Wind farm hearing set for next Monday: NextEra plans 133 turbines in DeKalb
By KATE SCHOTT
kschott@shawnews.com
Shaw News Service
DeKALB – The public hearing for a proposed wind farm will be reopened next Monday, and residents will have chances in both the morning and evening to offer comments.
NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of FPL Group, has proposed building and operating a 151-turbine wind-energy plant – 133 turbines would be built in Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships; 18 turbines have been approved for parts of Lee County.
The May 11 public hearing is the third to be scheduled on the wind farm proposal. A Feb. 19 public hearing was canceled because of inadequate space when about 400 people showed up at the multipurpose room of county health facility. The rescheduled hearing on March 21 lasted nearly 19 hours.
Next week’s hearing will be in an auditorium in the Holmes Student Center at Northern Illinois University and will be split into two sessions.
The first session starts at 9 a.m., with a second hearing starting at 7 p.m. for those who cannot attend during the day.
“We want to have enough time for all the commentary,” DeKalb County Planner Paul Miller said. “It’s obvious that some parties will speak at length, so we want to have enough time to accommodate that. The evening session is in recognition that there are some persons genuinely in a bind, that want to attend but can’t do so during the day.”
Miller said that testimony will be heard until 5 p.m. during the morning session and until 10 p.m. for the evening session.
“If we can’t get it all in, we will continue the morning hearing to 9 a.m. Tuesday and the evening hearing until 7 p.m. Tuesday,” Miller said.
The Carl Sandburg Auditorium at NIU was chosen for the venue because it is the appropriate size, has video capabilities and was available for several days during the week, Miller said. NIU’s spring semester wraps up this week with final exams.
The county board’s Planning and Zoning Committee decided to reopen the hearing because NextEra has added new information to its application for the special-use permit needed to start the project.
NextEra submitted its application in January for the permit, but hearing officer Dave Dockus denied that application in March. Among his concerns were a lack of both a property value guarantee plan and a sufficient decommissioning process. NextEra has made concessions on both points, according to company officials.
NextEra officials will make a brief presentation of their new materials during next week’s hearing, said Rebecca Vondrasek, assistant planner for DeKalb County, and then each session will be opened for public comment. There will not be a need for those who attend the morning hearing to also attend the evening hearing, Vondrasek said.
NextEra spokeswoman Mary Wells said the company will present what the county wants it to present.
“We are confident in it,” she said of the proposal. “We’ve responded to the county’s requests, we’ve listened to the county, we’ve listened to the residents, and we think these additions make it an even better project.”
To attend the
wind farm hearing
What: The reopened public hearing on a proposed wind farm in DeKalb County
When: May 11 at 9 a.m. for the morning hearing and 7 p.m. for the evening hearing
Where: Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center, which is at the southwest corner of Normal Road and Lucinda Avenue on the campus of Northern Illinois University
Parking: For information about visitor parking at NIU, visit www.niu.edu/visit/parking.shtml
To learn more: All the planning documents submitted by NextEra Energy Resources are online under the “Hot Topics” link at www.dekalbcounty.org
