Despite concern from several farmers Tippecanoe County Commissioners passed a new Wind Energy Ordinance. County Commissioners had disagreed about the issue, but the measure passed two to one. Area Planners say there is a growing interest in wind farming in Tippecanoe County, and they expect some wind turbines to start popping up soon. To prepare for that, County Commissioners passed an ordinance that regulates where and how the farms can be built. Some farmers are concerned about how this ordinance will affect their property. "We need some kind of regulation to make sure that there's a proper setback from residential areas because 400 megawatts in your backyard, I'm sure most people would not be interested in having that," said farmer Brian Vorst.

Despite concern from several farmers Tippecanoe County Commissioners passed a new Wind Energy Ordinance. County Commissioners had disagreed about the issue, but the measure passed two to one.

Area Planners say there is a growing interest in wind farming in Tippecanoe County, and they expect some wind turbines to start popping up soon. To prepare for that, County Commissioners passed an ordinance that regulates where and how the farms can be built. Some farmers are concerned about how this ordinance will affect their property.

"We need some kind of regulation to make sure that there's a proper setback from residential areas because 400 megawatts in your backyard, I'm sure most people would not be interested in having that," said farmer Brian Vorst.

Vorst says he's concerned that the county's ordinance does not address the transmission lines that will carry the energy from the wind farms. Vorst would like the lines to be far away from homes because he thinks the high amount of electromagnetic energy, could affect people's health. "I think from the studies I'm seeing right now the pendulum is swinging that there is a defiant health hazard, the closer you are to a transmission line the more chances you have of developing some type of cancer," said Vorst.

APC Executive Director Sallie Fahey said, "I'm not sure we never considered an impact either positive or negative or neutral about standard electric transmission lines. I think we all figured they would be part of the regular set of transmission lines that you see going down the roads," said Fahey.

The ordinance says large wind farms must be built more than one thousand feet from a neighbor's residence. Farmer Joe Rogers says he's worried small farm owners won't have enough land to have a large wind generating system. "I only own 20 acres and that's not enough to have a 1000 foot setback because being over one hundred fott makes it a large wind system," said Rogers.

"Not every piece of ground is ideal for this because if you have a very narrow track of ground that's extremely deep it would be impossible to meet the setbacks," said County Planner John Burns.

APC Executive Director Sallie Fahey says her planning committee will consider making changes to the ordinance. Fahey says the committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday September 5th at 4:45 in the County Office Building.

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