Wind proposal blows away neighbor unity

MONTEREY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) - The idea of making electricity from the wind seems, well, friendly.

But in Allegan County's Monterey Township, "people are not speaking to other people already," because commercial wind turbines may be coming there, said Heather Ludlam, a local veterinarian.

It's a downside of the heightened interest in wind power.

Ludlam operates her practice next door to the sheep farm she runs with her husband Mike, a retired Department of Natural Resources officer.

Several years ago, "I heard that wind turbines might becoming to Monterey," Ludlam said. "And I thought, cool, wind power."

But she was imagining a few turbines for local use. When Ludlam heard leasing agents have signed up enough land to accommodate 60 turbines, each 450 feet tall, she began worrying about health, safety and how the beautiful, rural countryside would look.

Those leases reportedly were sold to a company created by energy giants Mesa Power and General Electric, called the American Wind Alliance and run by legendary oil man T. Boone Pickens.

The Ludlams' Windswept Farm is surrounded by other property owners who have leased their land for wind turbines.

But Ludlam said her farm expansion plans are on hold. The couple even dropped a plan to re-roof the barn this summer -- until they know whether turbines are coming, fearing a loss of property value.

"We are trying to maintain friendships and be good neighbors," said Ludlam, noting other people in Monterey Township aren't speaking to each other over the issue.

She and her husband are part of a group that is trying to get the township planning commission and board to adopt more protections against noise, lost property values and other feared aspects of the giant turbines.

Some planning commission meetings have gotten heated.

People who signed leases could earn thousands of dollars per turbine annually if a wind project ever develops.

It has become an argument over the township master-plan goal of keeping Monterey rural. Ludlam and others see the big turbines as an industrial use that will harm that rural nature.

But others, such as Township Supervisor Chris Reinart, see it as a way of preserving agriculture.

"I thought that if the wind turbines come in, the farmers could pick up a little extra income from the turbines (and) we wouldn't have the pressure to allow them to sell a lot here or a lot there," Reinart said.

He agrees there are some hard feelings over the matter.

"A few nights, it's hard to get to sleep," said Reinart, who has been the supervisor for 26 years and now faces recall from office over the issue.

Creating even more mistrust is the fact that a majority of the planning commission and the township trustees have signed wind leases.

Reinart first heard in 2005 leasing agents were signing up land owners, he said. Reinart signed in 2006 but said he thought nothing would ever happen.

He and other land owners thought it would be like the oil leases they had been signing for years without one well having ever been drilled.

Reinart said he had no idea it would become an issue for the township government, until he later attended a conference in which zoning for wind energy was discussed.

Monterey passed an ordinance in 2008. But in late 2009, some residents became concerned about the possibility of turbines and started pressuring the township for a more restrictive ordinance.

Township officials who have signed leases are being accused of having conflicting interests by wind turbine opponents.

Reinart disagrees, saying crafting legislation does not create a conflict, but acting on specific permit proposals might. But opponents worry he and the others have a financial interest that others in the township don't have.

These opponents point out the leases contain language that requires the land owners to help the energy company fight government restrictions.

"That's what we were told was in there," Reinart said. "And it's in there -- going back and looking at them. These are leases that thick. I'd never read the whole thing. I don't imagine most everybody, anybody else, ever sat down and went through the whole thing."

But, Reinart said, the lease language doesn't matter.

"My priority is working for the township -- not working for anybody else," he said.

Reinart points out the planning commission and the township trustees are poised to adopt a more restrictive zoning ordinance for wind turbines, even though some opponents want even more restrictions.

Monterey Township has a population of about 2,000. Its government is part time. There is no professional staff.

Yet, the state of Michigan has left regulating land-based wind turbines to small units of government such as this, while mandating that 10 percent of the state's energy must come from alternative sources by 2015.

The state plans to regulate off-shore wind projects.

"No, no, no," Ludlam said. "I don't think we are equipped to deal with an issue like this."

Reinart agrees.

"If wind is that valuable,