McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals Met April 6.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair, James Finnigan called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.
2. ROLL CALL: Secretary Philip Dick called the roll and noted the presence of a quorum as follows: James Finnigan, Rick Dean, Michael Kuritz, Julia Turner, Ruth Novosad and Mary Beth Taylor. Brian Bangert arrived at 7:08 PM. Also present were Darrell Mitchell, Zoning Enforcement Officer, Ryan Nelson from County IT Department, Samantha Vasquez, Civil Assistant State’s Attorney and Chris Spanos, Civil Assistant State’s Attorney.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion was made by Dean/Taylor to approve the minutes from the March 2, 2021 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.
The roll call vote was six members for the motion to approve, none opposed, and member Bangert was absent.
4. APPEARANCE BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: Secretary Dick announced that no one notified the Department of Building and Zoning that they wanted to speak or submit a written communication on matters not on the agenda. And no one responded when Chair Finnigan called for persons to speak.
5. Secretary Dick read the following information into the record:
If the cases heard tonight are finished and the ZBA has discussed them and voted on them, the cases will be considered complete. If a case is not finished or if the GoToMeeting system crashes or the ZBA members are not able to adequately communicate before a vote is taken on a case by the ZBA, the case will be continued until 7:00 PM on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Please contact the Department of Building and Zoning at 309-888-5160 for a link to this meeting or attend the meeting in person.
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6. REGULAR AGENDA:
Case SU-21-01, application of Kuntz By-Products, LLC in case SU-21-01 on parcel 03-05-400- 001. This is an application to amend and expand special use Case SU-18-08 for an Agricultural Processing Facility – Animal Feed Processing - in the A-Agriculture District on property in Chenoa Township at 31258 N 2550 East Rd., Chenoa, IL.
Secretary Dick called the case, provided exhibits to the board and submitted a staff report for review. He indicated the seven standards for a special use are met.
Rollyn Kuntz, 12022 E 950 North Rd. Chenoa, IL appeared to give testimony and was affirmed. Mr. Kuntz indicated that the farmhouse to the north is vacant and the owner of the property supports this application.
James Soeldner, 201 S. Main St., Ellsworth, IL asked if they planned to put a tube across the road to the grain elevator, and if they planned to put in a rail spur to the site?
Mr. Kuntz indicated that they did not plan to put in a tube or a rail spur.
Member Turner asked what ingredients are put in the animal feed. Mr. Kuntz indicated that they have a nutritionist who balances the diet with corn, soybeans and other human food products that would likely go to the landfill if not placed in the animal feed grain. He said that they put such things as discards from bakeries, mayonnaise and cookies into the feed.
The board reviewed and discussed the seven standards and found them met.
Motion was made by Dean/Kuritz to recommend approval of case SU-21-01.
The roll call vote was seven members for the motion to recommend approval, no members were opposed, and no members were absent.
Case ZA-21-01, application of Sapphire Sky Wind Energy LLC by Invenergy LLC in case ZA 21-01. This is a text amendment of the Zoning Ordinance of the Code of McLean County Chapter 350, Zoning Section 350-43, OO(2)(j), Use Standards, Height. The permitted maximum height of a WECS tower shall not exceed 595 feet rather than 550 feet as is currently allowed (a WECS tower is a Wind Energy Conversion System tower).
Secretary Dick called the case, provided exhibits to the board, and submitted a staff report for review. He indicated that staff recommends approval of the proposed text amendment. Secretary Dick indicated that the applicant had a PowerPoint presentation that the applicant wanted to use, but that it may cause difficulty for persons calling in to understand or see the digital presentation.
James Griffin, attorney for the applicant, indicated that the applicant would not use the PowerPoint presentation.
James Griffin, 70 W. Madison St., Chicago, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Mr. Griffin indicated he is an attorney who represents the applicant. He introduced the application and indicated that the applicant purchased the rights to the Sapphire Sky Wind Energy Wind Farm from Geronimo Energy at the end of 2020. He said that Geronimo Energy had asked for turbine height of 675 feet in an earlier text amendment request, but that Sapphire Sky Wind Energy LLC is now only asking for turbine height of 595 feet. Mr. Griffin described the following list of documents that were sent to the Department of Building and Zoning that were subsequently put on the McLean County website:
• FAA Determinations of No Hazard – This spreadsheet outlining FAA approvals of turbines at 624’, demonstrating heights greater than 550’ are feasible in McLean County.
• Aviation Systems Letter – This consultant letter provides review and a summary of DNHs and how the FAA arrived at their conclusion. As mentioned, the turbines under FAA study were 624’, although the Sapphire Sky project will only seek to build 591’ units at the same locations.
• Noise Analysis Report – Dr. Michael Hankard will provide key expert testimony at the hearing and will frequently reference this report as he demonstrates that larger turbines will comply with all IPCB sound limits as well as the current McLean Ordinance. Indeed, larger turbines actually tend to be quieter.
• Proposed Turbine Specification (3 documents) – The ZBA will have the opportunity to review the specifications of proposed Sapphire Sky turbines with a tip height >550’. Current height limits withstanding, these turbine types meet all requirements of the McLean Ordinance.
• Economic Impact Study – Dr. Loomis will provide key expert testimony about how the larger turbines will generate significant tax revenue for various jurisdictions, including McLean County, and will frequently reference this report.
• Bellflower Siting Agreement – This agreement will be referenced during the ZBA hearings and demonstrates that the community in which we have sited the vestas units is quite supportive.
• Le Roy School Board Resolution of Support - We anticipate that Superintendent Gary Tipsord will speak as an interested party and will reference this document. You should already have this letter in your email inbox as well as a physical copy that was mailed to your office.
• Blue Ridge School Board Resolution of Support – This document demonstrates how supportive of the Sapphire Sky Project Blue Ridge CUSD is, and outlines the benefits they will receive from the vestas units erected in the Project.
• EcoCat IDNR Letters (2 documents) – Demonstrates that the Sapphire Sky Project has appropriately coordinated with the IDNR and has concluded consultation with agency.
Greg Vander Kamp, 1 S. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Mr. Vander Kamp indicated that the proposal is to raise the turbine tower height by 45 feet. He indicated that the Blooming Grove Wind Farm that was developed by his company produces 250 megawatts of electricity with 94 wind turbines. He indicated that the proposed Sapphire Sky Wind Energy LLC wind farm would produce that same amount of electricity, 250 megawatts, with 64 wind turbines. Mr. Vander Kamp indicated that they had a shadow flicker study completed for a proposed wind farm in southeast McLean County with the taller turbines that resulted in 85% of the turbines causing less than 10 hours of shadow flicker per year on occupied residences and none with more than 30 hours per year.
Catherine Metsker, 20645 N 825 East Rd., Carlock, IL asked if they knew that McLean County tower height was limited to 550 feet when they purchased Geronimo Energy’s project? She asked if they could get turbines 550 feet in height to use in the proposed wind farm?
Mr. Vander Kamp said that they knew. He said that they could not get turbines 550 feet in height.
Michael Hankard, 211 E. Verona Ave., Verona, WI appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Mr. Hankard indicated that he is an acoustical engineer with 30 years of experience. He indicated that taller turbines turn slower and are quieter. He indicated that blade design is improved with serrated blades, and that turbines with such blades cause less noise. He indicated that a wind farm with these turbines could be designed to meet Illinois regulations.
Catherine Metsker, 20645 N 825 East Rd., Carlock, IL asked if he did the sound study for Blooming Grove.
Mr. Hankard indicated that they did.
Dr. David Loomis, 2705 Kolby Ct., Bloomington, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Dr. Loomis indicated that he is a professor of economics at ISU. He indicated that the trend of wind turbines is that they are getting taller. He said that eight counties in Illinois have no height limit for turbines and that four counties only limit height according to regulations of the FAA.
Louis Wozniak, 401 C County Road 2425 North, Mahomet, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Mr. Wozniak said that he is an electrical and mechanical engineer. He said that he owns farms near Bellflower. He said that wind energy is a community property and that he supports the increase in the height limit of wind turbines.
Laurie Sleeter, 23903 N 2900 East Rd., Lexington, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Ms. Sleeter requested that the ZBA deny the request. She said that increased height of turbines will increase shadow flicker. She indicated that the shadow flicker for the turbine to the west of her residence extends one mile and that the shadows cover her house and make shadows throughout her whole house even when the curtains and blinds are drawn. She said that that shadows are very bothersome.
Catherine Metsker, 20645 N 825 East Rd., Carlock, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Ms. Metsker indicated that she lives in the area of the White Oak Wind Farm and that she hears noise from the closest turbine that is ½ mile away from her house. She said that she receives many complaints from residents in the Lexington area. She said that the sound models say the noise is fine, but they are not fine.
James Soeldner, 201 S. Main St., Ellsworth, IL appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Mr. Soeldner indicated that he lives in the Twin Grove Wind Farm area and does not say that there isn’t flicker or noise. He said that he doesn’t get any complaints in his area. He said that he has received complaints from residents in the Lexington area.
Tim Jolly, 2700 North Rd, appeared to give testimony and was sworn. Mr. Jolly indicated that he has a problem with taller turbines. He said the closest turbine near him is 2,000 feet from his house and the noise is horrendous. He said that the increase in height is not the answer. Mr. Jolly indicated that they will just install more turbines like EDP is doing in his area.
Secretary Dick read four letters in support of the text amendment from the following property owners in the Bellflower area: 1) Diana P. Wade, Manager of Hazel Crumbaugh Doley Family LLC; 2) Cecelia V. Beecher; 3) Mark A. Morris; and 4) Michael and Ellen Rudicil.
Secretary Dick said that he received 61 individual letters from property owners in the Bellflower area that were signed by these property owners supporting the text amendment. He read one of the letters. The following persons sent these letters:
Eric Zehr
Terry March
R. Kirk Swigart
Larry Brossman
Cole and Wendy Dooly
Janice Priest
Betty J Christiansen
Rich Schroeder
Joan Ruth Harrigan
Dean and Janice Sommer
Tim Young
Lee A Bidner
Emily Maurer
Sheila Murphy
Donald and Brenda Wallace
Michael and Vicki Boman
William Abbot
Becky Kuntz
David Bright
Mary Jo Copenhaven
Dianne Schultz, President and CEO
John Jacobsen
Peggy J Jones
Terry and Gloria Stevens
Stephanie Horner
Brian Zehr
Joe Allen Parks
James Huddlestone
Mark F Schultz, Trustee
Merle Woods
John Maurer
David McLaughlin
Jeffrey Zehr
Warren J Bane
Nancy Mallon
Karl Swigart
Velda Swigart
William J Jiles
David and Diana Efaw
Royal and Beverly Springer
Philip and Charlotte Lawrence
Keith and Dena Swigart
Brian and Angela Arteman
Russell and Justine Myers
Janet Jones
Susan Sears
William and Virginia Forrest
Stacia and Jeffrey Turner
Mike McLaughlin
Vernon Golden
Mark and Judith Wallace
Lloyd and Loretta Power
Gretchen Ostenberg
Lethea Barnhart, Trustee
Sharon Blackwell
Rita J Flint
Donald L Owen
John Schmidt
First Mid Ag Services, Agent/Trustee
Paula S Stensel
Parker Kemp
James Griffin and Greg Vander Kamp gave rebuttal testimony regarding shadow flicker.
JoAnne Blank, 1165 Scheuring Rd., DePere, WI appeared to give rebuttal testimony and was sworn. Ms. Blank indicated that she is an expert in modeling shadow flicker and that she did a shadow flicker study for 89 proposed turbines in the Bellflower area. She indicated that the taller turbines can be modeled and that no residences would have shadows for more than 30 hours per year.
Motion was made by Turner/Kuritz to recess the meeting until 7:00 PM on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.
The roll call vote was seven members for the motion to recess the meeting until 7:00 PM on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, no members were opposed, and no members were absent.
7. ADJOURNMENT: The Chair declared the meeting adjourned at 10:09 PM.
https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/8148
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