Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Since 1854 — News from Montcalm County and Ionia County, Michigan
The Cato Township Board was expected to vote on a wind energy ordinance on Monday evening.
The township’s Planning Commission voted on June 9 to recommend the draft ordinance to the township board, so board members have been in possession of the draft for more than a month now. Planning commissioners were present Monday to answer any questions, as was the attorney who had assisted them.
The Douglass Township Board voted 5-0 to approve two wind energy ordinances Wednesday evening, even as three township board members are in the process of being recalled, a fourth is facing a challenger in the August primary election, and both new ordinances will almost certainly go to a referendum.
The Maple Valley Township Board in a 4-1 vote on June 13 approved a wind energy ordinance, which will almost certainly go to a voter referendum even as the township supervisor is facing a recall and is also headed to trial for an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act.
Dear Editor,
When I spoke during public comment at the June 13 Maple Valley Township Board meeting, I stated should Apex Clean Energy build their wind turbines, signed landowners won’t even be able to plant a tree on their own property unless Apex approves.
The brochure from Apex Clean Energy, (the entity trying to bring industrial wind turbines to Montcalm County), makes claims regarding conservation, property values and property rights.
One claim is that the company works in consultation with environmental agencies and uses conservation measures to ensure that wind projects have no significant effects on bird/bat populations. Why, then, must landowners leave the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)?
Why hurt your wrist scrolling through bottom of the barrel comments and insults plaguing Facebook and Twitter when you can simply attend a local township board meeting?
The Winfield Township Board on Wednesday evening voted to send a wind energy draft ordinance back to the Planning Commission amid an absolutely chaotic meeting.
The Maple Valley Township Board tabled a proposed wind ordinance Monday, followed by nearly an hour of passionate public comments.
The township’s Planning Commission in April recommended the ordinance to the township board.
A study done by the Kalamazoo-based W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research estimates a wind turbine project proposed for multiple local townships would be a $776 million investment over its 30-year lifetime, making the project Montcalm County’s single largest taxpayer.
Montcalm County commissioners quizzed the new director of the Montcalm Economic Alliance (MEA) about the city of Greenville’s lack of participation with the organization, as well as about the “hot topic” of local wind energy development.
MEA Executive Director Olivia Blomstrom appeared before the Montcalm County Board of Commissioners on Monday to provide an update about the MEA, which she was hired to lead last December.
A study done by Kalamazoo-based W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research estimates a wind turbine project proposed for multiple local townships would be a $776 million investment over its 30-year lifespan, which would make the project Montcalm County’s single largest taxpayer.
