Wind turbine plan gets blowback in Bay County's Monitor Township

MONITOR TWP., MI - Many residents of Bay County's Monitor Township turned out Tuesday, Aug. 14, to voice opposition to wind turbines being built in the area and how the township's planning commission has handled the process.

After hearing the complaints, the planning commission voted unanimously to create a committee to look at the issue of wind turbines in the township. The committee will consist of nine members: three commission members, three residents who are for the wind turbines and three who are against them.

DTE Energy wants to bring renewable wind energy to the township near Saginaw Bay like it tried previously in nearby Beaver and Williams townships. The project has met with opposition from citizens, who cite a number of issues such as noise problems and potential harm to wildlife.

For some, the wind farms developing next door are cause for concern.

On June 25, the Monitor Board of Trustees voted to have a moratorium on wind turbine development to allow the planning commission to take more time to review a revised ordinance.

Brandon Krause, register of deeds for Bay County, attended the Tuesday meeting as a resident and said that many people are upset about the way the process has been handled.

"What everybody is upset about is definitely that the way this was handled," he said. "It's very important that we are getting our voices heard, that's number one."

Mark Suchy, a farmland owner in the township, said he does not have a problem with the turbines themselves but that there were no avenues for public input.

"We are not saying we object to the wind turbines," Suchy said. "DTE Energy took the whole board out on a bus trip to Wheeler, Michigan, and showed them the wind turbines - wined and dined them - anyway, and they came back and threw in some guidelines and came up with ordinances and guidelines without any public input."

In recent years, wind farms have popped up in rural communities throughout Michigan, primarily in the Thumb, and there are plans to build more. Proponents say they're good for the environment, for farmers and for communities.

Another attendee of the event, Mark Wahl, said some residents also have concerns about the wind turbines having a detrimental effect on their quality of life.

"There's a lot of research out on sound, noise, quality of life, the lights flickering (off the turbines)," Wahl said, adding that some of the issues he cares about are the complications the height of the turbines can create for hospital helicopters or planes.

Another topic some residents had concerns with is planning commission member Terry Miller, who is a vice chair on the Michigan Environmental Council. He was questioned by Krause and others if he would remove or recuse himself from a vote.

Krause also alleged that he spoke at a Beaver Township meeting as an elected official that the turbines were coming to Monitor Township even before there was a vote on it.

"They are saying it's a conflict of interest because he sits on two other boards that represent wind and energy and this of that nature," said Jim Bellor, the chairman of the commission. Bellor added that there will be a hearing on Aug. 27 to see if there is a conflict of interest, which will be held at City Hall.

Across the state there are currently 20 wind farms in rural committees in the Thumb and in Sanilac, Saginaw, Bay, Huron Tuscola, Gratiot and Isabella counties.

Drive to the intersection of Fairgrove and Garner roads in Gilford Township. Walk up a few steps and through an oval-shaped door and you're inside the base of a wind turbine in the middle of Tuscola County farmland.