By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – The vice chairman of the McLean County Board said he’s inclined to support two additional wind farms in the northern part of the county because of their economic benefits.

A company has filed an application for a wind farm not quite as sprawling as the one that would have more than 100 turbines on about 13,000 acres in five different McLean County townships.

The county’s zoning board of appeals is conducting hearings for the larger wind farm. County Board Vice Chairman Jim Soeldner, an Ellsworth Republican, told WJBC’s Sam Wood he’s waiting to hear all the facts, but is inclined to support the projects.

He said an existing wind farm in Ellsworth, Arrowsmith, and Saybrook has yielded positive results.

“It’s given farmers an opportunity to earn a little extra income. It’s been good for the townships because we’ve had improvements to our roads,” said Soeldner.

“On the whole, it’s raising (equalized assessed valuation) of the county, and so that helps spread out the tax base, and in theory, lowers your taxes,” he added.

Soeldner said a recently-filed plan for a solar farm farm near Downs is another exciting opportunity for farmers to earn more income, however, he has some reservations.

“There’s a bigger footprint with a solar farm as opposed to a wind farm,” said Soeldner.

“You really can’t farm around these things because they’re all pretty much hooked together. So that’s going to be an issue,” Soeldner also said.

Like the proposed wind farms, the county board would have the final say on the matter after a series of public hearings.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]