May 9, 2007
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
GLENMORE – The Town Board on Thursday will discuss changing five of the 21 stipulations placed on a conditional-use permit granted to a Milwaukee-area wind-turbine company.
On March 26, the board gave the go-ahead to Hubertus-based Emerging Energies/ Shirley Wind LLC for a 30-year permit to build eight wind turbines on land owned by four families.
The 21 stipulations the board imposed included opening safety and maintenance records to the public, having a third-party electrical engineer review design and installation plans, developing a policy on handling complaints, vowing to investigate legitimate complaints and paying for a health and safety study to be done.
“We want to make sure this is pleasing to the town,” Emerging Energies principal Bill Rakocy told the board Monday, referring to developing a policy for handling residents’ complaints.
Among the changes to be discussed include:
# Payment to the community. The original stipulation said payments would start 90 days after construction begins. The revised condition says payment will be made 90 days after the turbines start operating.
# Electromagnetic communications interferences. The original condition states the wind company will eliminate any interference; the revision states it will mitigate any interference.
# Defects. The board is requesting a $20,000-per-turbine security deposit to help cover the cost of removing the turbines should they fail. The original condition stated that a turbine that failed to perform as promised would be deemed an unlawful structure and vacated or removed.
# Energy currents. Conductors will be underground, insulated and rated for the type of soil and terrain. The original condition asked that distribution lines be in a separate, approved corridor.
# Disputes. The original condition stated that parties filing complaints against the wind company waived their rights to appeal an arbitrator’s judgment; the revised wording scratches that.
Each turbine would stand 492 feet tall and operate at an optimal 2 to 3 megawatts. They would conform to the town’s wind energy ordinance, which was adopted in December.
The town is one month into a six-month moratorium on new wind-energy systems enacted in April. The moratorium is to give the town a chance to rework its wind-energy systems ordinance.
On Monday, the board changed the wording of the moratorium to include “applications received but not currently approved.”
By Lee Reinsch
9 May 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/05/09/glenmore-to-revisit-wind-turbine-plans/