Wind-farm OK ruled illegal

Jim Hursh notified Boone County Board members by phone and in writing about its 5-4 vote Tuesday to approve a special-use permit for the farm. The vote opened the door for 15 turbines to be placed on land in rural Boone County.

Hursh said he received complaints from a County Board member and an opponent of the wind farm about how the meeting was held and, after reviewing state statutes, he discovered that proper procedure was not followed.

State statutes require one-third of County Board members or the board chairman to request the special meeting in writing, and each board member must then be notified in writing. Hursh said those requirements were not met.

At least two board members and an employee of the county administrator's office said Friday that the board has not followed that procedure in the past.

In his five years on the board, Marshall Newhouse said, special meetings were requested by the chairman, and employees at the Boone County administrator's office would then call each board member.

"It seems we have not been following this procedure for quite some time," he said.

Chicago attorney Nanci Rogers, who represents backers of the wind farm, did not return phone calls Friday.

It's just the latest controversy.

Boone County Circuit Court Judge Gerald Grubb ruled May 10 that the Zoning Board of Appeals' earlier decision to recommend that the County Board deny the special request for the farm was "logically inconsistent" because the committee found that the proposal met six criteria for a special-use permit. The County Board voted 8-4 against the project.

Grubb ruled that the request be heard again by the appropriate parties, or the full County Board should approve the request. That led to Tuesday's special meeting. Grubb is scheduled to review the case again June 23.

Three board members were not at the meeting, including Newhouse, and two who did vote were elected in March. Newcomer Fred Genrich voted in favor of the project; Karl Johnson voted against it. Their votes riled board member Dave Taylor, who said neither man had enough experience with the issue to vote on it.

Chairman Susan Anderson, who was out of town during the vote, questioned the integrity of the proceedings via phone Wednesday, a day after the meeting took place.

Anderson said she was disappointed that the board did not send the issue back to the ZBA and back into the public process before a final decision on the proposal was reached.

"It seems that, with the magnitude of the issues at stake here, someone did some digging and found out we have not gone about calling special meetings correctly in the county," Newhouse said. "It's worked for us forever this way, but now it's become an issue."

Catherine Tobin, assistant to Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni, said she had been told by administrative staff that at least one board member said the meeting had been advertised incorrectly. A meeting notice called for a closed session but did not indicate that any vote would be taken in open session.

She said another meeting date is not likely to be set until June 5. The next full County Board meeting is June 14.

Board member Robert Champion, chairman of the Administrative and Legislative Committee, said Hursh's legal opinion took him by surprise. Champion believed normal procedure had been followed.

Boone County bureau chief Rob Baxter can be reached at 815-544-3452 or rbaxter@rrstar.com.