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Disappointed were representatives of DTE Energy, their land broker and two Lake Township residents, Lou Bushey and Robert Hyzer who've already signed contracts to lease portions of their land for wind turbines.

Bushey, chairman of the ZBA Board and Hyzer, trustee temporarily declined their roles during the meeting in deference to what Lalley described as the possible public perception of a conflict of interest.

Lalley believed that since the two had already signed leases with DTE, they would stand to gain financially if the meteorological towers were installed, reported the level of winds needed for the proposed DTE project in Lake Township, and then turbines were subsequently built on land leased from Bushey and Hyzer. Hyzer, a member of the Township Board of Trustees, also lives within 300 feet of the proposed towers, which in itself, requires him to waive his right to vote on the variance request.

Throughout the meeting discussion focused on the pros and cons of wind turbines in Lake Township. DTE representatives Ronald E. Chriss, regional manager and Matthew J. Wagner, supervisor-environmental, continually reminded the board and those in the audience, that the company was in the very early planning stages and the measuring of the wind levels was only one of many factors involved in the final evaluation.

Other considerations include: wildlife in the area such as migratory birds, tree lines, state requirements for a renewable energy portfolio, transmission, siting and set-back issues.

Some audience members who wanted to talk about wind turbines were told they were out of order because that was not the subject on the agenda.

However, Bushey told the audience, "We've got to have green energy. Lake Township should be a part of it..."

Russ Lundberg, director of the Huron County Building department and a resident of neighboring Caseville Townhip, spoke not only about the county's approval for 199 foot "Met" towers, but also reviewed what he termed the "wind map." This showed the proposed wind farms throughout the county. Companies involved include Midland Energy (Bingham, McKinley and Hume Townships), Noble (sites near Ubly) Harvest Wind (Oliver and Chandler Townships) and DTE (Chandler, Rubicon, Lake and Caseville Townships). During the discussion of the question, ZBA member Henry said she didn't want to open the door to wind turbines via the installation of the Met towers. She is most concerned about disruption to habitat in the area of Rush Lake and the shoreline.

"Why encourage it," she said.

DTE's Wagner responded with, "DTE worked very hard to be win-win between power generation and environment."

Henry's questions to Wagner reflected other common concerns with wind turbines. "Have you done studies on humans regarding noise (of turbines)," she asked Wagner who responded, "We have not started that. We know the county requires it. The current information is on older wind farms (with shorter turbines that spin more rapidly), there's a distinct difference."

Some wanted to know how the cell phone towers, which are taller than the 175-foot limit for special structures in the township, got variances. The official answer is that these were erected prior to the ordinance.

Lalley read from the Michigan Association of Planning's review standards for ZBA variance requests. It includes the caution, "...When a variance is granted because an applicant does not want to comply with an ordinance, rather than being unable to comply, the approval may encourage others to seek the same opportunity. Over time, this erodes the effectiveness of the ordinance..."

DTE's Chriss argued that the company should receive the variance due to the considerations of "practical difficulty" since they need to get up to a certain height in order to monitor the wind strength, consistency, etc., "exceptional circumstances" since the towers would not be permanent and "preservation of property rights" of those owning the land.

The Board's vote indicated it did not agree that DTE's request met the ZBA standards for issuing a variance.