Cheryl Wagner, a URW member and a vocal opponent throughout the process, says she can only speak in general terms. Wagner said a proposal was given to Horizon, which the energy company is currently reviewing. The proposal was drawn up by Porter and agreed upon by URW. Neither Wagner nor Porter would disclose what was in the proposal, but an appeal may hinge upon whether or not it is accepted. "Horizon said they really want to do this (project)," said Wagner. "But, they're not willing to give a property value guarantee."

Logan County regional planner Phil Mahler said he expects to hear a lot of opposition to a proposed wind farm at today's Regional Planning Commission meeting, set for 7:30 p.m. in the Logan County Courthouse. Barb Aper of Union Ridge Wind hopes to exceed Mahler's expectations. ... One of Aper's main concerns is that no one has addressed how she is supposed to navigate outside of her residence with the main roads to the east and west set to be blocked by construction. "A county board member told me that I should stay at my mother's house while they were doing construction," Aper said. "I have a heart condition and am worried about having access to those roads." This is only one of the concerns dismissed by county board members, according to Aper.

A dozen people voiced objections to a proposed wind farm Wednesday, including a Delavan man who says his house will be surrounded by 15 wind towers if the project is approved. "I can look out of every window in my home and see a wind tower," said Rod Egli of the Rail Splitter Wind Farm proposed by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy LLC. "This will definitely light my backyard up with flashing red lights," he said, adding that three of the towers would be placed about 2,500 feet away from his house. Egli was one of 12 people, mostly from Delavan, who spoke out against the wind farm during a Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Wednesday night.

The people affected by a future wind farm in Tazewell and Logan counties had a chance Tuesday night to meet employees of Horizon Wind Energy and ask tough questions about the giant turbines going up in their backyards. The small, serious crowd of visitors to the Emden Community Center's basement brought to the meeting a mix of optimism and skepticism. Horizon Wind Energy, which already has a wind farm in McLean County, is planning to build another wind farm that will stretch from Emden in Logan County to Delavan in Tazewell County. "I don't like it. It ain't gonna be win-win for me," said Gene Aper. Aper's home is going to be surrounded by wind turbines. Aper said he has talked to real estate agents who told him that his property value will go down 10 to 20 percent because of the nine wind turbines that will be visible from his front door.

"It just seems like this is a perfect place for a wind farm, in big, open spaces," Town of Chilton resident Sandy Popp said. "In this project, there aren't many nonparticipating land owners, and I think that makes a huge difference. In our county, there will be hundreds of people who will not be participating who will be relatively close."

There is no mistaking where Bill Welty stands - the signs at the end of his driveway say it all - "No Wind Farms." The placards at the edge of Welty's Chana Road property, just south of state Route 64 in rural Ogle County, also feature a turbine circled in red, a line slashing through the middle. When he and his wife, Judy, moved from suburban Chicago three years ago to retire on Judy's parents' family farm, they came to enjoy their 230 acres of unspoiled prairie landscape. Now, with two separate wind-energy companies eyeing the county's rolling ridge lines, they face the prospect of 50 to 100 wind towers sprouting up all around them - ugly, noisy, bad-for-your health wind towers, Welty says.

Mayor Herb Arbuckle and other members of the council expressed concern that land taken up by wind turbines could have detrimental effects on economic growth and development, property values because of obstructed views, noise or light pollution and possible electronic and radio interference that could affect emergency radio signals. "We've got to look 20 to 30 years down the road when we consider this," Arbuckle said. Council member Dick Jones said looking down the road, he can see the turbines harming residential property development west of town.

Denise Preller is sensitive to motion sickness. She told the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday that for her, the proposed 100-turbine wind farm will make her ill. “I’m disturbed that I’ll get motion sickness in my own back yard,” she said. Her husband, Bill Preller, doesn’t relish the thought of sitting in his recliner in his family room and looking out his bay window only to see a wind turbine instead of a sunset. While the couple’s Hudson property will not have a turbine on it, Denise Preller said there will be one within 1,500 feet and eight in the section where they live. And she thinks a similar project in eastern McLean County looks like “a bad science fiction movie.”

An energy and environmental consultant hired by opponents of the proposed White Oak Wind Energy Center maintains Invenergy Wind LLC fails to meet several requirements for a special-use permit for the wind farm. Tom Hewson of Energy Ventures Analysis Inc., Arlington, Va., spoke to the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals during a hearing Wednesday night. He said the proposed 100-turbine wind farm in McLean and Woodford counties would be a detriment to the public because of noise levels and visibility. Hewson said he did a “simple approach” simulation of one turbine to see how far a person had to be away from the turbine before it complied with Illinois’ noise regulations. “At 750 feet away, it exceeded the range,” he said, noting that three property owners have asked for waivers to allow a turbine in about that range. Hewson said it wasn’t until a person was 1,200 feet away from the turbine that the noise met Illinois’ requirements.

McLean County officials have filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit over a Wind Farm outside Ellsworth. Rene Taylor has filed a civil lawsuit to stop construction on parts of the $700 million project saying she has health and safety concerns about the Twin Groves Wind Farm.

The large wind farm going up in Eastern McLean County is coming too close for comfort for one family. That’s why the Taylor family outside Ellsworth has filed a civil lawsuit to stop construction on parts of the $700-million project. Rene Taylor says she has health and safety concerns regarding the Twin Groves Wind Farm. Taylor says a high-voltage substation and three turbines are too close to her home.

Industrial Wind Action Group, a nationally based grass-roots effort, claims companies are exaggerating the amount of megawatts wind farm projects can produce by giving maximum output figures instead of more concise estimates.

In a lawsuit filed last week, attorney Jack Vieley accuses the McLean County Board and Horizon Wind Energy of ignoring or downplaying the potential dangers of the facility, including high voltage, cancer risk and noise and shadow pollution, among other complaints.