After a hiatus stemming from a legal glitch, the Rail Splitter Wind Farm is returning to the agendas of Logan County governing bodies. Zoning issues related to the wind farm, targeted for the northern part of the county, will be on the Logan County Regional Planning Commission's May 7 agenda. ...Phil Mahler, Logan County's regional planner, is predicting the commission will likely make a motion to approve the project. ...Mahler said he expects heavy opposition at future meetings.

The construction of a single wind tower for Metamora Township High School has been delayed after school officials discovered they must seek the approval of the Woodford County Board before continuing with the project. ...Maurer said the school was caught off guard by the delay but believes the turbine - designed to cut costs and teach students - will still become a reality.

The Bureau County Board on Tuesday rejected a zoning change that jeopardized the proposed Walnut Ridge Wind Farm. "It's another hurdle crossed," said Bureau Valley School Superintendent Terry Gutshall. Last month he asked the zoning board not to recommend a change in its zoning ordinance. "If the text amendment was approved, it could add another $18 million in costs to the project because transmission lines would have to be buried." ..."I understand wanting the county to reflect country living and not having power lines everywhere," said Gutshall. "But we can't afford the huge financial loss that would result from that."

McLean County will not be released from a lawsuit filed by homeowners who want to halt construction of a wind energy farm near Carlock, a McLean County judge ruled Wednesday. ...The McLean County Board granted the developer, Chicago-based Invenergy Wind, a special-use permit last year after a prolonged hearing process before the county Zoning Board of Appeals. Melissa McGrath, attorney for Information Is Power, argued in court Wednesday that the zoning board violated homeowners' constitutional rights by limiting the testimony in opposition to the project. She accused the county of imposing different procedural rules on homeowners who spokes against the project.

Navitas Energy of Minneapolis, Minn., has received permission to put two towers in the El Paso area to study the site of its proposed wind farm. The Woodford County Board voted Tuesday night to approve two special-use permits for 197-foot meteorological towers near El Paso. One will be on property owned by Charles Turk at 1052 County Road 2425 East, and the second on land owned by Milton Jochums, a quarter mile southeast of county roads 2200 North and 3000 East. The Woodford County Zoning Board recommended the approval. The permits were quietly approved in a consent agenda of resolutions, but that followed attempts by a resident to speak against proposed wind turbine projects in the county.

Supporters of a proposed wind farm outnumbered opponents for the first time during a public hearing in Tazewell County. The Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals held its third public hearing Tuesday night, allowing comments on the proposed Rail Splitter Wind Farm by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy LLC. ...Opponents of the wind farm have dominated the two previous public hearings with about a dozen speakers. They say the towers will lower property values, cause noise pollution and create an eyesore. Six people opposed to the wind farm spoke Tuesday. But residents who plan to host towers on their land and receive up to $500 a month to do it told the board about the benefits the towers would bring.

A dozen people voiced objections to a proposed Logan-Tazewell county wind farm last week, including a Delavan man who says 15 wind towers will surround his house 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. ...No one spoke in favor of the project. Objections ranged from noise pollution, decreased property values, damaged farmland and problems for crop dusters who would have to fly near the towers. Luke Taylor of Delavan had an attorney file a motion for a continuance Wednesday. That extended hearings on the issue and will allow more cross-examination of Horizon representatives.

The balance of opinion tipped toward negative Tuesday night, as land owners near a proposed wind farm continued to urge the county to halt the building of wind turbines. Tazewell County's Zoning Board of Appeals held a public meeting Tuesday night - the second of its kind at the Tazewell County Justice Center - to consider a special permit application recently filed by Horizon Wind Energy for the erection of 38 turbines in Tazewell County. ...Citizen after citizen spoke out against the wind turbines. Many shared Schmidgall's fear and echoed his claim that the value of property within the turbine chain will diminish. Wendel Hoffman of Delavan lives within a mile of one proposed turbine. "Don't you think something like this should have had a little more advertisement - (something) that affects so many people?" he said to ZBA members.

The La Salle County Board's Development Committee voted Thursday to join other Illinois counties that regulate wind farms and lift the limit on how much power they can generate. The recommendation will go back to the county's Zoning Board of Appeals, which had recommended the limit be doubled from 100 to 200 megawatts. ZBA chairman John Hughes told the committee proposals to keep the limit at 100 megawatts or lift it completely had both failed, and 200 megawatts was a compromise. Hughes said the ZBA's concerns were wanting wind farm growth to move at a slower pace and also the administrative load the installations posed on the county.

The proposed Streator Cayuga Ridge wind farm calls for as many as 450 wind turbines to be erected across 46,000 acres stretching from a point east of Streator and south of Ransom down to about six miles north of Pontiac, west of Odell near Interstate 55. The overall project is made up of three smaller projects -- one involving about 75 wind turbines in southern La Salle County, one involving up to 200 wind turbines in northern Livingston County and one involving 175 wind turbines in southern Livingston County. The public hearing addresses the southern Livingston County portion of the project, generally located between Odell and Emington in Odell and Union townships.

A group of concerned residents put a 30-day stop to wind farm talks in Logan County, but the Tazewell County half of the project continues to move forward. ...Bill Whitlock, project development manager for the wind farm, said the lag in Logan County will push the construction time frame of the project back. Whitlock also said he didn't expect so much resistance from Logan County. "We were a little surprised by it," he said. The snag also has brought up a question of whether or not both counties need to approve the project before it can move forward. Deininger said she believed both counties would have to be in agreement, but Whitlock said that isn't necessarily the case.

A group of concerned residents put a 30-day stop to wind farm talks in Logan County, but the Tazewell County half of the project continues to move forward. Rockford attorney Rick Porter represents a group of Logan County residents who are opposed to the Rail Splitter Wind Farm by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy LLC. The proposed project would cover more than 11,000 acres of farmland straddling Tazewell and Logan counties just east of Interstate 155.

Emden resident Barb Aper appeared before the Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday to voice opposition and request more information about the Rail Splitter Wind Farm project before officials make any decisions. Aper is a member of the recently organized group called Union Ridge Wind. The group is dedicated to giving a voice to area residents who aren't participating in the wind farm project, but may be affected by its use and construction. The group has blocked wind farm discussion at Logan County government meetings because several residents did not received legally required notices about zoning hearings related to the wind farm. "We were caught totally off guard," she said.

Seven people, including crop dusters and people in the aviation field, objected to the 67-tower project that would bring 38 of them to Tazewell County. "It's not fun to work around (wind towers)," said Pekin resident Brandon Flexsenhar, a crop duster who has had a close call with a tower in another county. Bill Whitlock, project development manager for the farm, said the towers would be 389 feet tall. Others who signed up to voice their opinions said the towers are inadequately lit, aren't painted so pilots can see them and cause crop dusters to charge farmers more for the work, if they accept the job at all.

A local group has forced a halt to official discussion about the Railsplitter Wind Farm project during future Logan County Board and committee meetings. The proposed wind farm stretches from Delavan in Tazewell County eastward to the Hartsburg and Emden areas. Union Ridge Wind, a group dedicated to receiving more information about the erection of wind generators planned for the Railsplitter project by Horizon Wind Energy, is the group behind the action. Attorney Richard Porter from Hinshaw Colbertson in Rockford has been retained to represent the group's interests.

Proposed changes to Bureau County’s zoning ordinance on wind farms received no support from the Bureau County Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday night. After nearly three hours of testimony, an overflow crowd heard board of appeals members unanimously vote against endorsing a proposed amendment to Section 3.41-4S regarding the burial of transmission lines for power and communication. Board member Clem Newton passed on the vote. ...According to Dennis Johnson of a Kansas-based utility engineering firm, burying six miles of the wind farm’s power lines would cost $18 million to $24 million, compared to $1.8 million to $3 million for the same lines if placed overhead.

The Bureau County Board had approved 57 conditional use permits for Big Sky Wind LLC in July 2006. The Big Sky Wind project will stretch north of Ohio into Lee County, and between Bureau and Lee counties, will have about 100 turbines. At Tuesday’s meeting, Bureau County Engineer John Gross said he needed more time to look into the decommissioning plan, especially since he was not in the county engineer position with the earlier wind farm projects.

That's because county officials are paving the way for construction of a meteorological tower to test the speed, direction and ambient temperature of the wind in northeastern DeWitt County. The data would help developers decide if the county is a good site for a wind farm. The board's land use committee discussed the concept with Duane Enger, a project manager for Trade Wind Energy, based near Kansas City, Kan. Enger told the committee his firm would be applying for a special-use permit for the tower and soon afterward would be applying for a second permit for a spot in the southwestern portion of the county. "Wind energy has become a competitive energy source," he said.

Grundy County may not have any wind farms yet, but its neighbors do and officials say Grundy may be the next option. No one has approached the county yet to construct a utility scale wind energy conversion system, or a wind farm, said Heidi Miller, director of the Land Use Department. "But it's just a matter of time," she said Thursday. The county board began discussions at Tuesday's board meeting on an ordinance to outline requirements and regulations if a developer wanted to construct a wind farm in the county. The board approved the ordinance to be placed on file.

The Stephenson County Board on Wednesday unanimously approved extending the local enterprise zone for a wind-farm project, and also moved forward on a major initiative to repair the sally port floor at the local courthouse. County officials say the extension of the Freeport/Stephenson County Enterprise Zone is an important step to make way for the EcoGrove Wind LLC project proposed for northwest of Lena. All four taxing bodies that govern the enterprise zone have to approve the extension. So far, Jo Daviess County, the Village of Hanover, and Stephenson County have approved it. The City of Freeport - the last taxing body - will likely vote on the matter at the March 17 City Council meeting.