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Energy firm official calls restrictions illegal
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By LAURIA LYNCH-GERMAN
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Jan. 29, 2002
Addison - After its proposed windmill operation generated so much local acrimony that town government virtually ground to a halt, a Florida power company withdrew its application Tuesday to build what would be the state's largest wind farm.
In a letter filed Tuesday, project manager David Herrick said restrictions placed on the permit earlier this month would cut the number of turbines from 28 to eight.
"This restriction drastically affects the cost and efficiency of the project, to the point of making it uneconomical," Herrick wrote. "(T)he Plan Commission action is illegal and violates the state statute."
FPL Energy and its attorneys have argued that state law allows only very narrow regulation of wind energy systems.
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Addison panel wants safety zones that exceed regulations elsewhere
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Jan. 18, 2002
"... legal challenge appears all but certain if the commission does not back down from its preliminary decision to prohibit turbines within 1,000 feet of any residence, road right of way, or the property boundary of a neighbor who is not providing land for any project facilities."
"FPL Energy had proposed a 650-foot safety circle in its permit application.
No other wind farm in the state faces mandatory 1,000-foot setbacks from its turbines, said Jim Tynion, a Milwaukee attorney representing FPL Energy."
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Board to address panel makeup
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Dec. 6, 2001
"The fate of a proposed wind energy project that has brought "unprecedented turmoil" to this rural town should be decided in late January, the Town Board said in a statement released Thursday."
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Wind farm dispute creates turbulence
Opposition to turbines in Addison deters other alternative energy projects in state, advocate says
"A bitter dispute in a Washington County community is a major reason Wisconsin largely sat out a building boom of wind energy systems around the nation this year, an advocate for renewable energy sources says."
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Nov. 22, 2001
"At the only wind farm to be built in Wisconsin this year, just 12 months elapsed between the time that Enron Wind, a subsidiary of the Houston-based Enron Corp., first asked for permission to erect 20 turbines between Cobb and Montfort in Iowa County and the completion of the project in June."
"The Montfort Wind Farm, which is visible for miles on the south side of U.S. Highway 18, is Wisconsin's largest with a capacity of 30 megawatts. FPL Energy owns and operates the turbines and sells power generated there to Wisconsin Electric Power Co. and Wisconsin Power & Light.
Asked if there had been any complaints about the wind turbines since they started producing power this summer, Town of Eden Chairman Wayne Grimm said: "Absolutely none."
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Addison's new board members neutral on divisive wind energy plan
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Nov. 6, 2001
Addison - The appointments Tuesday of two Town Board members forged a new majority of supervisors that is neither for nor against a proposed wind energy project that has split this rural community into quarreling camps, officials said.
Bob Bingen, a former town chairman, was appointed chairman Tuesday at a special board meeting held one day after a judge removed Lisa Bzdusek from the post.
At the end of Tuesday's meeting, Bingen called for residents "to pull together" and restore civility in the town. "We have to stop the infighting," he said.
Bingen asked that people stop making "harassing telephone calls over the wind farm" to officials.
"We need to get business done," he said. "There are a lot of issues in this town that do not have to do with windmills."
Gary Karnitz, chief of the St. Lawrence Volunteer Fire Department, was appointed supervisor, replacing James Johnson. Johnson was removed from office Monday, along with Bzdusek, when Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Tom Wolfgram ruled that the two were illegally appointed to the seats at an Aug. 8 Town Board meeting.
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Board's special counsel cites ice concerns, noise
The Town Board this summer hired the firm as special counsel to review FPL Energy's permit application.
The seven-member Plan Commission would have received Baker's report last Friday but the panel was prevented from meeting at the last minute by the order of Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Gonring. Gonring temporarily restrained three recent commission appointees from serving on the panel in response to a complaint from 14 property owners that have signed leases with FPL Energy.
The three commissioners - Charles Bode, Ann Schmidt and Cheryl Vogt - were nominated by Town Chairman Lisa Bzdusek and were approved, in part, with the support of Bzdusek and Supervisor James Johnson, according to the complaint.
The earlier appointments of wind farm opponents Bzdusek and Johnson to the Town Board now have been challenged in Ozaukee County Circuit Court and could be overturned, according to attorney Ed Ritger. The subsequent commission appointments also should be rejected if Bzdusek and Johnson are prohibited from serving on the board, he said.
No Plan Commission meeting will be scheduled until the legal action involving the recent Plan Commission appointees has been resolved.
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Oct. 10, 2001
Addison - The Town Plan Commission should reject FPL Energy's request to build a wind farm here because the utility did not prove the turbines and other facilities would not harm public health or safety, a Chicago law firm recommends in a new report.
Ice thrown from spinning blades in winter and noise are among the potentially harmful consequences of building the wind energy project on hills east of U.S. Highway 41, according to Geoffrey Baker, an attorney with McAndrews, Held & Malloy in Chicago.
Baker's recommendation was immediately challenged by a Milwaukee lawyer representing FPL Energy.
The Chicago law firm had not contacted the utility, said Jim Tynion, an attorney with Foley & Lardner in Milwaukee.
"We address each issue in the application," he said. "We do need to get before the Plan Commission again and make sure we've answered all their questions."
Utility's lawyer blasts report
Baker's report is "blatantly false and inflammatory" in each of its conclusions, according to Tynion.
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Oct. 2, 2001
Town voters on Tuesday rejected a wind farm opponent's bid for office in a recall election that served as a referendum on the energy project that has deeply divided this rural community for more than two years.
Gerald Rate, a retired dairy farmer who said that he was neutral on the wind farm, won a majority of the 1,161 votes cast, defeating Steve Vogt by an unofficial count of 647-514.
Rate, 61, attempted to distance himself from the controversy by focusing on other issues in his campaign.
"This town is bigger than one issue," Rate said. "The silent majority in the town has spoken. It is time to get the Town Board going again."
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Judge's blocking of 2 supervisors prevents a quorum
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Sept. 13, 2001
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By LAURIA LYNCH-GERMAN
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Aug. 15, 2001
"Several prominent Town of Addison residents filed suit Wednesday alleging that recent appointments of a town chairman and a town supervisor were illegal."
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Attorneys, some residents call the appointments illegal
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Aug. 8, 2001
"The appointments of two wind farm opponents to the Town Board on Wednesday were immediately criticized as improper and illegal by pro-wind farm attorneys and several residents at the emergency meeting.
The charges came after Town Attorney Timothy Andringa advised Supervisor Art Weis and Town Clerk Ellen Wolf that their votes against two nominees would not be counted."
"Ed Ritger, a Random Lake attorney representing the Taxpayers for Addison Wind Farm group, said Andringa was wrong when he denied Wolf the opportunity to nominate residents for the posts.
'The nomination procedure was set up to prevent the clerk and Mr. Weis from having their candidates included," Ritger said. "The appointments were a theft of the clerk's equal role in selecting a town chairman and supervisor.'
State law authorizes the clerk to vote with remaining supervisors in filling board vacancies, according to Ritger.
An attorney with the Wisconsin Towns Association agrees with his interpretation that the law does not separate the nomination process from the final vote, he said."
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Town Board to meet today on vacancies
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Aug. 8, 2001
"The town's bank account was frozen this week, the latest casualty in an ongoing dispute over a proposed wind energy project that prompted the resignations of two officials in June."
"Supervisors will attempt to appoint an acting town chairman at the meeting, so paychecks and other regular expenditures can be done on time, Clark said. The signatures of Wolf and Town Treasurer Denise Klink also are required on all checks."
"No board meeting has been held since June for lack of a quorum."
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Town official refuses to allow others to voice opinions
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Aug. 2, 2001
"Addison - The vice chairperson of the town Plan Commission used a meeting Thursday on a proposed wind energy project as her personal pulpit from which she criticized other town officials before abruptly halting the proceeding, denying others a chance to speak.
Mary Aufdermauer, the vice chairperson, also announced at Thursday's informational meeting that she would defy the wishes of two town supervisors and hold a commission meeting on Monday to discuss the wind energy proposal and other local projects."
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Town officials' resignations trickling down to inertia
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Aug. 1, 2001
"Addison - No decisions will be made by the town government until further notice."
"... the Town Board likely will not meet in August for the second consecutive month for lack of a quorum."
"The continued paralysis of town government brought a scolding Wednesday from the head of the Wisconsin Towns Association. Richard Stadelman, executive director of the association, had this message for town officials: 'You took an oath of office. You've got a responsibility to function'. "
"It's pathetic," said John Kreilkamp, owner of Kreilkamp Trucking. "We mustbe the laughingstock of the state."
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: July 2, 2001
"Local officials on Monday were picking up the pieces of town government here in the wake of a month of turmoil that included a bomb threat and two recent resignations from the Town Board.
Town government essentially is on hold until appointments are made to fill the board vacancies, Town Clerk Ellen Wolf said Monday.
Both the board and the Plan Commission are short two members at a time when officials face imminent decisions on a proposed 28-turbine wind energy farm east of Allenton."
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: June 21, 2001
"Jerome Priesgen, the top vote-getter among Town Board candidates in the April election and an opponent of a proposed large wind farm, resigned effective immediately in a letter sent to Town Chairman Allen Blank."
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By NANCY RUMP
Special to the Journal Sentinel -- March 14, 2001
Acting on a recent recommendation from the Plan Commission, the Town Board unanimously agreed Wednesday to contract consulting services from Foth & Van Dyke of Green Bay to review FPL Energy's plan to erect turbines north and south of Highway 33.
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Mequon board must reconsider requests, appellate court says
By Don Behm
of the Journal Sentinel staff - March 7, 2001
NOTE: A significant statewide precedent was established with this ruling, one that wipes away a significant source of uncertainty that has until yesterday complicated local review of windpower projects. The ruling clearly establishes a uniform standard of review that is to apply to all wind projects in Wisconsin from here on out, and it is the standard spelled out in 66.031.
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Consultant would evaluate wind turbine proposal in Addison
By Don Behm
of the Journal Sentinel staff - Feb. 27, 2001
In a legal opinion released last week, Town Attorney Timothy Garrity recommended that the town hire an independent expert to gather additional information and evaluate the proposal before the Plan Commission decides whether to issue a permit.
"FPL Energy's plan to erect a line of tall turbines atop ridges both north and south of Highway 33 poses complex technical issues that are not commonly considered by either the commission or the town engineer, said Town Chairman Bob Bingen, who also serves as chairman of the Plan Commission."
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By DON BEHM
of the Journal Sentinel staff - Feb. 11, 2001
Town Chairman Robert Bingen has scheduled a closed meeting of the Town Board for 7 p.m. Tuesday to discuss a response to the complaint filed in Washington County Circuit Court by a group of wind farm opponents known as the Town of Addison Preservation Group.
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By Don Behm
of the Journal Sentinel staff - Feb. 8, 2001
A lawsuit was filed against the Town of Addison by opponents of a proposed wind enrgy farm.
The complaint asks Washington County Circuit Judge Annette Zieglaer to determine the town's authority to regulate the wind farm under a 1998 law adopted to promote the use of wind turbines as alternative forms of energy in Wisconsin.
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Journal Sentinel - Jan. 11, 2001
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Journal-Sentinel story about the contentious December 15, 2000 Public Hearing.
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News stories about the contentious December 15, 2000 Public Hearing - about 70 locals speak their minds before the Slinger High School closed its doors at 11 p.m.
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