Stores will need to increase staffing. Automatic teller machines will need more cash. Restaurants will need additional food, especially ground beef.

These are just some of the suggestions made Thursday by Alliant Energy representatives at a meeting with business owners at Riverland Community College. About 50 people were present.

The meeting’s purpose was to inform local business owners about how to prepare for an increase of customers because of the construction workers that will be in the area for the Bent Tree Wind Farm project.

The Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce helped host the meeting to discuss the impacts on Freeborn County. Chamber Executive Director Randy Kehr has been working with Alliant to get the community ready for the wind farm.

“They want our businesses to be ready,” Kehr said. “It’s an outreach so our businesses can prepare.”

The meeting also provided information about the actual wind turbines and transportation of dirt, concrete, gravel and gigantic parts.

There are plans to start construction this spring as soon as the frost is out of the ground. Ted Francois of Alliant Energy said May is tentatively set for when building is to begin.

Right now Alliant and Vestas are waiting for approval from Freeborn County so that the trucks do the least amount of damage to roads. There are 122 turbines to be built and running by this time next year.

The turbines will be built in the area of Manchester and Hartland on the east and west sides of Minnesota Highway 13.

Minnesota is fifth in the nation for producing wind energy, and 7 percent of Minnesota’s energy usage comes from wind energy.

Francois said a contractor has not been determined. He emphasized that there will be heavy traffic on rural roads. There will first be dirt and gravel for all the access roads to be built. Then when crews construct the foundations there will be 50 truckloads of concrete for each foundation. The blades or arms of the towers have special trucks they are hauled on, and because the trucks are so long, some roads will need to be widened to accommodate turning radius.

There will be two main cranes that will hoist the blades of the towers. The main cranes will come to our area in pieces, and it will take 15 to 17 semis to bring the pieces of the main crane. Along with the large main cranes there will be smaller cranes on site. There will be an immense amount of traffic, and Francois said it’s “not for tourists.”

The towers when fully constructed will stand at 397 feet tall. Weather will play a factor in building the towers. If there is lightning within 30 miles they cannot work that day, and if it is too windy they won’t be able to use the cranes. The turbines are 1.65 megawatts and are built by Vestas, a company that specializes in wind energy systems.

The turbines are built in pieces. First, they make the foundation out of concrete and steel. Then they piece together the tower out of four sections. The tower alone weighs about 140 tons. Then they attach three blades to the nacelle. The blades are 131 feet long. The nacelle holds the three blades and attaches to the tower. The main crane will attach the nacelle to the tower. Inside each nacelle is a computer system.

Francois mentioned that they will do site and road restoration after the building is done. The last time they built a wind farm they had to restore 1,200 tile cuts, and they want the landowners to be satisfied before construction workers leave.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has plans to start work on Highway 13 on July 12 from Interstate 90 to New Richland. Francois said they are working with MnDOT while planning.

A construction headquarters will be built in Hartland, and there will also be two substations built. The headquarters in Hartland eventually will be a permanent building for wind turbine maintenance workers.

Kellee Venden of Alliant Energy said there will be 350 to 400 construction workers in the county while they are building. Some of these workers will be long-term and others will come for shorter time periods to do specific jobs.

Venden mentioned that hotels and restaurants will be busy. A restaurant near their last site in Iowa ran out of hamburger in the first few days of construction because so many more people were eating there.

She also said some workers will bring their families, and they might want long-term rentals. One business owner said the meeting helped him learn about the project and what might happen in the future.

“It certainly gave us insight on what to expect,” Albert Lea businessman Mike Nevins said.

While this meeting was held to help local businesses be ready for more traffic there were landowners there to ask questions and learn about the wind farm. About 50 people attended the meeting.

There will be a meeting on April 15 specifically for the landowners at the Senior Center in the Skyline Plaza from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The presentation will begin at 6 p.m. All landowners are encouraged to attend and ask questions.