Hollonbeck to decide whether city moves

forward with NIMPA

proposal







ROCHELLE — The Rochelle City Council is at an impasse regarding whether or not to participate in the Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency’s proposed Eagle View Wind Project.

The item was up for discussion during Monday night’s meeting because RMU General Manager Gary Larsen and City Manager Ken Alberts needed to take a consensus back to NIMPA on whether Rochelle would participate in the project. They presented several options to the council, including contracting for one turbine, expanding the scope of the project with a partner, not participating in the project at all, or placing the project on hold.

Councilmen Dennis Berg, Tom McDermott and Dan McDermott voiced their opposition to the project during discussion. Mayor Chet Olson and councilman Dave Eckhardt said the city should consider the project at some level, while councilman Bil Hayes said he also is in support of the city exploring renewable energy in a larger wind turbine project if it were economically practical. Councilwoman Kathy Hollonbeck was absent. Alberts said that audio recordings of Monday night’s meeting will be made available to Hollonbeck so she can decide on the subject within the next week and give city staff a direction in the matter.

For the complete article see the 11-26-2009 issue.

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