Some community members cringed while others smiled as DeKalb County Board members voted 13-9 in favor of building a wind farm in Shabbona and Milan townships.

At the Wednesday DeKalb County Board meeting in Sycamore, members gave their final opinions on the electricity generating towers and about 100 community members listened.

Board member Richard Osborne favored the ordinance and believed it was time for the change.

“Twenty years ago no one would have imagined this,” Osborne said. “This will be part of the landscape in years to come.”

Board member Robert Rosemier agreed with Osborne that it was time to build the wind farm. Rosemier believes that residents would soon ignore the turbines.

“I believe it will have a positive impact on present farmland and its forward thinking by approving the wind farms,” Rosemier said.

Each board member had a chance to give their reasons for or against the ordinance.

Judi Rosene, a resident from Shabbona who will be able to see the wind farm from her window, stressed her disapproval of the ordinance and the board representation.

“I’m not proud of this government in action,” Rosene said. “It’s politics as usual. The majority of people in the effected area just said not now. They’re supposed to be sitting there representing us.”

As soon as the decision was made, many people got up and went to the hallway and discussed the ordinance.

Cliff Simonson, representing District 7, didn’t approve of the decision.

“I’m certainly not happy,” Simonson said. “The city people totally don’t understand what quality of life is.”

At first it seemed as if the ordinance wasn’t going to be passed since the first answers from the board members were “no.”

“I was worried at first, but I was all smiles as soon as I heard,” said Eric Foster, a senior environmental sciences major.

“It shows that we’re thinking about the future and we’re doing it in a sustainable way,” Foster said.

Florida Power & Light will construct the wind farm in Shabbona and Milan townships and must finish the construction before Dec. 31 in order to receive the federal aid.