Somerset County is moving forward on the plans to bring wind turbines to the County. The Turbines would be off Whittington road and several residents in that area are opposed to the idea. What are your thoughts on the matter?
UPDATE: WOW This topic has picked up steam in the past 2 months since I made this article, with more information being out has it changed your mind on the turbines?
36 comments:
Wind turbines are on the edge of transition to newer technology.Does anyone recall those huge satellite dishes that were replaced by newer ones less than 2 feet in diameter?The companies who produced the turbines are now desparate to get rid of their current stock because of newer wind generating technology.If everyone involved could just keep their pants on and be patient for another year or so,newer,more compact,and more efficient units are en route.In other words,I'm all for the newer yet to be introduced technology vs the old,and entirely in favor of wind turbines.
Put one in my back yard and let me have some of the juice at a reduced rate!
Only if paid for with private money. No Government subsidies whatsoever for this kind of project. If the project actually saves money some business man will pay for it. If it is going to be a sure loser, the government will gladly want to pay for it with taxpayers money. Which is the case here?
Absolutely NOT!
1. They are loud, which will disturb sleep for residents in the area.
2. They have a negative effect on wildlife and conservation - not to mention our local farmland.
3. They significantly DECREASE property values.
4. They destroy roads due to the heavy traffic and weight loads during construction.
Residents of Somerset County need to request a copy of the proposed map. I think EVERYONE will be surprised to see just how many people will be impacted!
WBOC should be covering a story on this soon. Demand to see a map of the proposed sites. Our elected officials are trying to keep this a SECRET!
Meetings need to be held at night, so us TAXPAYERS can see exactly what is going on in this county!
im in favor of whatever works. if someone wants to build them there, so be it. however, i am VERY opposed to government intervention...as in subsidies, grants, loans, etc...
itll either work or it wont.
NO, I WANT A NUCLEAR PLANT!
I understand your nuclear plant suggestion was a joke 3:10 pm. A friend of mine started to work back in 1971 for Babcock and Wilcox who do inspections (stress fractures etc) inside nuclear reactor vessels all over the world. Within a few years he became head of his team and made great money in his job. Mant times I asked him about his and our safety. He believed in his personal safety by his RAD meter readings. He died in his late forties after his first lung was removed and the secound one failed, I assume. Never smoked, only an occassional beer and other wise as healthy a specimen as a man could be. He said from the very begining of the job, it's not if we'll have a major nuclear meltdown in the U.S., it's just "When". Records of problems get hidden from pubic view, repairs do not get made, profit is the only bottom line and profit requires continual useage and the stored nuclear waste, is never discussed. His words not mine, it's only a matter of time. Alternative suppliers of energy are the future and make common sense.
I'm one of the farmers who own land in one of the approved sections and have a chance to supplement my income by leasing some of my property for wind energy.It doesn't seem fair to me for a neighbor who is more than a thousand feet from the sight of any wind turbine impose their will and deprive me of additional income there are always more than one side of any issue. Then consider all the tax base for our schools and roads.Most of these same people would be complaining if I wanted to build chicken houses. This is my property let me use it as I see fit.
Everyone wants lower energy costs as long as it does not affect their backyard. Somebody has to have it. The whole wildlife thing is a joke, they create no more truck traffic than if someone were building a home, they aren't that loud, like home values are spiking in "somerset" anyway. Quit crying. If somebody wants them on their property, that is up to them. They don't tell you what to do with your property.
Bring it. Those wind turbines will look like Beverly Hills compared to some of the shacks in and around Marion!
Local Farmer(s):
The fact that you can supplement your income is great for YOU. But what does it do for the rest of your neighbors? We would much rather you build a chickenhouse. When we bought property in Somerset County, the "smell" is something we signed up for. HOWEVER, the noise from wind turbines was not. In case you didn't know, sound travels (even one thousand feet away)!
Over 7,000 ACRES of land just near Charles Cannon Road. This is ridiculous! This does not even include the other sections. The farmers have a right to use their land as they see fit UNLESS it effects others.
234 how would you feel if you were the farmer.You are against wind,another group against chickens,and the state and feds are all over the farmer.Its time for farmer to get a break and let him use his land as he pleases.In this case the feds and the state are even on the farmer's side. I hope the county will be also.
How about checking out what other communities with turbines now face.
The nonprofit site national wind watch has stories of people who live in these communities and the effect it has had on them and their properties.
Be Back Soon!
150 where do you get that our elected officials are trying to keep this a secret. Somerset County has had at least 2 meetings discussing wind turbines on their agendas. Last Tuesday there was a publicly advertized meeting regarding an ordinance on wind turbines. From being at that meeting, my feeling was one woman who has stirred up 4 or 5 of her neighbors are trying to keep a group of farmers and land owners the chance to profit from what this country needs, green energy. This same lady would probably be for green energy if it wasn't near her home.
I was at the meeting as well and felt just as this lady. Please do not speak for others as you do not have that right. Wind energy has many negative consequences. Just because the gov't says green doesn't make it such. Killing birds and destroying property values while emitting constant noise is not green in my book. Be informed National Wind Watch.
Talk about green- Check out the area of the Somerset County Zoning map that will be open to these industrial turbines, this ag/residential zone looks to be about 85% of our county. Wow. I could be next.
Let me get this straight; if this ordinance is passed, all the homes in the ag/residential zone will be at risk of having an Industrial Turbine adjacent to their property! Is this the United States or China. I cannot tell anymore.
Everday Joe
Somerset County commissioners always want what everyone else doesn't want. Prisons, landfills, and now windmills. What will be next? No, I'm not in favor of windmills or any thing else Obama and O'Malley wants to shove down our throats.
i second 243pm
i would like to hear feedback from someplace that already has it-has it saved $$..i would only build a house today w/solar or wind power..tired of giving the electric co my hard earned $$.
6:21 -
I am pretty sure I am your neighbor, and I don't mind it at all!
In the 50's and 60's atomic power was the "in" thing.Fast forward to the 70's and 80's and solar panels were all the rage.I can understand permitting individual farms and homes to have A wind turbine for their own needs but a whole field of them is excessive and will disturb the natural settings for birds of prey native to our area.
10:43-That new technology you're speaking of is wind tunnel technology.It takes app one fourth of the acreage that wind tubines take to produce the same amount of electricity.
i saw a lot of them in California. I think they're beautiful and they do help those who own the land.
I think people should be allowed to do what they want as long as they pay for it themselves and not with a government subsidy.
1:43 Our County Commissioners went to A wind farm in New York. They talked to thirty people and got neither bad comment on the turbines. They knocked on doors, talked with people in restaurants none of which knew they were coming to Sheldon. Later that day they met with a county or town leader. He said the very first year their tax rate went from 90cent per 100$ to 000. But of course you have a small group of tree huggers going around scaring their neighbors about unproven health issues that their own lawyer said mostly go away if the wind company offers money. The Commissioners had to go thru the same crap with ECI now a good bunch of those people who complained now work there. I hope this group of commissioners has the guts to pass this.
What is in it for you 10:19?
Tax break for all in the county even you 633. 75 to 100 turbines = 2 to 3 mill tax base first year. Help a lot of farmers. Better air to breath. Maybe I get job as turbine cowboy should be 10 to 15 good paying jobs.
Nothing has been in secret. Process has been ongoing by Planning Commission for over a year. Several news articles and public hearing with no opposition. I'll take wind turbines nearby over stinkin chicken houses with noisy exhaust fans and manure in the fields.
Beg your pardon,but were it not for all those pesky "stinky chicken houses" all over the shore,our local economy would be in the toilet worse than it already is.Also,Meat does not magically appear in cases at the grocer.
2:05 I think they are beautiful, and give the skyline a majestic look. One of the Ladies who is complaining has one of those stinking farms and her family has been building them for years. I bet they could care less if someone wanted to build one of them next to us if they bought it from them.
Please find out what is like to live within a mile of an industrial wind turbine. Pioneer Green said they want the 500' turbines 1,000 feet from residents, farms, and schools. These projects are huge. The wind developers will reap the tax incentives than sell to another LLC. This allows them to escape consequences for the poor siting practices of this industry. Industrial projects do not belong scattered in neighborhoods.
Hey, check out the manufacturer's manual on these turbines. No one is permitted within 1300 feet for safety reasons. And you say our Commissioners want to put them 1000feet from our foundations and 520 feet from roadways. Seems like safety isn't the concern here. Why is this even being considered????
About that Commissioner visit to NY, the Commissioners may not have told anyone but good ole boy Danny Thompson did. The town offices in NY were closed that day yet they had lunch with the town administrator whose brother-in-law has several turbines.
Danny cannot give names or addressess of the people he talked to, how convenient. I have spoken with many residents in Wyoming County NY, who live in close proximity to these projects and their lives are screwed. They said they were surprised the turbines had been turned off that day because it was windy.
Sheldon is a wind energy model. When visitors come who are thinking about letting these mammoth industrial machines in their area, they get them spinning and then shut them down before visitors get near the projects. If you are not familiar with turbine operations this will fool you. Because they are still spinning, they appear to be turned on so you will believe they are running when in fact they are not.This is done so that the noise appears nonexistent.
A handful of turbine locations was provided to County officials. They then chose from that list. The list came from a landleasor who got it from the wind energy lobby. These guys are slick.
The banner about Marion is misleading. Westover has a new met tower at Marion-Westover Rd. & Turkey Branch. These things will be all over the county, once they get started. Don't worry. The contracts are only for 30 years. Then the commissioners can look for a company that will pump raw sewage in from all over the East Coast so we can treat it here. This county will jump through hoops for brownie points from the state. What a sham.
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