Take your time
www.bcrnews.com 11 April 2011www.bcrnews.com 11 April 2011
Another Bureau County Board meeting is this Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. I hope there will be a large group of people there. The issue of the moratorium on wind “farm” development will be on the agenda.
People all over the United States are having major remorse over signing with wind power development, and it’s so sad. They have given up the power to make decisions about their land basically forever in their lifetime and in the future of their descendants. Their health and peace of mind, farming and land decisions, control of their lives, has been “leased” to the wind companies. They have also compromised their neighbors’ way of life.
You can find out many facts by talking to people in our area who are involved and upset with what has happened and is happening to them. You can go on the Internet and find out what has happened in other parts of the United States. Facts about Illinois wind resources are represented in maps by the U.S. Department of Energy. One map shows that we are rated Fair in our wind resource potential which is only one class above Marginal. There are four classes above us: Good; Excellent; Outstanding; and Superb. We do have transmission lines which make us attractive.
So the onus is on us to investigate and follow protective procedures whenever we sign something as important as a binding contract. The following is what is recommended by many Internet sites about signing with wind developers. First Rule of Contracts: Contracts reflect the interests of the party that writes the contract. When renting out your farm land, you don’t usually let the renter write the contract. After all, you are the owner of the land. Second Rule of Contracts: Seek competent legal advice before signing. Make sure this person is an unbiased attorney. These contracts are not easy for a layman to understand.
So I appeal to the board to do diligence and appoint a committee that can take its time to really investigate all of the wind development issues. Some boards have even taken a year to do this. Have you been up close to the wind turbines? Have you visited with the people who live close to them? Would you want to have wind turbines close to your home? Have you investigated all the ramifications of the wind turbines? Have you had the wind contract analyzed?
Sandra Swanlund
LaMoille
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/04/11/take-your-time/