JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP — There was no lack of raised voices and flared tempers at the public hearing held by the Jefferson Town Board regarding a wind siting ordinance draft as roughly 70 people filled the Juda Community Center on Thursday.

Even as discussion became heated, members of the three-person township board — cut down to two because of a conflict of interest on the matter — remained silent. Only Town Board Chair Harvey Mandel spoke to call on members of the public and announce when the next meeting would be held to vote on the ordinance draft.

The point of contention stems from opposition to an incoming wind energy project by EDF Renewable Energy, a corporation headquartered in France with regional offices throughout the United States. Presenters for the planned Sugar River Wind Project, who have proposed a plot of 24 wind turbines spread out across 5,580 acres of agricultural land, have been from the Minneapolis area or from wind operations in Illinois.

While the EDF application submitted at the end of January promises to bolster the local economy through investment in local contractors and suppliers, and create three to five permanent jobs in addition to temporary construction workers, opponents have expressed opinions that the company will not support the area and are only looking to make money. Protests also largely consist of concerns over the health risk of turbines, citing the health damage from infrasound claimed by those who live near turbines and the shadow flicker caused by the blades spinning while looming over homes. Others simply said that residents have a right to be against the implementation of a wind farm just because they don’t want them there.

While there were more concerns than support for such a project, a handful of attendees Thursday expressed happiness that the 500-foot turbines will soon be in the community.

Tim Bender, a township resident who said he owns 25 acres within the area, spoke in favor of the project to town board members. He later expressed a willingness to have his own contract with the company if it were possible.

“I’d have one if they could put it on my property,” Bender said. 

Fellow resident Doug Mayer expressed more skepticism of the intention of the company, and the after effects of the turbines once they have reached the end of their usable lives two decades from now. He questioned the process of decommissioning the turbines if EDF Renewables sells the wind project in future years.

“They are about money, nothing else,” Mayer said.

A staunch opponent of the incoming system and wind turbine systems, Cindy Blanc, called for setbacks recently proposed by members of the town Plan Commission to be adhered to despite the conflict with current state law in rules outlined by the Public Service Commission and implemented in 2012. PSC 128 outlines rules every city, town, county or other “political subdivision” must follow in drafting a wind siting ordinance to maintain uniformity. The local ordinances cannot be stricter than outlined in the rules. 

But Blanc and others have called for larger setbacks from homes due to concerns over the health impact of infrasound and noise caused by turbines. While some counties have asked the Wisconsin Department of Health to study the effects of wind turbine noise, the department maintains that noise levels from turbines are not significant enough to impact health, citing other common noises as much louder. The department has also released information noting that infrasound is lower in pitch than the range humans are allowed to detect, and while infrasound can be generated by turbines, it has not been shown to contribute to health effects.

Board members will meet March 20 to vote on the ordinance.