Meeting Held Thursday To Discuss Concerns Of More Wind Turbines

​Wind turbines are nothing new to the area. Boone County has them and Antelope County already has 25% of the turbines in the state.  

But some Antelope County residents are not very welcoming to the idea that more could be on the way.
 
A meeting was held on Thursday evening to discuss the concerns that residents are having with these turbines.

Protect Antelope County’s Future is organized by Dean Smith and Cory Furstenau and gave a platform for people to ask questions and make comments.

Kevin Martis from Michigan is very experienced with wind turbine companies and the pro’s and con’s and was the main speaker for Thursdays meeting.  His main topics were safety, zoning regulations, noise and set backs that could occur. Martis told of his experience with companies and with residents where the wind turbines were built. He made sure to make the Antelope County residents knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. 
 
“We want to, as he stated, protect the health, safety and welfare of the resident," Dean Smith said. "Including the people who have signed up to have a wind tower on their farm”
 
Smith's biggest concern is the amount of sound that the turbines put out, and the health affects that it causes.
 
“These wind towers are running 24/7, 365 and that’s the issue these people are having. It sounds to me like these people are almost having sleep deprivation for some of them and that is not healthy for the residents of the county.”
 
The next step for this organization is bringing the conditional use permit to the county supervisors on Tuesday morning at 9 am at the Legion in Neligh where they will hear the public concerns and comments.
 
“I hope the supervisors listen to us, take it under advisement, and really think about this for a while long and hard, and research it, and make sure we are doing what is best for the county and for future development.”