Hearings spill into second day: Talk dominated by lawyers, impact on health and property
By DANA HERRA
and KATE SCHOTT
Shaw News Service
DeKALB – A public hearing for a proposed wind farm that an energy company wants to build in DeKalb County was scheduled to reconvene today so more testimony can be heard.
At least 100 people were at the hearing Monday, which started at 9 a.m. in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University. Another 100 people attended an evening session of the hearing, which started at 7 p.m. and ended around 10 p.m.
Today’s hearing was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. to allow those who did not get to speak Monday a chance to have their say.
The hearings center on a proposal by NextEra Energy Resources, which wants to build and operate a 151-turbine wind-energy plant; 133 turbines would be built in Afton, Clinton, Milan and Shabbona townships.
Eighteen more turbines already have been approved by the Lee County Board for construction in Willow Creek and Alto townships.
Monday’s public hearing was the third to be scheduled on the wind farm proposal. A Feb. 19 public hearing was canceled because of inadequate space at the chosen venue, and the rescheduled hearing March 21 lasted nearly 19 hours.
After that hearing, hearing officer David Dockus made a recommendation against the proposal to the county board’s Planning and Zoning Committee. NextEra has added new information to its application for a special-use permit to address some of those concerns, which the committee determined required a new public hearing.
Dockus made it clear as he opened the first of Monday’s two hearings that testimony from the March hearing still stands and that he was interested only in hearing testimony regarding new information.
Specifically, the new documents include a property value guarantee for land within three-quarters of a mile of a turbine, agreements to repair any damage incurred to roads or drainage tiles by construction of the turbines, posting of a $3.5 million security at the beginning of construction to pay for the cost of decommissioning the turbines, an agreement to pay taxes using the current tax formula even if wind farms are eventually exempted from property tax obligations, and a formal process for dispute resolution.
Much of the early session’s testimony was dominated by attorneys and an expert witness in acoustics, who testified that wind turbines generate dangerous levels of low-frequency noise that can have a negative effect on health. Several residents of wind farms in other states also offered testimony, saying the turbines have negatively affected their quality of life.
The biggest concerns expressed by the seven county residents who spoke in the 6-hour early session were potential impacts on property values and health.
“For most families, their biggest asset is their home. If its value declines due to the economy, changes in zoning or a negative impact from a neighboring parcel, that is a matter of great concern,” said Beth Einsele, a Shabbona resident and real estate agent.
Shabbona resident Mark Johnson said he had concerns for the potential effect noise from the turbines might have on a chronic health condition and the impact they would have on his property value. He said he feels NextEra has not been genuine in its claims of trying to be a good neighbor.
“Neighbors talk to each other,” he said. “No one from Florida Power & Light has ever come to me, shook my hand and said, ‘We’d like to talk to you.’ All they do is talk to people they want something from.”
Speakers at the evening hearing also focused on health issues and property value concerns, as well as concerns about the ability to crop dust near the turbines and how the land would look if the wind farm is approved.
Marcia Dempsey, a Waterman resident, said during her evening testimony that it would be good that temporary jobs would result from the wind farm. But she noted that people like her family, which has lived in the area for 100 years, would have to live with the turbines forever. She said there would be no turbines in the backyards of county board members, but noted they are the ones who would vote on the proposal.
“This is a governmental, political, green movement,” she said. “It’s all about the green – the green, almighty dollar.”
Not everyone objects to the proposal. Alfred Aspengren, of Shabbona, said the Shabbona Business Association, as well as community residents, support the turbines and the “clean, renewable energy” that they would produce.
