"This is not your grandfather's windmill," Sweikhardt said of the turbines. He emphasized the necessity for each farmer to have a lawyer look at his or her wind contract before signing. ...The specific legalities are something to consider, as the placement of a potentially 320-foot windmill in the middle of an apple orchard doesn't solely affect the land upon which the turbine sits. Neighbors could feel the affect with land vibrations, the throwing of ice build up by the turbine in the winter and the shadows it casts in the summer. "People don't understand some [turbines] are going to be taller or as tall as the highest building in Grand Rapids," attorney Cliff Bloom said.

As Michigan looks toward a goal of having 10 percent of the state powered by renewable energy by 2015, wind energy companies are turning their heads toward apple country.

The Ridge Economic Agricultural Partners (REAP) hosted a meeting Tuesday, June 23 at the Alpine Township Center to discuss the possibility of putting wind turbines on farms on or near Fruit Ridge Avenue, north of 10 Mile Road.

Local farmers, politicians and other curious residents attended to see how they could get in on what seemed to some to be an easy moneymaking deal.

Harland Reister, a farmer at 21233 8th Ave., is having a meteorologic test tower placed on his property by the world's leading wind company, Iberdrola.

He said they signed the deal because it's "better than gasoline."

"I just figured it's... free energy."

But speakers at the open forum, such as David Sweikhardt from the Department of Agriculture at Michigan State University, and Cliff Bloom, an attorney from Weathers and Richardson, said that there is more to harvesting wind energy than putting up a windmill and turning on your lights.

"This is not your grandfather's windmill," Sweikhardt said of the turbines.

He emphasized the necessity for each farmer to have a lawyer look at his or her wind contract before signing.

The primary reason for needing a lawyer, according to Sweikhardt, is because these contracts are binding sometimes for 20-30 years. Other legalities that were emphasized included liability, land use restrictions and compensation.

Financial compensation was the foremost reason many farmers attended the meeting, and the motive for REAP hosting it.

"Our goal is to help preserve the Ridge area," REAP President Kirk Briggs said, "help farmers find alternative ways to be successful."

The dollar amount per turbine is only an estimate, but Rick Wilson, project coordinator for Heritage Sustainable Energy, said it could be earnings close to $12,000 per turbine, per year. Other estimates are closer to $5,000 per year.

But before the actual turbine starts generating both energy and dollars, there is a per-acre lease payment during the one- to three-year evaluation phase of the property and a one-time impact fee for each turbine placed on the property.

This may not be worth it, according to some audience responses, who have substantial funds invested in orchards and farmland that would be replaced with a 170- to 320-foot turbine, an access road and a transmission system.

In addition to being REAP president, Briggs and his wife are apple farmers on 100 acres of land in Sparta Township. They were approached by the Michigan-based Heritage Sustainable Energy group a couple months ago.

"Then Iberdrola came out of the woodwork," Briggs said of the wind energy competitor for the Ridge area.

Both companies had representatives speak at Tuesday's meeting.

"We got to sit down with both of them," Briggs said, "(and) look at all of the legalities."

The specific legalities are something to consider, as the placement of a potentially 320-foot windmill in the middle of an apple orchard doesn't solely affect the land upon which the turbine sits. Neighbors could feel the affect with land vibrations, the throwing of ice build up by the turbine in the winter and the shadows it casts in the summer.

"People don't understand some [turbines] are going to be taller or as tall as the highest building in Grand Rapids," attorney Cliff Bloom said.

Specifications such as height and sound restrictions have not yet been worked out through most townships planning commission boards, but they have it on their agendas.

"Right now there's nothing," said Sue Thomas, Planning Director for Alpine Township, "[but] the planning commission has expressed a desire to do so this year. It is their next 'to do.'"

Three meteorologic test towers are in the planning phases to be constructed in Chester Township, Casnovia Township and Sparta Township, according to Iberdrola Representative Dan Litchfield.

These towers will test the wind conditions for the ridge to see if actual towers should be constructed in the area.

"Until you really get all the information in place and really look at what the constraints are with the environment, FAA, land use, zoning," Wilson said, "can you say this is where the actual turbine site will be."

Then begins the construction of the $1 million tower.

Wilson said it's time for Michigan to join in the renewable energy front of the rest of the United States.

"If Michigan doesn't adopt this," he said, "we will once again be left behind while everyone else works to develop this."

 

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