9/28/08 What Happened on Thursday in Grant County after the word got out about the wind farm planned there? Worried residents packed the Smelser town hall and took action. (UPDATED 9/29/08)
Could it have been the threat of 40 story wind turbines being built 1000 feet from their homes?
The town of Smelser in Grant County joins the long list of rural communities being aggressively targeted by wind developers.
GRANT COUNTY,
SMELSER TOWN HALL,
THURSDAY NIGHT: In response to news about the industrial scale wind development planned for their community, residents packed the Smelser Town Hall in Wisconsin's Grant County for a special meeting called to vote on set backs from their homes.
It was standing-room only in the town hall.
Says one attendee: "The town's attorney was not even there. The chair
read a letter that sounded like it was from the town's attorney and it
turned out to be from the Towns Association legal counsel and was
poorly done I thought. "
Instead he visited a few wind farms including the one in Monfort, where the turbines are at least ten stories shorter than the ones being proposed in Grant County.
He told the crowd the worst complaint he heard was about serious shadow flicker.
But were the residents buying it?
The town clerk let the crowd know that a special meeting had rules similar to an annual meeting. This meant the residents could vote on 90 day moratorium on wind development. The motion passed 78-19.
One of the wind developers warned the crowd that voting in a moratorium would kill the project.
The moratorium time will be used to research and develop a wind ordinance that will protect the health, safety and welfare of this community.
We'd like to thank attendee who sent us these photos and this report.