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.