations they proposes in their
16 conditions are entirely insufficient. Yes, this
17 Petitioner provided a noise analysis and
18 modeling based on theoretical noise outputs from
19 yet -- from yet-to-be determined wind turbines.
20 However, real life examples here in Illinois and
21 all over the world have proven noise models not
22 to be real good predictors of actual noise. An
23 independent noise expert, Rick James, testified
24 back in November regarding the limitations of
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3279
1 the noise model used by the Applicant,
2 specifically, stating that the noise predictions
3 could be off by as many as 12 decibels. This is
4 based on some of the inputs that were used, such
5 as, not properly accounting for increased sound
6 power at night and using too high of a ground
7 attenuation factor. Maybe that's why people
8 living near wind turbines are having problems
9 with noise, even though wind developers are
10 doing noise studies. Problems that qualify as
11 noise pollution by the Illinois Pollution
12 Control Board definition and are causing adverse
13 health impacts in some people. The models look
14 good on paper to us lay people, who are not
15 noise experts; but in real life, they are not
16 doing a real good job preventing noise problems.
17 The Petitioner has included in their
18 proposed conditions a section on noise that
19 essentially states that noise from the wind
20 turbines need to be in compliance with the
21 Illinois Pollution Control Board. It's not
22 significantly different than the existing
23 ordinance, 10-15-15. Back in December, when I
24 was testifying, I presented an exhibit,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3280
1 including various correspondence with Mr. George
2 Kamperman, a noise expert, who had studied noise
3 from jet engines, blast quarries, and rockets
4 and had spent the last several years studying
5 noise from industrial wind turbines. If you
6 recall, he was a principle contributor to the
7 Illinois Pollution Control Board standards, and
8 his opinion is that the standards are too
9 permissive and inappropriate when applied to
10 wind turbines. He recommends that communities
11 include a wind turbine noise standard in their
12 ordinances or a wind -- or in their wind turbine
13 special use conditions that includes a
14 35-decibel limit and a 5 -- and a maximum 5
15 decibel increase over ambient sound levels.
16 Please understand, this is somebody who helped
17 draft the Illinois Pollution Control Board
18 standards. Somebody whose work the standards
19 are based on, who's indicating that the Illinois
20 Pollution Control Board standards are inadequate
21 for wind turbine noise, and he offers a
22 recommendation for a specific wind turbine
23 standard. When I concluded my testimony back in
24 December, Mr. Fassler asked me how the wind
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3281
1 turbine noise standard would be enforced. And I
2 answered that it should be enforced the same way
3 you enforce your existing County noise
4 ordinance. Please understand, that you have
5 already set a precedent here in Lee County for
6 adopting a noise standard that is more
7 restrictive than the Illinois Pollution Control
8 Board standards. It's existing ordinance
9 10-15-3 and it limits the increase in ambient
10 noise levels to 3-decibels in residential areas
11 and 8-decibels in industrial and commercial
12 areas. However, this existing ordinance does
13 not apply to land zoned agricultural because
14 County officials, understandably, did not want
15 to impose noise restriction -- noise
16 restrictions on farming operations. This is a
17 farming community. Our comprehensive plan talks
18 about preserving prime farmland and preserving
19 the farm heritage of the community. But nobody
20 wants to impose noise regulations on -- and now
21 I'm quoting from your zoning code, bona fide
22 agricultural uses. Nobody wants to impose noise
23 regulations on bona fide agricultural uses.
24 Nobody wants to place noise restrictions on
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3282
1 agricultural operations. But by definition,
2 industrial wind turbines are not bona fide
3 agricultural uses. They are a special use, and
4 you have the authority and the responsibility,
5 granted by State statute, to impose special
6 restrictions on special uses in order to make
7 them compatible with existing land uses. So in
8 answer to Mr. Fassler's question, how would a
9 wind turbine noise standard be enforced? I say,
10 again, the same way you enforce your existing
11 noise standards. Also, the same way you intend
12 to enforce complaints related to shadow flicker,
13 health issues, TV reception, cellphone drops,
14 and lost GPS signals. The bottom line is: If
15 the County is not prepared to address complaints
16 arouse -- arising from noise, shadow flicker,
17 and signal interference, etcetera, then you
18 should not be improving -- approving this
19 petition.
20 The proposed conditions also included --
21 the proposed conditions included, in the
22 Petitioner's application, contained a 30-hour
23 per year limit on shadow flicker. A limitation
24 that is not restrictive enough to protect people
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3283
1 from excess shadow flicker. And 30 hours is a
2 huge increase over the 10-hour limit that the
3 Zoning Board recommended in their proposed
4 ordinance. If anyone on the Zoning Board is
5 thinking of approving this petition, first you
6 need to set meaningful shadow flicker guidelines
7 in your conditions. Setting an annual limit, 30
8 hours a year, is somewhat of an industry
9 standard that was made up by the industry
10 itself. It's another example of why you
11 shouldn't let the Petitioner write their own
12 regulations. First off, it's not measurable or
13 enforceable. If you have a shadow flicker
14 complaint, do you expect the property owner to
15 log shadow flicker over the course of a year
16 before you determine that the complaint is
17 valid?
18 Secondly, Mainstream used this cloudiness
19 factor where they reduced the actual amount of
20 shadow flicker by 61 percent, and then that's
21 the number that they compared to the
22 30-hour-per-year limit. It makes their numbers
23 look better, but if you think about it, it
24 doesn't really make sense. And the result is,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3284
1 that the actual shadow flicker that occurs over
2 a period of time could be far more than the
3 model's prediction. The Petitioner said that
4 they reduced the actual projected shadow flicker
5 based on data from Rockford that says over the
6 course of the year it's cloudy 61 percent of the
7 time. Now that's not a rule from the Illinois
8 shadow flicker control board, that's just
9 something they do. Let's say for argument sake
10 that that's true. In any given year, 61 percent
11 of the time it's cloudy. Let's take that as a
12 given, just for this argument. It doesn't mean
13 that 61 percent of the month of June is going to
14 be cloudy or 61 percent of the second half of
15 June is going to be cloudy or 61 percent of next
16 week is going to be cloudy. You can't take an
17 average over a year and apply it to a shorter
18 period of time and expect an accurate or
19 meaningful result. So the reason that it's not
20 appropriate to use a 61 percent reduction for
21 cloudiness is because shadow flicker does not
22 occur evenly over the course of a year for the
23 people that are affected. So while the model
24 takes away 61 percent of the shadow flicker, it
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3285
1 may not work that way in real life. Let's say
2 there's a two-week period where a home will
3 receive between 30 and 45 minutes of shadow
4 flicker a day, and let's just say for
5 simplicity, it averages 40 minutes for 14 days.
6 That's 560 minutes of shadow flicker considering
7 full sun. That's 9 hours and 20 minutes. Now,
8 let's just say that during that period we have
9 12 days of sun and two days of clouds, perhaps
10 that's not average, but it's not unreasonable
11 either. The model, including the 61 percent
12 reduction for cloudiness, would predict 218
13 minutes of shadow flicker and that's 560 minutes
14 times 39 percent for a total of 218 minutes or 3
15 hours and 38 minutes of shadow flicker. Using
16 my example of 12 days of sun in 14 days, which
17 again, is not average, but it's not unreasonable
18 either, the actual shadow flicker would be eight
19 hours of shadow flicker, that's 560 times 12
20 divide -- divided by 14 equals 418-- 480 minutes
21 or eight hours. That's more than double the
22 model's prediction.
23 The Applicant proposes a 30-hour-per-year
24 limit. Mrs. Draper, who lives in the Big Sky
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3286
1 wind project, testified that from mid November
2 through December, she got between 20 minutes and
3 45 minutes per day on the days that the sun was
4 out. Now, depending on how much sun we got in
5 that time period, she may have been over 30
6 hours per year or under it. But either way,
7 what reasonable person would conclude that the
8 amount of shadow flicker was acceptable? People
9 living near winds farms get to the point of
10 praying that it's going to be cloudy out.
11 That's just wrong. That is an intrusion that
12 should not be allowed. And one final note on
13 shadow flicker, and I may have people on both
14 sides of the argument disagreeing with me.
15 There's been a big debate on whether you should
16 consider regulating shadow flicker outside the
17 home. The Applicant's model does not. Others
18 want to limit shadow flicker anywhere on their
19 property. Perhaps a reasonable compromise would
20 be to include the home and some distance, maybe
21 a couple hundred feet beyond the home, to
22 protect outside living areas. Now, that's not
23 a -- that's not a perfect solution. It does not
24 address Miss Ackerson's concern with the effect
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3287
1 of shadow flicker on her horses. It does not
2 address Mr. Guither's issue with shadow flicker
3 bothering him when he's out working in the
4 fields. Those issues still need to be
5 addressed, but at least it's compromise. But
6 whatever you come up with, the Petitioner's
7 suggested shadow flicker limit is completely
8 unacceptable, and it fits no sane person's
9 definition of reasonable.
10 Property values have already been covered,
11 so I will be brief. But remember that a primary
12 function of zoning, according to the Zoning Code
13 and the Comprehensive Plan, is to protect
14 property values in the County. You recognized
15 this and put a Property Value Protection Plan in
16 your proposed ordinance. I'm asking you to add
17 it back to the special use conditions. The
18 Applicant says you don't need one because they
19 have a Good Neighbor Agreement. Good Neighbor
20 Agreements do not protect property values. And
21 by the way, Good Neighbor Agreements provide
22 validation as to all these adverse effects that
23 we're speaking of with respect to wind turbines.
24 Good Neighbor Agreements and Property Value
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3288
1 Protection programs have completely different
2 purposes. Good Neighbor policies provide
3 payments to those who are willing to stay and
4 live with the negative impacts of wind turbines.
5 They do nothing for those who want to sell their
6 homes and leave. Good Neighbor Agreements
7 benefit those who are willing to stay. Property
8 Value Protection programs benefit those who need
9 to leave. If a Property Value Protection
10 program is too complicated, the answer is not to
11 delete it from the conditions. If you can't
12 protect property values, the answer is just to
13 not allow the special use.
14 One of the issues that's kind of taken a
15 backseat to issues of noise and shadow flicker
16 and property values is the red blinking aviation
17 lights. Mr. Guither testified to it. Mr.
18 Porter brought it up in his closing with respect
19 to the Obstacle Collision Avoidance System
20 that's now approved by the FHWA and should be
21 included in the conditions. In your
22 deliberations, please recognize this as a
23 significant intrusion. It's yet another example
24 of how wind turbines are not compatible with
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3289
1 places of habitation. When I drive down
2 Illinois 38 between Dixon and Franklin Grove on
3 my way home from work, I look south and see red
4 flashing lights miles and miles away. But I've
5 also driven on roads where I'm surrounded by the
6 lights, driving through the middle of the wind
7 tur -- or the wind farm. I can't begin to
8 describe how unnatural and how wrong it is.
9 Don't let your only perspective of this
10 particular issue be from 20 to 30 miles away.
11 Go to eastern Lee County or to Ohio at night and
12 see for yourself and get an appreciation for the
13 magnitude of the intrusion. Get the perspective
14 of those who have been forced to live surrounded
15 by these red flashing lights and ask yourselves,
16 is it right to ask people to live in this
17 environment?
18 In his closing statement, Doug Lee said
19 that there will be little or no effect on the
20 character of the neighborhood because you can
21 still farm on the land used to host wind
22 turbines. The fact that you can still farm near
23 wind turbines is true. But where he's deceiving
24 you is in his definition of the word character.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3290
1 Character is not the same as use. Use may be a
2 part of what makes up character, the character
3 of Lee County, but it's more than that. Think
4 of a non-wind turbine example. Lee County and
5 Jo Daviess County are both primarily
6 agricultural in nature, primarily agricultural
7 in use; but their character is different.
8 Jo Daviess is rolling, Lee County is relatively
9 flat. The visual and aesthetic features are a
10 component of character. They have different
11 characters, but the same use. One's not better
12 than the other, they're just different.
13 Character does not mean use. The introduction
14 of 50 or more wind turbines will certainly
15 change the aesthetic quality of the area. You
16 can't say that the wind turbines didn't change
17 the character of eastern Lee and western DeKalb
18 Counties. You can't say that wind turbines
19 didn't change the character of the area in the
20 Big Sky Wind project around Ohio. There's no
21 way that you can say that the Green River Wind
22 project will not change the character of the
23 land in East Grove and Hamilton Townships. Mr.
24 Lee said that, but he substitutes the word
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3291
1 character for use, and he hopes you're not
2 paying attention. How can you permanently alter
3 the landscape with 500-foot high wind turbines
4 without changing the character of the area?
5 Regarding property rights. Please
6 consider the property rights of all people who
7 may be impacted by this special use not just
8 those wishing to host wind turbines. Some
9 people have tried to argue that they have the
10 right to do what they want on their property,
11 and if they want to put up industrial wind
12 turbines, their neighbors should not be able to
13 stop them. That's simply not true. Wind
14 turbines are special uses that by definition, in
15 your County code, would not generally be
16 appropriate. No one has the inherent right to
17 put up a wind turbine, especially, if by doing
18 so, you infringe upon the rights of your
19 neighbors. If by doing so, you take away their
20 right to the peaceful enjoyment of their
21 property. That's why we have zoning
22 regulations.
23 As far as natural areas go, I have one
24 sentence. Go with what the IDNR has
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3292
1 recommended. You have no basis to go with
2 anything else.
3 So in conclusion, the petition should be
4 denied on the basis that the existing Lee County
5 Zoning Ordinance for wind energy systems and the
6 proposed special use conditions provided by the
7 Petitioner are not sufficient to protect the
8 health, safety, and welfare of the people of Lee
9 County. Nor are they sufficient to protect
10 property values or ensure that the proposed
11 special use will be compatible with existing
12 land uses.
13 Does it have the potential to create some
14 jobs? Mostly temporary. And can it bring in
15 additional revenue and taxes? Yes. But you
16 can't just look at this and disregard everything
17 else and call it a net positive. Forget about
18 the noise and the shadow flicker and the health
19 issues and the property value loss, and let's
20 just approve it because it creates some
21 temporary jobs and some tax revenue. If that's
22 the way you want to look at it, float gambling
23 boats up and down the Rock River that will
24 create jobs and bring in revenue. Legalize
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3293
1 prostitution, that will create jobs and revenue.
2 Legalize drugs, and tax the heck out of it that
3 will create revenue. We don't care about the
4 negative impacts, right? I apologize for
5 comparing wind turbines to gambling,
6 prostitution, and drugs, but it was just an
7 analogy.
8 Without additional placement and
9 operational guidelines, an industrial wind farm
10 of this magnitude will, in all likelihood, cause
11 some, if not all, of the same problems that are
12 occurring in other wind farms as brought into
13 evidence during these proceedings. All of them
14 being examples of how the proposed special use
15 will not be compatible with existing land uses.
16 The placement and operational guidelines that
17 the Petitioner has included in their proposed
18 special use conditions, fall short in all the
19 important areas: Setbacks, noise limitations,
20 shadow flicker regulations, property value
21 protection, and decommissioning. For any of you
22 thinking of approving this special use request,
23 you owe it to the people of Lee County,
24 especially the people of Hamilton and East Grove
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3294
1 Townships, to justify your positions. I say
2 this because based on the evidence provided over
3 these seven long months, no reasonable person
4 could vote to approve this project. Thank you.
5 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
6 Kim Schertz? Marcia Thompson?
7 MS. THOMPSON: My name is Marcia Thompson,
8 and I live at 251 Illinois Highway 26 in Ohio,
9 Illinois. I do live in Lee County.
10 I wish to thank the -- you Board members
11 for all the many hours you have spent listening
12 to these proceedings and not falling asleep at
13 times. I understand this is the time to allow
14 to us to speak our feelings concerning these
15 turbines and perhaps give you some suggestions
16 as to how we feel you should proceed. Although
17 I was a teacher, I feel very uncomfortable in
18 this position, and so please bear with me.
19 First of all, I would like to say that Mr.
20 Lee hasn't figured out yet that not all people
21 like to be public speakers; and, therefore, some
22 of us did not wish to testify. Had all of us
23 testified, we would still be back in that phase
24 of the proceedings.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3295
1 I hope you have noticed that except for a
2 few, which I can count on one hand, the many
3 people who have attended these hearings night
4 after night, have not been those who are in
5 favor of having these turbines in our area.
6 Just the fact that we have attended almost as
7 many as you have attended, should explain how
8 important this is to us.
9 These are the undisputable facts. The
10 revised ordinance was not passed by the County
11 Board, so we revert back to the previous
12 ordinance which is lacking in many, many ways.
13 That ordinance states nine requirements for an
14 application. I will make this very simple.
15 Consider this scenario: As a teacher, I give my
16 students an assignment to write a three-page
17 paper on the subject of their choice. There are
18 three requirements: It must be at least three
19 pages long, there must be a title page, and
20 there must be documentation of any source.
21 Pretty simple, right? If a paper comes in that
22 lacks any one or all of these simple
23 requirements, the paper is of no value and
24 receives an F. Or perhaps it may be returned to
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3296
1 the student to remedy the situation. In no way
2 would I go through and mark any errors in the
3 paper itself to be corrected. The request was
4 for three simple things that were essential and
5 they had to be there. Now, compare this with --
6 to the applicant by the wind company --
7 application by the wind company. They knew they
8 had to go by the old ordinance, or at least they
9 should have known. I had knew that. That
10 ordinance stated nine requirements, among which
11 were decommission plan, description of the
12 turbines to be used, and the legal description
13 of exactly where each turbine would be placed.
14 These are undisputable facts. Over and over,
15 when Mr. Porter questioned Mr. Martin about
16 these nine requirements, Mr. Martin's answer was
17 that these were not in the application. Red
18 flag. Over and over again, do you remember
19 that, so what did you do? A motion was made to
20 dismiss the hearings and was voted down, so
21 these hearings went on. What was the point in
22 going ahead and considering the application,
23 like the incomplete three-page paper, when it
24 could not have passed anyway? Instead, we have
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3297
1 gone through these 26 plus hearings, spent lots
2 of money on expert witnesses and attorneys, paid
3 you five, and I assume you are being paid,
4 wasted all this electricity in this big room,
5 paid the policeman to sit through all this,
6 wasted a lot of fuel by all of us driving into
7 Dixon these many times, and it is obvious that
8 the application did not meet the requirements.
9 These wind farm people claim to be
10 professionals and have experience in this area.
11 Why could they not follow the proper ordinance?
12 Indeed, they have benefited from Mr. Porter's
13 hard work and knowledge because now they know
14 much more about how to prepare their
15 application. As he pointed out, there are
16 numerous errors. Mr. Porter has ended up being
17 their tutor. Compare this again to the
18 three-page paper. Had I gone ahead and marked
19 errors in the body of the report and allowed the
20 student to submit the paper again, would that
21 have been fair to the other students? I think
22 not.
23 I believe that this Green River project
24 will be sold to a foreign group as soon as
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3298
1 possible, which opens up another can of worms.
2 People will be scampering to learn a variety of
3 languages, not knowing if it will it be Chinese,
4 Japanese, Hindu, or whatever. You only have to
5 talk to Matt Boss a few minutes to notice that
6 he is from Ireland. Illegal immigration is a
7 problem in our country, but the larger problem
8 is all the foreign property owners.
9 I cannot see that you have any option at
10 all. The application was completely
11 unacceptable. If these professionals cannot
12 figure out that none of the nine requirements,
13 not even one of the nine, were actually
14 required, I would certainly not give them a
15 second chance. Don't pay attention to the
16 almighty dollar. Vote to deny this application.
17 I also have a different angle on this.
18 Some of you will think I am very old and cranky,
19 but I wish you would consider what I have to
20 say. Our country is not in -- is now in really
21 bad shape financially and morally. Even though
22 I am older than all of you, I believe, I still
23 have all my marbles and can make my own
24 decisions. But when the government allows
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3299
1 private companies to place turbines in areas
2 where they are not wanted and where they
3 negatively effect the quality of life of the
4 people, I am very concerned. History has shown
5 that countries where government has taken over
6 the rights and welfare of its citizens, not
7 allowing them to make their own decisions for
8 themselves and their property, you end up not in
9 a democracy, but in a socialistic or communistic
10 society. I do not need the government to
11 control my health care, control any means of
12 self protection I may have, to determine how
13 much I contribute and to which charity --
14 charitable cause, to decide whether I can drink
15 Coca Cola or not, or force me to pay for
16 abortions through taxes. Yet with all these
17 subsidies our government is handing out to these
18 winds energy people, we, as taxpayers, are
19 actually paying in some way for these guys
20 sitting over here who are trying to place
21 turbines where they will harm us. This is
22 democracy? One of the greatest values of being
23 citizens of our country is our freedom. The
24 land of the free and the home of the brave. We
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3300
1 also have the right to life, liberty, and the
2 pursuit of happiness. But the right to life is
3 no longer assured in our country and our liberty
4 to own property and defend it is being
5 challenged. In addition, we are not guaranteed
6 happiness, only the right to pursue it.
7 Government is not responsible for one's
8 happiness.
9 In summary, I see the placing of these
10 turbines in an area where they are not wanted as
11 an infringement upon our rights as homeowners.
12 Once they are up and running, with much
13 financial help from the government subsidies, do
14 you really believe they will be able to keep
15 going on their own? I fear they will not be
16 running in 20 years or so, and we will be
17 looking at ugly, old broken down junk as our
18 neighbors. I believe the Lee County Ordinance
19 is not strong enough to protect the residents
20 and the County from the expense of
21 decommissioning, road repairs, tile damage,
22 etcetera, should Mainstream or any other wind
23 developer file Chapter 11, such as Big Sky,
24 which is just a few miles south of my house, has
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3301
1 done in December of 2012.
2 If any of you Board members have not
3 driven the 20 or so miles south to Ohio's Big
4 Sky project, you are remiss in your
5 responsibilities. If it is sunny, you will
6 notice the shadow flicker across the highway.
7 And perhaps you will hear the noise we have
8 reported. Visit with a non-participat --
9 participating homeowners. Don't bother those
10 who are participants since they seem to have
11 lost some of their hearing and their sight,
12 perhaps from counting their money. Please
13 listen and consider what we are saying. We
14 have -- you have no opinion -- no option. The
15 application is obviously unacceptable, so deny
16 it. Thank you.
17 JUDGE SLAVIN: Frank Schirer or Scherer
18 (phonetic)? Dennis Thompson?
19 MR. THOMPSON: Good evening. I'll keep
20 this short. I'm the superintendent -- one of
21 the superintendents of Bureau valley School
22 District. And, obviously, the wind energy
23 would -- or is at least, a ecological,
24 economical item for us to discuss. We know that
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3302
1 our State aid is being reduced every year, and
2 we also know the property taxes contribute to an
3 income for us. The wind turbine value would
4 increase that component. It helps us to
5 maintain programs that we have to consider,
6 their value and what we can afford to continue
7 to offer at our school district, and so these
8 are the realities that we face in the current
9 situation. So if the rules and regulations that
10 you're speaking to tonight and the many people
11 that have spoken before me are being addressed
12 and met, within the framework of the ordinances
13 that you have in place, then I would recommend
14 that it be approved. Thank you.
15 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
16 Rita Hanna?
17 MS. HANNA: Hi, my name is Rita Hanna, and
18 I'll only take a minute of your precious time.
19 As to my background, I grew up in
20 Sheffield, Illinois, near a nuclear dump site,
21 and I saw the side effects of that dump site.
22 Even potential decommissioning problems, health
23 related, do not compare with the problems of a
24 dump site and the health and welfare of those
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3303
1 citizens around that dump site.
2 I graduated from Northern Illinois with a
3 Bachelor's Degree in accounting. I started
4 working at Walnut Grade School in 1985 and have
5 been the Walnut -- and have been with Walnut
6 Grade School, which became Bureau Valley, for 28
7 years as a district bookkeeper. Nineteen of
8 those years, I lived in Hamilton Township in Lee
9 County.
10 If I still farmed in that area, I would
11 promote the wind farm project for a number of
12 reasons, but still would have the responsible
13 attitude that it is an individual choice of each
14 landowner, and they had would have a right to
15 say what happens with their property, and I
16 would expect the same consideration from my
17 neighbors.
18 As far as Bureau Valley School District is
19 concerned, we, like many other school districts
20 are facing the reality of decreased State
21 revenues. We need to figure out alternative
22 local funding sources. Without increased local
23 contributions, our children will be greatly
24 affected. Our school district will have to make
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3304
1 cuts to multiple programs which will directly
2 impact our children and future generations.
3 When we reduce our school to a bare minimum and
4 sacrifice the education of our children. We
5 will not be able to attract citizens to our
6 district and the three counties that comprise
7 our district. Rural schools have already been
8 reducing in size and this will continue if we
9 are not able to offer a high-quality education
10 to our children, who are the future citizens.
11 Currently, I do not see an abundance of
12 building or development in our area, and we need
13 to encourage any industries that will locate in
14 our County and our school district. I
15 personally know an architect that will be
16 speaking at the end of this month at the World
17 Sustainable Energy Days in Austria. Her firm is
18 the only Americans that will be speaking, as the
19 United States is so far behind the world in
20 sustainable energy sources. I had the great
21 opportunity to attend a wind energy conference
22 in Chicago, and there were so many intelligent,
23 visionary, forward-thinking people at this
24 conference. This is a global issue, not just
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3305
1 Lee County, and we need to look at the whole
2 picture of our nation and the ability to
3 conserve our resources, slow down global
4 warming, promote local jobs, help our schools,
5 and our local economies.
6 Thank you for your time.
7 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
8 Gary Hanna?
9 MR. ROBERY: Judge Slavin, I have an
10 objection.
11 JUDGE SLAVIN: What's that?
12 MR. ROBERY: This is supposed to be
13 closing statements based on testimony --
14 JUDGE SLAVIN: And opinions and feelings.
15 Nobody's -- these folks have not yet said
16 anything out -- evidentiary outside.
17 MR. ROBERY: They have not attended any of
18 the prior hearings.
19 JUDGE SLAVIN: You want me to start
20 counting heads and who's been here the most
21 times?
22 Mr. Hanna.
23 MR. HANNA: I'm here to speak in reference
24 to claims of the economic impact of this wind
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3306
1 project.
2 My name is Gary Hanna, I live in
3 Princeton, Illinois. I retired on disability
4 from the Princeton Fire Department as Fire Chief
5 in 2009. I was on the Bureau County Board for
6 10 years and the Princeton High School Board for
7 four years. While on the County Board, I had
8 the opportunity to vote in favor of the Crescent
9 Ridge Wind project. Crescent Ridge provided
10 many jobs during the construction phase, filled
11 our hotels and restaurants, local businesses,
12 such as concrete plants --
13 JUDGE SLAVIN: Mr. Hanna, you are getting
14 outside of the scope of closing argument. You
15 can't bring in new evidence and you're telling
16 people -- you're not under oath and nobody has a
17 chance to cross-examine you.
18 MR. HANNA: I understand, I was just
19 trying to explain.
20 JUDGE SLAVIN: Nope, nope.
21 MR. HANNA: Okay. Thank you.
22 JUDGE SLAVIN: Okay, thank you.
23 Shirley Magnuson?
24 MS. MAGNUSON: Good evening, Gentlemen.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3307
1 JUDGE SLAVIN: Shirley, I'm sorry to
2 interrupt. My court reporter has reminded me,
3 I've stopped asking people for the spelling of
4 their name and address, if you would.
5 MS. MAGNUSON: Should I go ahead?
6 JUDGE SLAVIN: Just your name and address,
7 please.
8 MS. MAGNUSON: Okay. Shirley Magnuson,
9 125 Eakle Road, Walnut, Illinois. I'm from
10 Hamilton Township.
11 My husband, Dale and I, have been farming
12 since 1953, almost 60 years. I will be brief,
13 unlike our opposition.
14 While I appreciate Mr. Gonigam, Mr. White,
15 and Mr. Geldean repeatedly bringing up drainage
16 issues and their concerns of what damage -- what
17 damage large cranes would do to our farm, our
18 land, and to our field tile, where were they
19 when we took all of their water onto our farm?
20 Over the years as they drained their fields, we
21 added tile --
22 JUDGE SLAVIN: Miss Magnuson, you're doing
23 it, too. I'm sorry, but you can't -- you just
24 can't bring in new stuff. You just can't do it,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3308
1 it's not fair. You're telling them about how --
2 how the drain -- how something -- unless I'm not
3 recalling some testimony, you're bringing in new
4 things.
5 MS. MAGNUSON: I see.
6 JUDGE SLAVIN: Well, does any Board member
7 remember testimony about drainage coming onto
8 the Magnuson Farm?
9 (WHEREUPON, there was no verbal
10 response by the Board members.)
11 JUDGE SLAVIN: I don't. Was there
12 testimony about drainage coming onto your farm?
13 MS. MAGNUSON: I don't remember. I've
14 been --
15 JUDGE SLAVIN: I don't think so. I don't
16 remember either, but --
17 MS. MAGNUSON: -- I've been to so many
18 meetings. Okay. I'll go on.
19 JUDGE SLAVIN: Okay, thank you.
20 MS. MAGNUSON: Now they want to stop us
21 from getting wind turbines. They did not take
22 the risk to own our land; we did. They did not
23 place or pay for the field tile to drain our
24 fields; we did. This is absolutely a property
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3309
1 rights issue. They have a right to say, no. We
2 have right to say, yes. This is the difference
3 between us, and I thank you.
4 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you. Charles
5 Laskonis?
6 Would you state your name and address and
7 spell your last name for --
8 MR. LASKONIS: It's Charles Laskonis,
9 L-A-S-K-O-N-I-S, and I live in Rockford,
10 Illinois, 1815 Vernon Street.
11 Well, good evening, thank you to the
12 Members of the Lee County Zoning Board for
13 allowing me this opportunity to address you
14 concerning the Green River Wind Farm project.
15 Today I'm here before you as
16 representative of the Northwestern Illinois
17 Building Trades and also the Electrical Worker's
18 Union. I have the distinct -- I have the
19 distinct pleasure of testifying on behalf of the
20 highly-skilled workers in the Counties of Lee,
21 Whiteside, and Bureau --
22 JUDGE SLAVIN: Just so you're not
23 confused, Mr. Laskonis, you are not testifying.
24 THE WITNESS: Okay.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3310
1 JUDGE SLAVIN: Gotta get this straight,
2 you're not under oath; you're not subject to
3 cross-examination.
4 MR. LASKONIS: Okay.
5 JUDGE SLAVIN: I don't want people to get
6 confused of the difference.
7 MR. LASKONIS: Okay. I'm here to speak on
8 behalf of the highly-skilled workers of Lee,
9 Whiteside, and Bureau Counties which is where
10 this project will hopefully be built.
11 There are over a thousand building trade
12 workers, who are productive and outstanding
13 citizens of these three counties. If you
14 include their family members, it more than
15 doubles that number. Many of these workers, as
16 many as 400, will have the opportunity to be put
17 to work on this project, should you do the
18 responsible thing and approve this special use
19 permit.
20 Due to our slow economy, the unemployment
21 rate in the construction sector can be as much
22 as 10 points or even higher than the State
23 level. This not only has a negative effect on
24 our members, it also has a negative effect on
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3311
1 businesses in our communities because these
2 members are consumers that greatly curtail their
3 spending which, of course, we all know has a
4 negative ripple effect on businesses in our
5 communities. It also hurts our government
6 bodies because if there's less pay and less
7 spending, there's less tax revenue taken in by
8 governmental bodies.
9 Putting people to work in good-paying jobs
10 will help divert these negative effects. A
11 great figure in American history wrote, of all
12 the forces in nature, I think that the wind
13 contains the largest amount of motive power.
14 Take any given space on the earth's surface, for
15 instance, Illinois, and all the power exerted by
16 all the men, beasts, running water and steam
17 over and upon it shall not equal 100 parts of
18 what is exhibited by the blowing of the wind
19 over upon the same place. And yesterday is not
20 so far away in the world's history to become as
21 wind power. It is applied extensively and
22 advantageously to sail vessels as in navigation.
23 Add to this a few windmills and pumps and you
24 have about all. As idea the wind untamed,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3312
1 unharnessed force and quite possibly one of the
2 greatest discoveries hereinafter to be made, the
3 taming and harnessing of it. Sections of this
4 great statement can be viewed all over our
5 country and even here in the old Lee Court --
6 Lee County Courthouse. That man with such great
7 foresight was soon to be president, Abraham
8 Lincoln, and he was right.
9 I urge you to use the same wisdom that
10 Abraham Lincoln utilized back in 1836. Do the
11 responsible thing for our communities. Pass
12 this ordinance and put the hard-working,
13 construction sector people of Lee County back to
14 work. It stands to benefit us all. Thank you.
15 JUDGE SLAVIN: David Cargall -- Cargill.
16 Spell your -- or state your name and spell it
17 for my court reporter, please, and address.
18 MR. CARGILL: My name is David Cargill, my
19 address is 2028 Prairie Road in Ashton,
20 Illinois.
21 Gentlemen, I'll be brief tonight. I'm a
22 Lee County resident. I've lived here my whole
23 life. I am also a wireman. These wind farms
24 provide a very good source of income for me and
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3313
1 my family. In the past couple years, I've just
2 about been the sole source of income for me and
3 my family.
4 The opposition tonight, you know, it seems
5 everybody's come up with an excuse, but
6 everybody's overlooking the main beneficiaries
7 of this project which are the schools and our
8 children. And I think to deny a project like
9 this to go on would be wrong and not in the best
10 interest for our children and our schools.
11 Thank you.
12 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
13 Ladies and Gentlemen, that completes my
14 half sheets for those wishing to make closing
15 statements. Under the rules, is there anybody
16 else wishing to make a closing who has not given
17 either an oral statement or a written one?
18 I saw that hand first.
19 MS. HARTMAN: I've got about a half hour,
20 30 minutes.
21 JUDGE SLAVIN: Do you really?
22 MS. HARTMAN: Pardon?
23 JUDGE SLAVIN: Do you?
24 MS. HARTMAN: Yes.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3314
1 JUDGE SLAVIN: How long do you have,
2 about?
3 MS. ZIMMERLEIN: Pardon?
4 JUDGE SLAVIN: I know you're having a hard
5 time hearing me. About how long do you think
6 you'll be?
7 MS. ZIMMERLEIN: One page.
8 JUDGE SLAVIN: I'm going to leave this one
9 up to you.
10 MR. FORSTER: I say yes.
11 JUDGE SLAVIN: Two more speakers and keep
12 going or --
13 MR. FORSTER: Well, I have a question --
14 my question is: If there are no other speakers
15 as of tonight, are there more for tomorrow?
16 JUDGE SLAVIN: No, we're done.
17 MR. FORSTER: Then we're done. I say we
18 continue tonight and finish.
19 JUDGE SLAVIN: You guys want to continue?
20 You're still with it? All right.
21 You're -- I just saw your hand first,
22 that's why.
23 MS. HARTMAN: That's fine.
24 JUDGE SLAVIN: Remember name and address,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3315
1 please.
2 MS. HARTMAN: Elizabeth Hartman, 1887
3 Bureau Road, Sublette Township, LaMoille,
4 Illinois.
5 I want to thank the members of the Zoning
6 Board and Judge Slavin for their patience and
7 fairness throughout these proceedings.
8 Well, we're finally getting to the end of
9 this. You've heard a lot of testimony from both
10 experts and residents. You've also seen the
11 same 25, 30 people in attendance just about
12 every meeting. Almost all of these people are
13 against the project. These are the people who
14 care the most. These are the people who are
15 against the turbines. Where have all the
16 participating landowners been? Are they not
17 interested in these proceedings? They don't
18 seem to care enough about this project to show
19 up. Which people do you think you should listen
20 to, the ones that care and show up all the time
21 or the ones that don't show up at all. Some of
22 the participating landowners, I've heard -- uhm,
23 it's my belief that they're already sorry that
24 they signed up for the turbines.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3316
1 I, too, used to be for wind energy, and I
2 still am in a way. The problem is, it affects
3 more people than just the people that want to
4 put turbines on their property. It is a good
5 source of energy, but it seems to affect a lot
6 of other people. Uhm, why can't we put these in
7 places where it takes 4 or 5 acres to keep one
8 cow fed every year, you know, where it doesn't
9 bother anybody? Put -- Chicago uses all this
10 electricity, put it out in Lake Michigan where
11 it's not going to bother anybody, and Chicago
12 can use all that electricity.
13 Uhm, when I moved to the Huntley -- from
14 the Huntley area, I saw the development that was
15 going on there, and I was amazed at how few
16 residents of Huntley cared about this huge
17 development that was coming in to the property.
18 We don't have the same here. These people in
19 Hamilton Township have put a lot of money, a lot
20 of time, and a lot of effort into zoning -- into
21 trying to have you understand how they feel.
22 Uhm, I started looking for farm ground when I
23 could see this development coming in Huntley. I
24 probably took almost over two years to find a
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3317
1 spot. The reason I chose the area I did was
2 everybody cared about what their farms looked
3 like. All the road sides were mowed, everybody
4 had their yards meticulously mowed. All the
5 building sites that were dilapidated had been
6 torn down, only the building sites that looked
7 good. You know, everybody cared how this area
8 looked, and that's why I chose this area. I
9 think if I knew now -- if I know -- back then,
10 if I knew now what -- I wouldn't -- I don't
11 think I would choose this area because of all
12 the turbines that are here.
13 The night landscape, like when I go home
14 from these hearings at night, I go and for miles
15 you can see the lights that are blinking on and
16 off all the way from north of Mendota all the
17 way up to 30. There must be hundreds of them.
18 And we need them to keep the planes and
19 everybody safe, but it is such an intrusive --
20 intrusion on to the night landscape. Farmers
21 and other people moved to this area because they
22 like the views, the quiet atmosphere, fresh air,
23 and the people that are here. Most of these
24 people have strong values and a handshake is as
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3318
1 good as their contract. These are the people
2 who help each other and work with their
3 neighbors. They like the fresh air, they like
4 to keep the windows open, even in the heat.
5 They work and they play outside. They don't
6 spend much time in the home. They are in the
7 yard, tending to their garden, making their yard
8 look very nice and getting machinery ready for
9 the next season. These are the people that Mr.
10 Martin said should lock themselves in the house,
11 put shutters, blinds on all their windows, so
12 you can't see any of the shadow flicker or hear
13 any of the noise from the 500-foot tall
14 turbines. Is this how you are going to protect
15 non-participating landowners and their property
16 rights? How can they work or play in their
17 yards? And this is after Mainstream says in
18 their brochure that no homes should have to
19 suffer from shadow flicker at all. Now they
20 think it is okay to shuffer -- suffer from
21 shadow flicker. Or as Mr. Martin says, it is
22 appropriate it to have the shadow flicker.
23 Sure, he can say that, he doesn't have to the
24 live there. Please, make them live up to their
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3319
1 promise of no homes should have to suffer any
2 shadow flicker.
3 You, the Zoning Board and the County
4 Board, are charged with protection of our
5 property rights. I realize those that want
6 turbines also need their property rights
7 protected. But I believe anyone should be able
8 to do what they want with their property within
9 zoning ordinances, as long as it doesn't
10 interfere with the neighboring property owners'
11 rights. And I consider the following to be just
12 some of the property rights that I want
13 protected: Being able to sleep, work in and
14 around my home without noise, lights, or shadow
15 flicker. No. 2, to be able to sell my home or
16 property for as much as the market allows
17 without the consequences of being in the middle
18 of an industrial wind complex. And three, to be
19 able to aerial spray my crops when and where I
20 need, as long as I follow all the rules and
21 regulations the EPA sets forth.
22 Be very careful about your setbacks also
23 on participating landowners' property. Any
24 future owner of these parcels will be severely
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3320
1 limited on what they should be able to do with
2 their land. Sometimes you even have to protect
3 the people from themselves for their future
4 generations. These wind complexes are pitting
5 neighbor against neighbor and family member
6 against family member and this will still go on
7 for generations and generations. I think its
8 atrocious what these turbine companies do to
9 most of our precious resources, our people and
10 our farm ground. Even by their figure, turbines
11 take at least a half acre of ground out of
12 production, and I believe that figure's closer
13 to an acre-and-a-half to 2 acres per turbine out
14 of production. Farmers have learned to take
15 care of the soil, and it will take care of you.
16 Putting up these turbine -- turbines is not
17 taking care of our soil. Construction crews
18 drive heavy equipment all over participating
19 landowners and non-participating landowners'
20 soils, dumping huge amounts of cement in large
21 holes is not taking care of the soil.
22 If you believe the best predictors of
23 future performance is past performance, then you
24 have to believe that Mainstream will not be
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3321
1 around very long after it gets its permits.
2 That's when everything needs to be spelled out
3 in writing, and there also needs to be someone
4 around to enforce these rules. How many times
5 will non-participating landowners have to report
6 to the County sheriff's office when construction
7 crews drive across their land? What kind of
8 re -- what kind of recourse are these
9 non-participating landowners going to have when
10 construction companies continue to do this?
11 There must be some sort of simple resolution to
12 make a construction company stay on
13 participating ground.
14 Before you make your final decision, ask
15 yourself if you really believe Mainstream has
16 followed every aspect of each part of the
17 proposed wind ordinance they said they would
18 follow. If they have not followed that wind
19 ordinance, then who's going to make them? You,
20 as the Zoning Board of Appeals, needs to spell
21 out these restrictions in writing and not leave
22 it up to the interpretation by one person in 10,
23 20, or even 70 years from now. You need someone
24 to enforce the ordinance and levy heavy fines
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3322
1 for not complying. Fines in the neighborhood of
2 10- to $20,000 for every day they are out of
3 compliance need to be levied, or they won't care
4 if they're out of compliance.
5 When it comes to decommissioning, I
6 certainly hope you don't believe their expert.
7 With the money you are getting from building
8 permits, you need to get your own expert and not
9 believe the one Main -- not believe the one
10 Mainstream has. Mr. Porter's experts said a
11 performance bond would be your best insurance
12 and that sounds kind of logical to me. I
13 believe you better have as much money as you can
14 when it comes to decommissioning because it's
15 hard to tell what costs are going to be in 20 or
16 40 or 70 years, or however long this project may
17 go. It seems as though the current wind farms
18 don't seem to be financially strong, as far as I
19 can see. First, I believe you have three
20 turbines between Mendota and Sublette, you know,
21 that have been sitting idle for three years.
22 They've been swapping parts just to keep the
23 other ones running. And I believe Suzlon, if
24 I'm not mistaken, is kind of suing Big Sky for
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3323
1 some non-payment, and I even think Big Sky has
2 even been on the verge of going bankrupt.
3 JUDGE SLAVIN: Elizabeth, let's stick to
4 the facts that were in evidence, please.
5 MS. HARTMAN: Well, I would think if these
6 turbines are so profitable, they should be able
7 to afford to get them fixed and pay for them.
8 If the companies go broke, is the County really
9 protected with their decommissioning plan?
10 Please make sure these companies put up enough
11 money in advance to protect the County and its
12 residents.
13 You've heard testimony from several
14 residents about problems they have with the
15 turbines. You've even heard one woman say she's
16 complained to your Zoning Officer numerous times
17 without any results. And I'm sure that's not
18 the only job the Zoning Officer has. He
19 probably has many duties and, you know, has a
20 lot of other things to do. And I don't know the
21 man, I'm sure he's doing a very fine job. But
22 where do these residents go to get results? And
23 are you informed of all the complaints there
24 have been? I mean, now, through these hearings,
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3324
1 you have been, but has the Zoning Officer been
2 keeping the Zoning Board and the County Board
3 informed of all the problems with these wind
4 complexes? It seems that all anybody has to say
5 to sell a project is that it's green energy, and
6 it will create a lot of jobs. Well, I
7 understand it seems like green energy, but I
8 don't think it's very green, and I really don't
9 believe it's going to create many local jobs. I
10 find it hard to call wind energy green when it
11 takes our most precious, non-renewable
12 commodity, our soil, out of production. The
13 soil in this project is very productive for corn
14 and soybeans. It is not very conducive for some
15 building projects. A lot of these soils have
16 very high water tables, and they flood easily.
17 The tile to drain these lands is very shallow
18 and is very easily broken. With all this
19 construction traffic, it's going to be very easy
20 to break tile and have hundreds of acres flooded
21 within a few hours. I find it hard to believe
22 that you won't let the farmer build a house in a
23 floodplain, but you have the possibility of
24 letting these large companies build these huge
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3325
1 turbines in a floodplain. Erecting these large
2 turbines take large specialized companies.
3 Turbine companies will hire large out-of-state
4 contractors, and they will bring in their own
5 cement plants so they have control of the
6 cement. Only a few low-paying jobs will result.
7 My question is: How many jobs will you lose
8 from these turbines? Has anybody ever thought
9 of that? Not many farmers are going to invest
10 much money in their farms if they don't know how
11 long they will be able to stay where they're at,
12 or if they will be able to sell their farms
13 because not many people want to buy in and
14 around these industrial wind complexes. Very
15 few of the participating farms will be able to
16 build anything without the turbine owners
17 approval. So they will not be able to build
18 machine sheds, grain setups, or even homes where
19 they want to build for their kids, their grand
20 kids, or great, great grand kids. Who wants to
21 buy a farm when they can't build a house or a
22 grain bin without somebody else's approval?
23 Besides the Zoning Board, no offense. With all
24 these problems, there has to be -- with all
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3326
1 these problems -- will all these problems have
2 to be disclosed to potential buyers before they
3 sell the property? So all these projects are
4 lost, along with all the jobs that go with them.
5 The towns will only be able to expand up to the
6 turbines, but who wants to have their home right
7 next to a wind complex? Now, these towns won't
8 be able to expand. They won't be able to grow
9 because of the turbines. Now, we have lost all
10 these jobs and all the towns that may want to
11 grow. So now you have thousands of acres where
12 any of the buildings will be -- any type of
13 buildings will be severely limited. More or
14 less, these are economic dead zones. Maybe you
15 don't think this is much, but these are the
16 day-to-day jobs that keep these -- that these
17 communities rely on to keep going. The more
18 wind complexes you have, the less building will
19 be going on in this County and the less people
20 will be coming into this County in the future.
21 Is this what the County wants? Little towns
22 that can't grow anymore, no new families moving
23 into the County? How many new building permits
24 have you approved lately within the borders of
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3327
1 existing industrial wind complexes. There's
2 enough in Lee County.
3 The IDNR reports have many concerns,
4 including great concerns in their reports. Mr.
5 Martin didn't see there was any scientific
6 evidence behind these reports, but he isn't the
7 scientist. The people at the IDNR are the
8 experts, and you should listen to their
9 recommendations. The IDNR also has great
10 concern for the County and Township roads. I
11 believe a nearby county had to go to court to
12 force the turbine company to fix roads after the
13 construction. Make sure it's spelled out in the
14 permits in writing. This is how the companies
15 work. They tell you something you want to hear
16 before they build it, and then they say, well,
17 it wasn't -- they weren't the cause of it or go
18 and prove it in court that it was their fault.
19 You've heard pilots testify about the
20 safety of flying around and in these industrial
21 wind complexes. With more and more farmers
22 using aerial spraying and seeding to protect
23 their crops and the soil, putting more of these
24 industrial wind complexes in Lee County will
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3328
1 only be hampering farmers in the future. You
2 need to protect non-participating neighboring
3 farmers from the extra costs of aerial spraying
4 or the extra crop loss from ground spraying.
5 And you need to put this in writing. Either
6 way, farmers need to be protected. Because as
7 you heard in testimony, the applicators do not
8 want to get too close to these turbines, and I
9 sure don't blame them. This must also be part
10 of the permits, or they will not be adhered to.
11 I believe construction companies should be
12 fined $10,000 or more every time their crane or
13 any part of the their construction crews
14 trespass on non-participating land. If you
15 don't fine them and give the money to the
16 farmer, they're just going to continue to do the
17 same thing over and over again, causing damage
18 to non-participating landowners.
19 Please keep these turbines as far away
20 from property lines and homes as possible. I
21 think the setbacks should be actually even a
22 mile or more from anybody's property lines.
23 These contracts last 50 to 75 years and a lot
24 can happen in 70 years. Just look at the
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3329
1 advances in farming in the last 70 years, how
2 far that has come. Imagine what technology we
3 are going to be using in the next 70 years, and
4 these turbines seem to interfere with radio
5 signals, GPS, and everything else, so we can
6 have a lot of problems with these turbines with
7 our future farming technology. If you let them
8 put the turbines closer to property lines and
9 homes, you are limiting what future landowners
10 can do with their properties. They may want to
11 put up a house, a shed, or even a new grain
12 setup, but they have to get permission from all
13 their neighbors and Zoning Board, and it might
14 be too close to the wind turbines. When is this
15 County going to say we have enough turbines
16 already? We don't want anymore. It's very hard
17 to travel anywhere in the County without looking
18 at blinking lights from turbines at night. If
19 this County is going to go forward with more
20 turbines, they need to have some sort of
21 consumer protection plan. These turbine
22 companies coming into an area in secret, and
23 they prey on the neat -- they prey on people --
24 on the older people and the absentee landowners
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3330
1 and use questionable tactics to sign up people
2 to these contracts. There needs to be some
3 public warnings and notice that a company is
4 coming in to disrupt the neighborhood.
5 Remember, this land is zoned
6 agricultural -- remember, this land is zoned
7 agricultural, it is not zoned for wind turbines.
8 It is a privilege, it's not a right to have wind
9 turbines on this land. No matter what these
10 companies think, they do not have the right to
11 build wind turbines on agricultural land. In
12 order to get this privilege, they must comply
13 with all the rules of the Zoning Board that they
14 put forth. If the Zone -- even if the Zoning
15 Board would require larger setbacks.
16 Please, do not sell out our County and its
17 residents for a few dollars now and mortgage the
18 future of this County. You may be limiting jobs
19 and money for the County in the future. Please
20 listen to the residents that have to live next
21 to these giant industrial wind turbines. They
22 are the ones that have to put up with these
23 monstrosities. To say they are wind farms is a
24 disgrace to the farming community. They are
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3331
1 industrial electricity-producing complexes.
2 Remember, it is your job to protect our health,
3 well-being, and our property rights. Please
4 protect the citizens of Lee County that have
5 shown up to all these hearings for all these
6 months. Do not let these large companies roll
7 right over Lee County anymore. Put your foot
8 down. Make these people follow all the rules
9 they should and protect the people of Lee
10 County.
11 I recommend that you turn down this
12 project and do not allow anymore turbines to be
13 built in this County. Set a new precedent for
14 the rest of the State of Illinois. Do not let
15 us down. Thank you.
16 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
17 MS. ZIMMERLEIN: Good evening. My name is
18 Eleanor Zimmerlein, 1518 Baseline Road,
19 LaMoille. I live in May Township.
20 I have lived in Lee County for 65 years.
21 I own farmland in Lee County. I farm in Lee
22 County. I pay property taxes in Lee County. I
23 spent 10 years on the Lee County Board in the
24 80s. I was a director of Lee County Farm Bureau
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3332
1 for nine years and currently serve on the
2 Governmental Affairs Committee. I'm a past
3 president of the Illinois Ag Women and now the
4 Chair of the Legislative Committee. I am a
5 member of the Illinois Association of Drainage
6 Ditches.
7 I would like to request that the Lee
8 County Board of Appeals approve the Green River
9 Wind project. Our schools are suffering,
10 because the State has cut back severely on their
11 funding. Lee County is seeing diminishing
12 returns from the landfill. The income these
13 government bodies would receive from the Green
14 River project would be a Godsend. Our children
15 would benefit from the schools being fully
16 funded, teachers would not be laid off, programs
17 would not be cut. The income that landowners
18 would receive from the Green River project would
19 also be a Godsend. Landowners would see their
20 volatile income level out. Jobs would be
21 created from new building, waterways being
22 reworked, machinery being upgraded, and money
23 being spent on vacations and other goodies.
24 Farmers don't bury their money in a can buried
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3333
1 in the backyard, they spend it. The whole area
2 would increase -- would benefit from the
3 increased economic activity. Having a wind
4 turbine on your farm is entirely voluntary. If
5 you don't want it; you don't sign up for it.
6 Why can't I duplicate the results of the
7 various studies that were mentioned in previous
8 sessions? I live next to the Big Sky Wind Farm.
9 I drive by and I don't hear any noise. I roll
10 my windows down. Still no noise.
11 JUDGE SLAVIN: All right. You're doing it
12 too.
13 MS. ZIMMERLEIN: Okay.
14 JUDGE SLAVIN: You can't testify.
15 MS. ZIMMERLEIN: Okay. I feel this is a
16 private properties issue. Why should those who
17 have no time or money invested in my property be
18 able to tell me what to do with my property.
19 Please approve the Green River Wind Farm
20 project. Thank you.
21 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
22 All right. Ladies and gentlemen -- yes,
23 sir.
24 MR. THAKE: Can I speak?
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3334
1 JUDGE SLAVIN: Yes.
2 MR. THAKE: May name is Jeff Thake, I'm
3 the superintendent --
4 JUDGE SLAVIN: Would you spell your last
5 name, please?
6 MR. THAKE: T-H-A-K-E. I live at 147 West
7 Hubbard Street in Amboy. I'm the Amboy
8 Superintendent.
9 I was last here on an April 17th, 2012,
10 where I spoke about the relationship between
11 revenues for school districts and wind turbines.
12 Turbine construction provides needed revenue
13 streams to school districts. It also creates
14 educational opportunities for students and
15 educators that center around renewable energy.
16 And as you heard my colleague say, due to the
17 reduction in State funding, superintendents are
18 cognizant of relying on State funding, a
19 function as a school district is no longer an
20 option. New construction in a tax cap school
21 district increases the equalized assessed
22 valuation or EAV for school districts in order
23 to maintain academic programs. Due to reduction
24 in State funding, these revenues are even more
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3335
1 critical. Rural school districts are fighting
2 to maintain their very existence due to
3 shortfalls in school funding. Community
4 identity and pride are extremely important in
5 small towns. School districts provide community
6 identity.
7 Obviously, zoning requirements do need to
8 go through the proper channels and policies need
9 to be followed. Part of being a superintendent,
10 I have to follow policies. Sometimes both sides
11 need to compromise and move forward in arriving
12 at a decision we all can live with. When these
13 agreements are reached, job opportunities for
14 high school and college graduates in our region
15 are also created. In a region where the median
16 wave of its residents (phonetic) continues to
17 rise, the way to not become extinct is to
18 proactively find ways to provide jobs for our
19 young people. This vision of the future might
20 look different than any of us can see, which I'm
21 sure is the most frightening component. I have
22 observed former students, who are filling
23 leadership roles as technicians for wind
24 turbines, and I am proud of them.
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3336
1 I look forward to a resolution that
2 creates jobs in our region, which allows our
3 young people, who wish to start their adult
4 lives right here in Lee County, and maintain
5 cultural ones that will generate regional
6 survival in the future. Be proactive in the
7 creation of jobs, so our next generation doesn't
8 have to be reactive. The survival of our
9 communities requires risk taking even if it goes
10 against the status quo. Thank you.
11 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
12 Anyone else by a show of hands?
13 Yes, sir. Start with your name, spell it
14 your address, please.
15 MR. SMITH: Dale Smith, 112 --
16 JUDGE SLAVIN: Well, we can spell that
17 one.
18 MR. SMITH: All right. 112 Fifth Street,
19 Walnut, Illinois, Bureau County.
20 I wasn't going to speak tonight, but there
21 are some people that have windmills or want to
22 have windmills that raised some questions and
23 concerns for everyone out here. And the fact
24 is: The landowners can do what they want with
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3337
1 their land and that's a value that we all value.
2 But the fact also is that the wind turbines harm
3 everyone: The neighbors and the landowners that
4 want the windmills, through shadow flicker, land
5 value decreases, noise, and numerous health
6 problems that have been demonstrated through the
7 past seven months. Don't let the company,
8 Mainstream, bend the rules and harm all of us.
9 JUDGE SLAVIN: Thank you.
10 Anyone else, by a show of hands?
11 Ladies and Gentlemen, just a quick note, I
12 really felt honored to be a small part of your
13 process here over the last several months. It
14 was wonderful, no matter what side you were on
15 to hear the passions expressed but to experience
16 the civility you all displayed during these
17 sessions the last seven months. It was
18 wonderful to hear your firmly-held beliefs but
19 to also experience your reasonableness during
20 the process.
21 Instead of some people thanking me, I
22 thank you for the opportunity to see the beauty
23 of the democratic process at work. Thank you.
24 MR. LEE: Judge, before we close, I guess
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3338
1 I'm just curious, we're stopping tonight earlier
2 than people were led to believe, is it possible
3 to keep the full record open --
4 JUDGE SLAVIN: No.
5 MR. LEE: -- through tomorrow for --
6 JUDGE SLAVIN: I recommend -- I recommend
7 to the Chair that we close the -- part -- the
8 hearing is not over, of course, but the stages
9 of the hearing that included opening arguments,
10 the taking of evidence, direct, cross, rebuttal,
11 surrebuttal, and closing statements. Hence, you
12 move on to your next stage.
13 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Okay. Yes, this is the
14 way that we had announced the proceedings; and
15 as we announced last night, if all the people
16 that were here had given their closing
17 statements, tonight would be the last night for
18 that.
19 Chris, did you have any dates set for the
20 next meeting, we're talking March?
21 MR. HENKEL: Well, because there was one
22 night left, we didn't set any new meetings.
23 That will be determined here very shortly.
24 We're waiting for -- we have a little health
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3339
1 issue, we have a person on vacation. We'd like
2 to have all members back, so it won't be before
3 the last couple weeks in March before we will
4 come back as a body and start our Finding of
5 Facts.
6 So nothing will happen prior to, I'm going
7 to say, roughly the 15th of March. We will
8 obviously, put this in the papers and notify --
9 we'll put it on-line when the dates will be for
10 the next set of hearings. But I got to get
11 together with everybody here to see what dates
12 are going to be workable with all parties. So
13 no more for the month of February for sure.
14 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Okay. At this point, do
15 we have a motion to close this section of the
16 petition hearing.
17 MR. FORSTER: So moved.
18 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Moved by Bruce.
19 MR. BOTHE: Second.
20 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Second by Gene. All in
21 favor say aye.
22 (All those simultaneously
23 responded.)
24 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Motion carried. This
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3340
1 meeting's adjourned.
2 JUDGE SLAVIN: It's not adjourned,
3 continued.
4 CHAIRMAN BUHROW: Continued.
5 (The hearing was adjourned at
6 10:05 p.m.)
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207 3341
1 Now on this 15th day of
2 February, A.D. 2013, I do
3 signify that the foregoing
4 testimony was given before the
5 Lee County Zoning Board of
6 Appeals.
7
8
9
10 Craig Buhrow, Chairman 11
12
13
14
15 Chris Henkel, 16 Zoning Officer
17
18
19
20 Doris J. Kennay 21 Certified Shorthand Reporter Registered Professional Reporter 22 IL License No. 084-002725 P.O. Box 8977 23 Rockford, Illinois 61126
24
KENNAY COURT REPORTING (815) 901-3207