Chambana Sun

Champaign County Board Environment and Land Use Committee met May 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Committee Members

Present	Absent
Aaron Esry (Vice-Chair)
Stephanie Fortado
Mary King
Kyle Patterson
Jacob Paul
Chris Stohr
Eric Thorsland (Chair)

County Staff: John Hall (Zoning Administrator), Susan Monte (Planner), and Mary Ward (Recording Secretary)

Others Present: None

MINUTES

I. Call to Order

Committee Chair Thorsland called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m.

II. Roll Call

A verbal roll call was taken, and a quorum was declared present.

III. Approval of Agenda/Addendum

MOTION by Mr. Esry to approve the agenda and addendums, seconded by Ms. King. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously to approve the agenda.

IV. Approval of Minutes

A. April 7, 2022

MOTION by Mr. Paul to approve the minutes of the April 7, 2022, regular meeting, seconded by Mr. Patterson. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

V. Public Participation

Champaign County Board

Environment and Land Use Committee 1 May 5, 2022

Dirk Rice, Philo – Spoke against wind farms. There are a lot of things to consider and maybe we need to step back and think about the rules and regulations. Setbacks are extremely important. We need to make sure to get this right as it will affect the county for a very long time.

Adam Watson, Philo – His biggest concern regarding the wind ordinance proposal before ZBA is the unlimited height. It’s too big and too sensitive of a situation to not have some restrictions. Setbacks need to protect land/homeowners. He is also concerned about ag mitigations and who will police it.

Todd Horton, Sidney – Spoke about concerns with shadow flicker from wind turbines. There are good, reliable solutions to this problem. However, there are many people living near wind farms that are plagued with flicker. Unless an ordinance specifically requires an action on the problem, people cannot expect an action from the wind developer. Currently there is no authority to require mitigation of shadow flicker. Models can show when flicker will occur. The current ordinance needs to be strengthened to protect residents in a wind farm area from shadow flicker.

Josh Hartke, Champaign – works for Apex Clean Energy. When speaking as a representative of his company he talks about the economic benefits of wind farm projects. They bring in hundreds of jobs during construction, dozens of jobs post construction, millions of dollars that go to local school districts and revenue to the County. Speaking as a resident of the county, this is a real vote you can take on climate and to fight climate change. Making Champaign County more friendly to renewable development is a choice you can make to fight climate change.

VI. Communications

Ms. Fortado noted that on April 30 that in California, the state’s energy grid went entirely to renewable energy. We stand at a moment when we can make real change and future generations demand that change. There is no reason California should be doing better at this than Illinois.

VII. New Business: Item for Information Only

A. Ted Hartke slides regarding inadequacy of Illinois Pollutions Control Board Noise limits B. Online Registration Open for May 21, 2022, Residential Electronics Collection

C. Illinois General Assembly Passes Drug Take-Back Bill

D. Testimony of Paul Schomer to the Public Service of Wisconsin regarding the proposed Highland Wind Farm

E. Big Wind is Better Than Big Oil, But Just As Bad at P.R., www.newrepublic.com. June 15, 2014

F. The Noise From Wind Turbines: Potential Adverse impacts on Children’s Well-Being. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 2011 31:291

G. Letter to Vermilion County Board Chairman Gary Weinard from William C. Mulvaney, Superintendent, Armstrong Schools. Undated

H. Armstrong Superintendent Bill Mulvaney, speaking in 2015 in an article from the Commercial-News found at illinoiswind.org.

I. “Infrasounds Does Not Explain Symptoms Related to Wind Turbines” results from a two-year study, commissioned by the Finnish government and published in 2020. A summary of the results can be found here at 222.sciencealert.com and an abstract is available here at https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi.

J. 2014 peer-reviewed study, “The Link Between Health Complaints and Wind Turbines: Support for the Nocebo Expectations Hypothesis” found here on the NIH National Library of Medicine Website.

Mr. Thorsland summarized the items that were for information only. Some items were included in the packet and others were links to articles on wind turbines issues, both pro and con. He encouraged those who were interested to go the county website and then follow the links to the information.

VIII. New Business: Items to Receive and Place on File by ELUC to Allow a 30-Day Review Period A. Authorization for a Public Hearing on Proposed Zoning Ordinance Omnibus Text Amendment to Update Material Management/Waste Related Uses

Ms. Monte gave a presentation on the Omnibus Text Amendment. The recent Pollution Control Facility Ordinance that was just passed by the County has a direct impact on some of the text amendments. That Ordinance contained provisions that are not related to the Zoning Ordinance. All Pollution Control Facilities that come in for review, will not have to follow Zoning Ordinance provisions. This ordinance contains 19 exceptions considered not Pollution Control Facilities. These exceptions are the subject of several of these Omnibus text amendments.

A provision has been added to allow a new use called separate source stream material host site. This is different from the curbside pickup where everything is put in one container. New defined terms have been added, some have been revised and some removed. Pollution Control Facility/New Pollution Control Facility are exempt from the Zoning Ordinance and that is clarified in the omnibus text amendments. There are a series of uses that will require a special permit and are not considered a new pollution control facility. There is a proposed amendment to prohibit a junk yard or auto salvage yard as a Rural Home Occupation.

This will sit at ELUC for 30 days.

B. Proposed Champaign County Solid Waste Management Plan 2022 Update

Ms. Monte gave an updated the Champaign County Solid Waste Management Plan. This will be distributed to municipalities in the county and to various stakeholders so they’re aware of what’s included. This follows the new template recommended by the state. There are some parts of the plan that weren’t apparent in previous plans. One is Waste Disposal Recommendations. Developers always have to check to see if we allow or welcome waste transfer stations. It is important that the SWMP plan indicates what the County does or does not want to see happen as far as pollution control facilities.

The recommendations made in the draft include that acceptable pollution control facilities in Champaign County shall not include landfills or other pollution control facilities that have potential to impact the Mahomet Aquifer. There are no pressing needs for landfills over the next five years. Mass burn type facilities shall be deemed inconsistent with this update; so, they will not be welcome. Waste transfer stations (new or expansion) that follow the siting procedures in the updated Pollution Control Ordinance should be considered welcome in Champaign County. There are added provisions that they will need to meet to insure minimal impacts. Waste to energy through biological conversion pollution control facility type is also welcome in Champaign County. All other types of pollution control facilities, aside from those listed as not desired, could be considered consistent with the plan as long as they go through the process in the updated ordinance.

Mr. Stohr asked about waste conversion by biological means if that was aerobic digestion, composting or by what means. Ms. Monte stated she thinks that was called out as desirable as it was more natural because it’s biological. Aerobic digesters could be permitted after they go through the siting review process and were approved and would be consistent with the plan. Mr. Stohr said that one of the concerns with aerobic digesters was if there would be a power outage it could go to anaerobic and smell becomes an issue.

IX. New Business: Items to be Recommended to the County Board

A. Zoning Case 030-AT-21. Amend the Champaign County Zoning Ordinance to add Data Center as a Special Use in the AG-2 Agriculture, B-4 General Business and I-1 Light Industry Zoning Districts; and add PV SOLAR ARRAY as a County Board Special Use Permit in the AG-2 Agriculture and all Business and Industrial Zoning Districts; and authorize DATA CENTER as a second principal use on property in the AG-2 DISTRICT; and add special use permit standard conditions for both DATA CENTER and PV

SOLAR ARRAY; and also add requirements for PV SOLAR ARRAY as an ACCESSORY USE, as described generally, in the legal advertisement.

Mr. Hall gave a brief update in that Urbana will not protest the text amendment. This is ready to move forward to the County Board. There is a prospective developer but there is no application yet.

MOTION by Ms. King to approve recommendation to the County Board; seconded by Mr. Paul. Upon -- voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. This item will not be placed on the Consent Agenda.

B. Zoning Case 040-AT-22. Amend the Champaign County Zoning Ordinance to add new paragraph 4.2.1 C.7. to provide that a private or commercial transmission and receiving tower (including antenna) over 100 feet in height may be authorized as a SPECIAL USE Permit in the AG-1 and AG-2 Agriculture Districts as a second PRINCIPAL USE on a LOT with an Electrical Substation.

Mr. Hall said the Urbana Plan Commission has no protest. This is ready to recommend to the County Board.

MOTION by Mr. Esry to approve recommendation to the County Board; seconded by Ms. King. Upon voice vote the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

C. Annual Facility Inspection Report for the period 4/1/21 – 3/31/22 for Champaign County’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Storm Water Discharge Permit with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA)

Mr. Hall said that this the annual report that the IEPA expects to have on file by June 1. With the help of intern Trevor Parton we were able to complete it on time. There are still some challenges left over from the pandemic. We are still waiting on a new general permit from the IEPA. There will be a notice of intent for that new general permit sometime soon. We will be reporting on that when it becomes available.

Ms. Fortado made a comment that this would be something that would be eligible for ARPA funds be it through short-term staffing or whatever that would help move some of these things forward. Planning and Zoning has not received any ARPA funding as of yet.

Mr. Stohr called out the database for private sewage disposal as one of the categories. No one was keeping track of where private water wells and if locations were made, they were not complete. These abandoned wells are direct conduits into the aquifer. Wished we had done a better job of tracking those. It seems unlikely that private sewage disposal is going to fall in that same category. Looks forward to this being pulled together as best as can be.

MOTION by Ms. Fortado and seconded by Mr. Esry to recommend this for County Board approval. Upon voice vote, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously.

X. Other Business

There was no other business.

XI. Chair’s Report

There was no chair’s report.

XII. Designation of Items to be Placed on the Consent Agenda

Items to be placed on the consent agenda include items IX. B. and C.

XIII. Adjournment

Mr. Thorsland adjourned the meeting at 7:27 p.m.