Better Plan, Wisconsin

 OUR FARMLANDS ARE OUR TREASURE!

THANK-YOU MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP! AND CONGRATULATIONS ON ADOPTING THE NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WHICH INCLUDES FARMLAND PRESERVATION!

ENGRAVING OF A ROCK COUNTY FARM IN 1873

"Time is like a piece of gold,

but a piece of gold is not enough

to buy back time."

MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP, THE PAST:

(description of Magnolia Township from the 1873 Rock County Atlas)

"The face of the country here is mostly undulating, burr-oak openings, with a mixture of some prairie, making very desirable farms. It is well watered by springs of the purist water, as may be seen by reference to the (1873) map. There is considerable marshland along the creek, inexhaustible in fertility, and producing heavy crops of grass. The soil is sandy loam on a subsoil of clay, producing very heavy crops. The town is noted for its grass seed, which it produces in large quantities. There are some of the best stock farms here that are to be found in the state

MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP, THE FUTURE:

(vision statement from the Town of Magnolia's recently adopted comprehensive plan)

"We envision a bright future for the town of Magnolia with: a healthy environment; a strong agricultural base and residential areas of rural character. The abundant natural beauty and rich cultural heritage of this agrarian region create a high quality of life that requires preservation for future generations. We envision a participatory land use planning process built on solid principles focusing on our history of agriculture production,  instilling a sense of community pride across the Town of Magnolia." 

YOU CAN STILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

There's been a sudden change in the Wind Permitting Reform and because of this the public comment period has been extended to December 14. Questions concerning some of the suggested permitting changes seem to have been serious enough to have them removed from the current draft and to have the public period for commentary extended. 

 "WHAT THE---??!!"

The BPRC is troubled by a current legislative proposal to change the wind power permitting laws in a way that will take away ordinance writing power from local governments and give them to the state.

The proposed legislation is outlined in a document from the Governor's Task Force on Global Warming. We've included it in this posting but you can also read it at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Website by clicking here

It is especially concerning because of the many recent questions being raised about the efficiency of wind energy systems and how much they actually reduce air pollution. (Read a New York Times article about this by clicking here)

At present, our local town governments have the power to write wind-energy ordinances which, among other things, will protect the health and safety of residents who may be affected by siting of wind turbines near their homes or property. These policy reforms will strip our local jurisdiction of that power and hand it over to the state.

You can make a difference by writing or emailing to your state and local representatives to express your concerns about this. (contact information available at the end of this posting) You can also express your concerns at a public meeting concerning this policy change December 5th at 8:30 am at the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation, 431 Charmany Drive, in Madison.

Here is what the document says: We've emphasized the sections which especially concern us.

Wisconsin Global Warming Task Force Workgroup

Template For Presenting Policy Options

1. Workgroup: Utility Generation Workgroup

2. Policy Name: Windpower Permitting Reform

3. Policy Type: Legislation and PSC rulemaking

4. Affected Sectors, Sub-Sectors and/or Entities: Public Service Commission, utilities, counties, municipalities and towns, wind energy industry.

5. Estimated Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Impact: 925,000 tons/yr reduction by 2015, 1.387,500 tons/yr reduction by 2020, and 1.85 million tons/yr by 2025.

6. Estimated Costs: No cost to utilities.
With more project applications to review,an increase in the PSC’s workload is likely, which may result in additional administrative expenses.

However, siting reform is likely to reduce costs borne by developers in dealing with local opposition, including increases in installation costs caused by permitting delays as well as direct litigation costs.

7. Specific Description of Policy Proposal: Legislation would contain the following elements:

(1) definitions of large and small wind energy systems;

(2) a requirement on the PSC to draft uniform standards for siting large and small wind
energy systems;

(3) creation of an optional process for PSC review of projects under 100 MW that have large wind energy systems;

(4) a mechanism for allowing parties to appeal a decision rendered by a local jurisdiction to the PSC;

(5) extending Chapter 227 judicial review provisions to wind projects permitted by local jurisdictions, including the ability to appeal a decision under 100 MW;

(6) a prohibition on local ordinances restricting meteorological test towers.

These provisions would essentially require the PSC to promulgate standards for local review, such as setback distances and sound output, and apply them to both agency-reviewed projects as well as those reviewed by local land use authorities.

The new rules adopted by the Commission for wind projects under 100 MW would be less rigorous than what is required under the CPCN process. The developer should not be required to demonstrate need, nor should the developer be required to present an alternative site as part of the permit application.

8. Timetables, Duration and Stringency Option: Once the legislation is enacted, the PSC would have a specified period of time to adopt emergency rules establishing uniform standards for permitting wind projects. These standards would apply to PSC-reviewed wind projects as well as those reviewed by local jurisdictions. These rules would remain in effect indefinitely.

9. Explanation of Rough Estimate of GHG Reductions: The 2015 estimate is based on the assumption that 4040 MW of windpower would be placed in service in Wisconsin that otherwise would not have been built due to restrictive ordinances adopted by local jurisdictions to placate opponents to a specific wind project. 

Between the wind ordinances in Manitowoc, Door and Shawano counties and the Town of Stockbridge (Calumet County) and the moratoria in Calumet and Trempealeau counties and the Town of Glenmore (Brown County), at least 300 MW of wind projects currently under development are subject to local restrictions that prevent them from going forward. Four hundred forty MW of
windpower operating at a capacity factor of 296% should produce one million MWH per annum, which in turn should reduce emissions by 925,000 tons a year. I conservatively estimate that another 4040 MW of windpower will be built on Wisconsin land between 2015 and 2025, with half of that to occur by 2020. I am
optimistic that additional wind capacity will be built in the waters off Wisconsin. However, it is unclear whether the PSC would have permitting authority over generation projects built in the Great Lakes, so I cannot provide attribute GHG reduction savings from offshore wind development to this policy.
Emissions Avoided by Reforming Wind Energy Permitting Process (U.S. tons of CO2-eq) using WI average recent fleetwide emissions of 1850 Lbs CO2- e/MWh and assuming zero emissions from all wind generation. Year Annual Output (in MWH) Emissions Savings
2015 1,000,000 925,000
2020 1,500,000 1,387,500
2025 2,000,000 1,850,000

10. Rough Estimate of Costs for Selected Years: The savings from reduced preconstruction costs should outweigh any additional costs to the PSC from any increase in the number of wind project applications to review.

11. Barriers to Implementation: The only barrier to adoption would be political will, or lack thereof, at the state level.

12. Other Factors: The wind energy siting reform proposal tracks closely with the
large livestock siting law adopted two years ago.

The public and organizations are invited to submit comments to the Task Force or any of its work groups. We urge you to submit a comment, please e-mail it to DNRGLOBALWARMTFCOMMENTS@Wisconsin.gov.

We agree with and thank the reader who alerted us to this document and wrote us to say
"Regardless of the issue at hand, the people should be able to make
informed local decisions based on facts and reason, and not
mandated State requirements. If this passes, what will be next? What
will the State do next to take away local control ? "

We urge you to contact your legislators and tell them not to take away our local power by adopting this policy reform.

Governor Jim Doyle
      Office of the Governor
      115 East State Capitol
      Madison, WI 53072
      wisgov@mail.state.wi.us


    * The Honorable Thomas E. Petri
      United States House of Representatives
      2462 Rayburn House Office Building
      Washington, DC 20515-4906
      tom.petri@legis.state.wi.us

    * The Honorable Herb Kohl
      United States Senate
      330 Hart Senate Office Building
      Washington, DC 20510-4903
      senator_kohl@kohl.senate.gov


    * The Honorable Russell Feingold
      United States Senate
      506 Hart Senate Office Building
      Washington, DC 20510-4903
      russ_feingold@feingold.senate.gov

(Find your local representatives and get their contact information at the Wisconsin State Legislature website by clicking here)

 

Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 at 08:02PM by [Your Name Here] | Comments Off

 Why A Wisconsin Farmer is Having Regrets
(Click Here to read this at its original source, the Appleton Post-Crescent, November 30, 2007, )

As told in a recent ad, a Johnsburg farmer who will host wind turbines now has many regrets.

He regrets having been the "lure" to draw in other unsuspecting landowners. He regrets that he has allowed fields to be subdivided, road base to be spread on land once picked bare of rocks, costly tiling to be cut up. He regrets that he's no longer the person who controls his own land and is now told where to go by security guards. He regrets the divide he has created between friends, between neighbors and between family members.

He regrets not having looked into all the ramifications first. That farmer is now locked in to a binding contract. But there are many landowners who have not yet suffered this fate.

Calumet County Citizens for Responsible Energy asks that landowners considering a contract first step back and study the issues. As with any financial transaction, don't put a lot of trust in those who stand to gain financially.

Look for Web sites and information from those experiencing the effects of this worldwide "gold" rush for wind power. People across world are rebelling. They're finding that they've lost control of their land and their lives. And they're in danger of financial hardship if these companies dissolve.

Our irresponsible government representatives are forcing this "windfall" for wind investors on us. Their knee-jerk reaction to the global climate change alarms will cause billions of dollars to be wasted, lives to be ruined, and environments degraded for what is, in actuality, a very inefficient energy source.

With a declining tax base and state and U.S. legislators driving us further into massive debt, taxpayer subsidies for wind will be impossible to maintain.

And with the subsidies gone, what will you be left hosting?

Don Bangert,

Chilton, Wisconsin

 What can you do this right this minute? Write an email and hit the send button---

IT'S FREE! IT'S EASY! AND IT MAY HELP YOU SLEEP TONIGHT! 

There is a proposal to change who gets to set the rules when wind developers decide they want to build in your town. It will strip away local power to write the wind ordinance for each township and it would limit the ability of people to oppose wind development.

A community member sent us an email after he read the template of the proposed permitting changes  which said, "We want renewable energy but this feels like a corporate take over"

Tell your legislators you want to keep wind ordinance writing in the hands of the people who are going to have to live with the turbines. Tell them you don't want them to pass legislation that takes away the power of local township government to favor wind developers. Ask them to slow this whole thing down. There are just too many questions about people being able to live safely among 400 foot tall, rotating, industrial scale machines. There are too many recent questions about efficiency, environmental impacts, and, how much they will actually reduce Co2 in an area of intermittent wind like ours where they will always rely on coal-fired plants as back up.

 CONTACT INFORMATION
The public is asked to comment on this proposed permitting change and the Governor's Task Force provides a direct email address. We urge you to submit a comment, it really does make a difference. please e-mail it to DNRGLOBALWARMTFCOMMENTS@Wisconsin.gov.

We also urge you to also contact your legislators and tell them not to take away our local power by adopting this policy reform.

Governor Jim Doyle
      Office of the Governor
      115 East State Capitol
      Madison, WI 53072
      wisgov@mail.state.wi.us


    * The Honorable Herb Kohl
      United States Senate
      330 Hart Senate Office Building
      Washington, DC 20510-4903
      senator_kohl@kohl.senate.gov

    * The Honorable Russell Feingold
      United States Senate
      506 Hart Senate Office Building
      Washington, DC 20510-4903
      russ_feingold@feingold.senate.gov

(Find your local representatives and get their contact information at the Wisconsin State Legislature website by clicking here)

UPDATE: Who lived in this house? Who lived in this home which had to be abandoned because of problems from wind farm noise?

 The BPRC reprints a letter from Daniel D'Entrement, the father of the family who used to live in this home in Nova Scotia. This letter which was sent to a township in Rock County whose town board is currently gathering information in order to write an wind energy system ordinance. (Read more about the D'Entremonts here) This letter was also sent to Calumet County. We thank Mr. D'Entremont for his letter and his efforts to help us understand the seriousness of the task facing township governments responsible for writing ordinances to insure reponsible siting of industrial scale wind turbines.

TO: The Town Board

FROM: Daniel D’Entremont

RE: Life near wind turbines.

  (Dear Township Boardmembers)

Life for the D'Entremont family since the Pubnico Point wind farm began operating has been filled with sorrow, illness, heartache and disbelief. How could a company be permitted to enter our community and turn our pristine area into a noise ravaged battleground. Why did it happen to us? Not that we would wish it on anyone else.

First off, the community knew there was a wind farm being planned because two of the wind farm owners live in the community. They put up an anemometer tower and formed a company named Landco and proceeded to acquire the land necessary to construct their windfarm. Now they are leasing the land to their other company which owns the wind farm.

Through word of mouth and some public meetings which nearly nobody attended people understood that the wind farm would be inaudible by the neighbors and would have no negative impact on the community. The residents of Pubnico could not visualize a 400ft wind turbine on Pubnico point or had any idea of the impact they would have nor did anyone research anything about it, including me. Since two of the owners were local residents and were related to most of the community everyone wished them well.

The company kept everyone in the dark about the negative effects and the few who asked any questions were lied to.

The first 2 turbines were operating in May 2004.One was 4000ft from our home, the second 4700ft. A 120-day trial period was required to monitor their productivity. We could hear them well and Carolyn, my wife was experiencing ringing in her ears. Visitors would comment that the one 4000ft away seemed really close. Some neighbors were complaining they were bothered by them at night.

Three months later construction began again. People were complaining about the speeding gravel trucks and feared accidents. An older woman was rear ended by a truck. She wasn't hurt; but the company quickly gave her a car to drive until they returned her car repaired. Nothing more said. The heavy trucks damaged the roads. It was easy to tolerate the noise and construction dust because we knew it was only temporary.

February 2005 the windfarm was fully operational, 17 wind turbines. The windmill 4000ft away seemed far off compared to the one 1000ft from our home. They are loud. They’ve been compared to jet engines. A plane that will not take off. There is no gentle swoosh, it is a whoosh noise. They grind, they bang. They creak. The noise is like surround sound, it’s omni directional. It feels like there's this evil thing hovering above you and it follows you everywhere, it will not leave you alone. This noise will not allow you to have your own thoughts, the body cannot adapt, it’s a violation of your body. It is a noise that the human body cannot adapt to even after more than a year of exposure. As time progresses the noise becomes even more unbearable.

Our 5-year-old son Elias was afraid and unable to sleep in his own bed for more than one year. He would get in our bed or in his brother's bed. We would put him to bed at 8:30 and many nights at 11:00 he would still be awake. Finally he would fall asleep wrapped up in the blankets in the fetal position with his head covered and with a fan at his head. We had to create more noise to mitigate the wind farm noise. The body can adapt to the fan noise. In the morning he would get up tired and cranky. In September 2005 he started school and he was not getting enough rest. He began getting more and more aggressive with his friends. He was very defiant we knew he was suffering terribly. He’s had throat infections and often had a fever and not feeling well.

In January 2006 we had our house tested by a naturopathic doctor and she and her colleagues found the house so toxic that they advised us to move. These people were on our property for only 1.5 hours and they became so weak that they had to leave. The doctor said she couldn't think, she couldn't concentrate anymore.

In February 2006 we brought Elias and Samuel(9) to another naturopathic doctor and she also recommended that we leave our home.

Our family doctor says he cannot prove that a wind farm causes medical problems but he would not want to live or raise children where we are. We have contacted a scientist from Portugal who has studied the effects of infrasound on the human body and she also told us to leave for our sake.

We abandoned our home February 21st, 2006.

Since the move Elias has been doing much better. He sleeps in his own bed every night. He sleeps partially covered with his arms and legs spread everywhere. It was only ten days after the move while he was having his back rubbed in bed he said” it’s nice to be able to go to bed and sleep". He is much less defiant .He has become the kind gentle little boy he was before the wind farm nearly destroyed his life.

Knowing what we know now we should have moved a year before.

Our 9-year-old son Samuel was sharing a room with Elias. He was also very sleeping deprived. He would get up in the morning very tired. We would send him to school tired. He was tired and unable to concentrate and his schoolwork suffered. He was also unable to concentrate on his homework. He began to withdraw within himself. He also began getting aggressive. Samuel seemed to be always angry. His teacher asked us what was the problem with Samuel because his change in behavior was something she would never have expected from him. Samuel’s eardrum burst while we were there in 2005.He's had many throat infections and many headaches. He has developed allergies. He’s the only one of 6 children that has allergies.

Since the move Samuel has improved so much in his schoolwork and his behavior and participation in class that the teacher says she cannot believe that he's the same child. He has not been aggressive with his friends. He’s so kind and caring for everyone. His headaches are less frequent and less severe.

Our 13 year old daughter Emmanuelle had dramatic behavioral changes. She became withdrawn and was spending too much time alone in her room. She dropped her friends and lost interest in school work. She was also angry. She dropped all sports. Emmanuelle always had headaches. She became very defiant.

Since the move Emmanuelle is doing better in school. Her behavior is steadily improving. Her health is improving and she is socializing. She is feeling better about herself.

Our 15-year-old daughter Dominica was having a lot of difficulty sleeping. She was being awakened at all hours of the night. She was asking for sleeping aids. She had numerous headaches and some throat infections. She was very moody. She slept sound at friend’s homes. She had frequent severe abdominal pain.

Since the move Dominica is sleeping well. She has not had any abdominal pain. Her headaches are rare. Her mood has improved.

Our 19-year-old son Nathaniel was sleeping in the basement. He was anxious and angry and was not sleeping well. His hands were peeling often. Nathaniel also developed vision problems. He loses sight completely in one eye or the other for a few minutes at a time. Many mornings Nathaniel had to grab his legs and put them off the bed and lift himself up with his arms. After some time he gets mobile. He has seen a number of eye specialists and undergone many tests and the doctors could find nothing wrong with him.

There was a stair master machine at his high school, which would measure how many stories a person could climb. Whatever the record was the teacher felt it would be difficult to break. Nathaniel more than doubled the record and he could carry his 540lbs friend on his back. One year near that wind farm he was nearly blind and crippled.

Since the move Nathaniel is not as anxious or angry. He is relaxed and easy going. His hands are not peeling anymore. It took one year away from the wind farm to regain his vigor his eyes are almost entirely healed.

Our 21-year-old son Nehemiah was extremely angry and anxious. Nothing was ever satisfactory. He was yelling and screaming. He had headaches

Since the move Nehemiah is much calmer, not anxious and his anger almost gone. He is smiling and laughing a lot and is content.

My wife Carolyn was anxious and she had numerous headaches. She was getting up frequently throughout the night to urinate and she was having pain with that. She could not get the sleep required to be rested. She was feeling her heart racing. She had shoulder joint pain which required cortisone injections. Her hearing was affected on the right side. Her glands on her neck were always swollen and painful. She was feeling a vibration in her lower legs on occasion when she was outside. Carolyn's vision is blurred and the doctors cannot find any problem with them (seems like there is a film on the eye balls). She also has high blood pressure. Carolyn spent more time in our house than any other member of the family.

Since the move Carolyn is not anxious and her headaches are fewer. She hasn't felt the vibration in her legs. Her eyes and shoulder have not fully recovered yet. She is sleeping much better. Carolyn is trying to find help to restore her vision.

As for myself I always felt a sensation in my chest, which was very discomforting. On extremely rare occasions when the wind farm was off I could sense they were off without seeing them. The noise was just a relentless attack on our bodies. Every time the blades passed the towers I could feel it within my body. I was unable to concentrate well enough to read in my bed.

Since the move I don't have that sensation in my chest but it returns when I spend a few hours at our house.

These physical and psychological effects develop gradually and sometimes it seems silly to associate them with a windfarm until you learn that others experience the same thing under similar conditions.

If we would have had absolutely nowhere to go,if we would have been forced to stay in our home,I hate to think what kind of physical and mental state we would be in now.

During the months that the sun is low in the sky we get a flickering in the morning and late afternoon as the sun passes behind the turbines.This induces headaches quickly to those who are more succeptible to them. When the full moon rises and passes behind the turbines the flickering is intense.

We are devastated,we are broken because we have lost the home we built with our own hands and we have lost the land which has been in the family for generations.

Our house is now unsellable.There is nobody in the community that wants to live there because of the windfarm. Nearly everybody supports us privately nut they are afraid to speak out publicly.

We are a community of 2000 people and I did a survey of 216 people and 96% said the windfarm was too close to our house.Also 89% said the windfarm was too loud at our house and 78% said that they felt they were not properly notified of the impact this windfarm would have on the community.Many people will randomly tell me that they sense that the community would not have allowed the construction of this windfarm if they had known or realized the impact it has had.Our local politicians were all in on the great deception. Our provincial legislator said they had made a mistake but we would have to pay for it and put up with it.He also told me to shut up about it.

Other neighbors are experiencing more and more difficulty in coping with the windfarm.Instead of adapting to the windfarm it is getting more intrusive.The neighbors are having more difficulty sleeping and the problems associated with that.One neighbor had to sleep with ear plugs in the summer.Our neighbors are like us they love the area and the land they are on and they don't want to move.Our children were suffering so much the decision to abandon our home was made for us by the wind company.

There has been some noise studies done at our home.They clearly prove excessive noise even with the outdated guidelines they are using but the windfarm is still permitted to operate full time.

The turbines this company used are Vestas,V-80,1.8 Megawatt.The Vestas workers who had experience in a number of areas erecting wind turbines told some community members if anyone complains.give them one year and they'll shut up.In this case they were wrong.

It's still difficult to believe or accept what has happenned to us.It didn't have to be that way.With proper planning and setbacks these problems don't need to arise again for anyone.