By: Diane Benjamin
I attended the rebuttal hearing held by the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals last night. Did you know this board has ZERO elected officials, all members are appointees. County staff attends and can ask questions, but nobody is on this board that can be voted out of office.
Invenergy was there. I’m not sure the Board realized that they are paid to get favorable wind farms ordinances while the people who want ordinance changes aren’t experts at rebutting what they say.
Here’s the facts:
- the turbines east of town are 280 feet tall
- Watterson Towers is 298.5 feet tall
- the new turbines Invenergy want to put up are 485 feet tall
Let that sink in!
Last June I wrote an article that was published in the Lexingtonian newspaper and the Chenoa Town Crier, and I posted it here:
https://blnnews.com/2016/06/07/proposed-wind-farms-part-1/
Both of these papers allow citizens to submit stories. These are hometown papers where opinions are expressed and obviously opinions are those of the writer.
On June 6th the owner of these papers was contacted by Invenergy – they threatened to sue him! The editor of both papers, Laurie Sleeter, had a gag order placed on her by her boss because of the Invenergy threats. Small town newspapers don’t have the resources to fight Invenergy.
Invenergy also filed a lawsuit against the Livingston County Board for denying a special use permit. http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2015/10/invenergy-insults-intelligence-of-livingston-county-board-in-wind-farm-appeal/
Freedom of Speech dies wherever Invenergy wants a wind farm.
If Invenergy and wind turbines are such great neighbors, why do they snuff out opposition?
Next Tuesday Livingston County has a referendum on their ballot concerning “setbacks” for turbines. The question reads: “In your township, do you support a distance of 1,600 feet between wind turbines and residences, rather than increasing that distance more than double, which may reduce the number of turbines built in your township?”
Voting NO means residents want the turbines farther away the 1,600 feet.
1,600 feet is only 3/10ths of a mile. Remember, the new turbines are 186 feet taller than Watterson Towers!
Property owners can agree to have turbines placed closer to their property if they want. For other property owners, .3 of miles isn’t nearly far enough away to protect from living next to a monstrosity! The results will be interesting.
McLean County never mounted the citizen opposition that Livingston County did. The McLean County ordinance calls for measuring from an occupied house – not the property line. That means turbine builders will be allowed to “trespass” on property right up to a house. Private property rights won’t be protected against turbine fires, blade failures, and noise here.
The Zoning Board of Appeals makes recommendations to the County Board. This elected Board is not allowed to hear testimony on topics other than what was presented at the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Note: I hope everybody realizes early voting is a scam meant to make sure voters don’t have all the information needed to make informed choices.
Oh, Diane. Get over it.
Renewable energy is the future and there is nothing you and your elderly tin foil hat-wearing nut jobs can do about it.
I was at the rebuttal meeting last night. I watched as Blazer shred your argument to pieces. It was difficult to watch.
Your pseudoscience stifles growth in the wind energy field. Perhaps that’s why Invenergy takes false claims and hit-job “editorials” so seriously.
It’s one thing to present factually-based opposition to a wind farm, but when nuts jobs like you claim that they cause livestock miscarriages, kill birds, cause hearing loss in humans, disturb sleep, lower property values, etc. in the face of MOUNTAINS of scientific data that proves otherwise, you are effectively spreading misinformed propaganda in an effort to impede human progress.
You are a cancer in this community. It will be a wonderful day when you can no longer afford to spew your nonsense to the uneducated white masses of McLean County.
P.S: I suggest extra-strength Motrin for those pesky windmill headaches you get out there in Ellsworth!
Thanks. I love attacks, means I’m right.
Liberal needs to do his homework & take off his rose colored glasses. From his comments he must be doing Common Core Math where the facts just don’t add up. The reality is these projects are adding to the national debt when each project requires millions of dollars of subsidized money. Where do you think this money comes from? It’s tax payer dollars and right now the government is 19.5 trillion dollars in debt & counting. If it weren’t for the subsidies, the projects wouldn’t exist. Check out articles on http://www.cfact.org/tag/wind & check out article entitled, “CFACT comments to the Department of Energy on “Ice Breaker” Lake Erie wind project”
How is early voting a scam? There is no new information that could make me want to vote for Clinton. Trump could be accused of murder tomorrow and I would still rather have him than Clinton.
Distance said another way, a mile is 5280 feet, 1600 feet is over 1 quarter of a mile. Just what distance do you want. Give them a figure to appease you.
As to subsidies when big oil EVERY year gets billions of them and tax deductions and then turn around and make billion upon billion you seem to not have a problem with that and I haven’t mentioned farm subsidies yet.
About towers getting taller, that is the higher up the faster the wind and that increases the efficient output per tower 14%. Said another way, the more out put per tower, the less towers required.
As I have stated before these objectors are really saying they are upset by cosmetic appearances and jealous that they are not getting any income from them. I bet they are also upset by power poles going to their homes too.
The great thing about this Country is we CAN have differing opinions and discus them openly. Don’t forget to go VOTE.
I did tell them, but a number is not what needs to be used. Manufacturer’s have a recommended evacuation zone. That number should be used from the property line – not an occupied residence.