wind farm agreement - mainstream

8/3/2019 Wind Farm Agreement - Mainstream

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US i-isinstream Renev/abte Pcv;ef Inc.19 0 S. La Sate Street Suite 2040Chicago,!!-60503, >USA . "

TSi:* i-312-4453700Fax:[email protected]

Date

Dear Home Owner,

We would like to meet with you and discuss participation in the Green River WindFarm Good Neighbour Agreement.Enclosed is an introductory letter from Mainstream Renewable Power.We would be pleased to meet with you at a time andplace of convenience toyourself.You may contact our Walnut office at 815-379-2784 or the Mainstreamrepresentative listed below.

Keith Bolin, Cell#_

Jack Ramsey, Cell#

Best Regards,


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Green R iver Wind FarmGood Neighbor Agreement

Mainstream Renewable Power is developing the Green River Wind Farm in your localcommunity. We do our best to carryout our work with respect and open communicationwith everyone that we dealwith.AtGreen River, his means:

Holding and attending a number of public meetings over the last 2 years to shareour proposalsand answerquestions

Opening a project office in Walnut which hasbeen open to the public Monday toFriday since March 2010 to answer questions

Publishing newsletters and a regular "Did YouKnow" column in the Walnut Leader Selecting local contractors and suppliers on a regular basis as we go about our

business Working with the counties,andreaching out to local citizens and opposition groups

as ordinance revisions have been debatedWe work hard to be a responsible developer, and aside from being asopenandtransparentabout our plans aspossible over the last couple of years we havealso committed to offeraGood Neighbor Agreement to local residents in proximity of the proposed project. Bybecoming a participant in the GreenRiver Project, these residents will be helping to buildand support their community in creating jobs, income, and tax revenues in a time whenthose aredifficult subjectsto tackle.This is one of the ways of sharing the benefits of the wind farm with the local community.You are under noobligation to sign this agreement, although we hopethat youwill considerthis anattractive offer as we seek to begin a good andneighborly relationship for the yearsto come!Best regards,

John C. MartinSenior Development Project ManagerGreen River Wind Farm


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Explanatory Notes to the Good Neighbor AgreementNoiseThere is much comment about wind turbines and noise. It is true that turbines are notsilent; however we plan carefully to ensure that our wind farms operate to acceptablelevels. In Illinois, noise regulations are set by the Illinois Pollution Control Board, and windfarms arebound by the same regulations aseveryone else.All three counties use the Illinois Pollution Control Board standards to set acceptable noiselevels for wind farms and we expect Green River to be bound by these same terms. TheGood Neighbor Agreement is therefore consistent with our expected permit requirements.Shadow FlickerShadow flicker is caused when the sun reaches a specific spot on the horizon at a certaintime of day and the blades of the turbine pass by the sun. When the turbine isturning, thiseffect can be annoying to some local residents. There is much debate as to how muchshadow flicker is acceptable, and Mainstream does its best to minimize shadow flicker tolocal homes. Wehave already carried out a number of shadow flicker studies for the GreenRiver project, and have made a number of changes to our turbine locations in order toreduce the impact to local homes.Mainstreamwill not make a final turbine selection untilcloser to construction, however wehave done our studies on the largest turbine we are currently considering. This means thatthe shadow flicker results weshare with you at this stage are likely to show the 'worst casescenario' and may be reduced upon final turbine selection.

\Ou r projection for your home based on the largest turbine we are currently studyingishours per year basedon a 'typical' year and conservative assumptions. (There are

8760 hours in a whole year.)We are offering a Good Neighbor Agreement to every home that our studies tell us mayreceive ten hours or more of flicker per year. Aspart of the Good Neighbor Agreement weare seeking your permission to cause up to a maximum of 50 hours of flicker in a typicalyear. This is the equivalent of less than one hour per week on average (although shadowflicker effects vary during the year).

/Television ReceptionIn some situations, wind farms can have n impact on the television reception experiencedby local homes, depending on the layout of the wind farm, the direction of the signal andthe television receiving equipment the home is using.


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Mainstream hascarried out studies on the current television signal strength in order todetermine whether the wind farm has any impact on the television signal that you receive.While the counties address this in their ordinance to a greater or lesser extent, we haveincluded it in our Good Neighbor Agreement sothat wehave a direct agreement with localresidents to respond to any elevision reception issues.Simply put, this agreement solidifies our commitment: if we cause problems with yourtelevision reception, wewillwork with you to sort it out at ourexpense.Home Seller Protection ProgramAt the time of making this offer to you. Lee County Zoning Board has proposed offering aHome Seller Protection Program to residents livingnear to awind farm. This would createaprocess to determine whether the wind farm hascaused any reduction in property valueshould the homeowner decide to sell. If so, he wind farm would have to pay the difference.Mainstream's position is that this is a complex area and that the main factors affectinghouse prices (positively or negatively) are the local and national economy, and not windfarms. We believe that a Home Seller Protection Program only helps those 1) who areplanning to move and 2} who can prove a reduction in value due o the wind farm.We believe that a Good Neighbor Agreement offering up to $24,297over 20years is a moreconstructive way for us to work with local residents, and that the benefits of such anagreement are available to everyonewhether they areplanningto move or not. As such, webelieve this is an attractive alternative to a HomeSeller Protection Program.Bureauand Whiteside Counties are not proposing such a program.Construction ImpactResidents in the area of the Green River wind farm are likely familiar with constructionrelated to a wind farm, following the construction of others in the area over recent years.Clearly any project of this kind brings with it a lot of related activity, which can causedisruption to local residents during the year of construction.We highlight this in the Good Neighbor Agreement as an acknowledgement of the

'l construction activity associatedwithbuildingawind farm.


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Term and PaymentThis Good Neighbor Agreement fasts for 20 years,starting once construction iscompleted.The projected paymentschedule isas follows,due to the 2% annual increase:

Year12345678910

Amount$$$$$$$$$$

1,0001,0201,0401,0611,0821,1041,1261,1491,1721,195

Year11121314151617IS1920

Total

Amount$$$S$$$$$$$

1,2191,2431,2681,2941,3191,3461,3731,4001,4281,457

24>297Confidentiality W rJThis agreement is intended as the basis of a long-term, constructive relationship. It is asimple agreementand we do not seek to make it confidential. If you sign it, you are free todisclose its contents to anyone (andso arewe).Ou r one request is that if ever you should have any complaints about the wind farm, thatyou come to us first andgive us the opportunity to make it right. This is the spirit of therelationship that we would like to establishwith everyone we work with,and our intent is todevelopandbuild a project that is of lastingbenefit to the whole community.

Thank you for taking an interest in the Green River wind farm and for consideringthis offer. If you have any questions, please call our Walnut office on 815 379 2784

and we will be happy to discuss further.

wind farm agreement - mainstream

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