RUSHVILLE, Ind. — A controversial wind farm may be coming to Henry and Rush counties – and with it, the potential for $300 million to enter the local economies. The issue has split neighbors and farm communities right down the middle.

Henry County grain and cattle farmers Gene and Joy Brown said they turned down an offer to put a wind turbine on their farm. Joy Brown cited health concerns, sleep disturbance, noise pollution and loss of property value and scenery.

However, their next-door neighbor made a different choice. "There will be one on the farm next door, right on top of us. We will be living under a windmill ... The biggest hurt is that a farmer has to work his entire life to accumulate anything. If this goes up, we won’t be able to stay in our home," Joy said.

Apex Clean Energy, based in Charlottesville, Va., will appear before the Rush County Board of Zoning Appeals today to determine if they can continue with the project to place 65 wind turbines in Rush County. A group of citizens has organized to oppose Flat Rock Wind Farm, claiming the wind turbines can cause health problems, decrease property values and diminish their quality of life. Concerned citizens have been showing up in numbers at local government meetings.

Rush County Commissioner Paul Wilkinson said he has received almost 200 phone calls and emails regarding the proposed wind farm. "The people in our county have attempted to keep things in perspective. There’s a lot of emotion on both sides, and it has strained relationships," Wilkinson said.

Twenty-nine turbines are expected to go up in Henry County built by Apex, while 65 are planned in Rush County.

For Rush County grain farmer Verlin Custer, the lure of a farm income that requires no investment, no inputs and no risk is a no-brainer. Custer has signed a contract to lease his land for at least one wind turbine.

"I wish I could plant corn and not buy seed, fertilizer, fuel, labor – and my tractor would run without diesel. … I’m 71 years old, and I have a son and two daughters and three grandchildren. I’m going to pass my real estate to them, and this will be another source of income for years," Custer said. "It ought to be my choice to have a wind farm on my property."

Wilkinson said he has not received enough information to decide whether he’s in favor of the wind farm. He is waiting in particular for an independent study of the financial figures to come back.

"I have worked for state government before, and if I had gotten all the money I was promised, my (program) would have been rich," said Wilkinson, who was former superintendent of the Soldiers and Sailors Children’s Home in Knightstown, Ind., in Henry County, before it closed to make way for another state program.

Wilkinson said he and the other two commissioners have visited other wind farms to research their pros and cons.

In a meeting before the Henry County Commissioners, Apex representatives said that landowners will receive $11 million in lease payments over 20 years; 200 temporary construction jobs and 12 permanent jobs will be created; and the county will receive economic development money.

Henry County Commissioner Kim Cronk said that, although the commissioners have given the green light to Apex to proceed, there are still "big hoops" to jump through before the issue is decided.

"We still need to reach a road agreement, negotiate an economic development payment to the county, a decommissioning agreement, and they will need to apply for permits for each turbine at a cost of $20,000 apiece," Cronk said.

Custer said the wind farm is an economic opportunity that the local counties may not see again.

"Rural counties like Rush and (nearby) Fayette are struggling to get economic development. Henry has been fortunate to get two new plants in the last year... All the counties have got to work together. This is an economic boon for the three counties that we can’t pass up," Custer told Farm World.

Custer said he believes he is one of 111 landowners in the area who have signed contracts with Apex. He also said his family and others with contracts will see financial returns of a guaranteed minimum of $10,000 per year – and potentially much more – for the life of the wind turbine.

In addition, they have been offered a 2-4 percent increase each year, depending on the turbine’s productivity.

Neighbors within a half mile of a turbine have been offered a $500 sign-on bonus and $1,000 per year, with a 2 percent increase each year, Custer said, if they sign an agreement with the wind company. Apex did not return phone calls to confirm these numbers.

"Most of this money will stay in the county. Some may take a vacation, but others may buy a house, build a new tool shed, remodel the kitchen. I’m putting in tile drain. This will stay in the respective counties, and that’s an economic calculation we can’t make," Custer said.

A leader of Rush County Wind Awareness, Stu Linville, said he lives about a mile from one of the proposed sites for a wind turbine.

"I will have to deal with the noise these things produce. Some people are affected by shadow flickering. This community has been blindsided by this project. We didn’t know anything about it until we got certified letters in the mail a couple months ago. It gets me that the county leaders and landowners have known about this for 3-5 years. The wind company met with them behind closed doors, and nobody knew about it," Linville said.

"Shadow flickering" is a term that describes the shadows cast by rotating blades on a turbine. Linville referred readers to his group’s website, www.NoWindFarms.com, for details and articles on the subject, as well as times and dates of upcoming meetings. "We haven’t had time to digest the information, and we’re playing catch up," Linville said.