January 16, 2008
Wisconsin

Board in 2nd day of turbine talks

Calumet County’s Board of Supervisors began to tackle an ad hoc committee’s recommendations on wind turbines Tuesday but had to extend the meeting into Wednesday because of the lengthy discussion.

A crowded County Board room at the courthouse in Chilton was reminded that the expiration date for a moratorium on wind turbine development expires Wednesday (Jan. 16) after 120 days which the committee used to develop its recommendations.

The recommendations were presented as 14 ordinances to be discussed and addressed during the day’s agenda. Ordinances pertained to property setbacks, shadow flicker, groundwater issues, construction site blasting and erosion control standards, to mention a few.

Before the agenda items were discussed, board members listened to speakers during the public participation section. Board member Patrick Laughrin spoke as a taxpayer and spoke about his experiences in Calumet County with farming and wind energy. Laughrin’s comments drew applause from the audience, forcing County Board Chairman Merlin Gentz to address the issue of vocalized public responses during the meeting.

After much discussion the first motion to be addressed proposed extending the moratorium on turbine development for up to one year. Votes cast on the proposed new moratorium yielded 10 no votes and nine yes votes, so the motion failed to pass the board.

By Gina Kabat
TC News correspondent

Tri-COunty News

16 January 2008


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2008/01/16/board-in-2nd-day-of-turbine-talks/