MONROE — In a meeting between members of the Green County Land Use & Zoning Committee that lasted less than a minute Tuesday, Supervisor Paul Beach expressed a sentiment that described the evening.

“So, I guess setbacks are dead then?” he said to fellow members, Corporation Counsel Brian Bucholtz and Zoning Administrator Adam Wiegel in the second floor conference room adjacent to the former court room where county board meetings take place.

Roughly 50 people were in the audience during the meeting of the Green County Board of Supervisors. Discussion of a possible countywide wind energy siting ordinance has been contentious in recent months as French-based company EDF Renewable Energy has moved in with plans for the Sugar River Wind Project. The company, which has regional offices throughout the United States, has submitted an application to operate 24 wind turbines spanning 5,580 acres of farmland within Jefferson Township. Land owners have signed 20-year leases with the developers for the turbines to be constructed and run on their property.

Setbacks are the distance set between the turbines and a dwelling, like a home in the vicinity. According to rules laid out by state law, appropriate setbacks between a residence and a turbine are 1,250 feet. The distance cannot be increased by local law due to rules passed by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and enacted in 2012 commonly referred to as PSC 128. 

However, township residents opposed to the wind project have called for larger setbacks in concern for their health and the connection between turbines and infrasound. 

Beach was one of two members who voiced similar concerns and called for possibly increasing the setbacks to be more in line with those in Europe. The World Health Organization recently included sound from wind turbines in October to its noise guidelines and declared noise as one of the top environmental hazards to both physical and mental health.

Assistant Corporation Counsel Angela MacLennan said the PSC was enacted to protect the health and well-being of citizens, though Beach said he was doubtful that state has interest in protecting the health of its people after being a part of the process in which Pinnacle Dairy, a large-scale farm with over 5,000 cows, applied and eventually was approved for operation in Sylvester Township.

Fellow Supervisor Jerry Guth echoed the idea that setbacks should be increased within the ordinance. The document was modeled after an Iowa County ordinance, suggested to Wiegel by the PSC.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” Guth said after asking why setbacks can’t be increased, referencing a wind farm in Rock County which was erected before the PSC 128 rules took effect that has stricter setbacks and a lower required decibel rate.

Bucholtz reiterated the notion that the county has to follow state rules or face legal action, a concept he has talked about in past meetings regarding wind projects.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Bucholtz said. “The state has tied our hands. … We can’t go rogue.”

The siting ordinance and the intention to gather feedback from county supervisors on setbacks were listed as separate items on the agenda. Though the ordinance passed 25 to 2, with Guth and Beach in opposition, little productive discussion took place among other supervisors. The following zoning committee meeting was scheduled after the board meeting solely to work out any amendments to the wind ordinance. Because no feedback was provided, Wiegel said, the group simply opened and then moved to adjourn.

Two members of the Jefferson Town Board will meet Wednesday to vote on whether to approve the separate township ordinance. The town Plan Commission had suggested stricter changes than those outlined in PSC 128 in recent discussions, but the township was met with opposition from EDF attorney Christa O. Westerberg, who works for Pines Bach LLP in Madison. 

Lyle Sampson, the third town board member, has promised to abstain from a vote on the issue because he said he has entered into leases with EDF for turbines to be placed on his land. In the past, Sampson said he does not believe the turbines are a potential health hazard for residents.

Supervisors Cal Wickline, Kristi Leonard, Beth Luchsinger and Kate Maresch were absent from the meeting Tuesday.