In the fall of 2008 the village board adopted an ordinance to regulate wind turbines within a 1.5 mile radius of the village, according to a written statement from Shabbona officials. The board also adopted a resolution specific to a proposal by NextEra Energy Resources, which is building a 151 turbine wind farm in DeKalb and Lee counties.

Some of the turbines are on land in unincorporated DeKalb County, and state law allows municipalities to regulate wind farms within a 1.5 mile radius from their borders.

That resolution specific to NextEra allows the construction of wind turbines, but sets a number of conditions, according to the statement. One of those conditions was to annex land between Challand Road and the current village limits, from Route 30 to the railroad tracks, said Anna Kurtzman, Shabbona's manager of Planning and Zoning Services. It's about 272 acres of land, she said.

The land owners have filed petitions to annex to fulfill that requirement, Kurtzman said. State and village laws require two separate public hearings.

The first will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 16 at Village Hall, at which time the village's Plan Commission will consider the request to rezone the land from agricultural to industrial, with a special use to allow agricultural uses, according to the statement.

The second hearing will be Sept. 22 before the Shabbona Village Board at Village Hall to consider the terms of the proposed draft annexation agreements. Neither of the hearings will address wind turbines, according to the statement.

Copies of related documents are available at Shabbona Village Hall, 206 S. Blackhawk St.