Wind reps nothing more than salesmen On an evening last week, having gone to Herkimer to pay our respects to a friend, my daughter, Kelly, and I decided to take an alternate route back to our home in Richfield Springs. After traveling along some very nice back country roads, we found ourselves marveling in a gorgeous sunset on Jordanville Road in the town of Stark. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and as we pulled over to the side of the road to enjoy the combination of the brilliant color together with the cloud formation, I remarked to my daughter that we were in the vicinity of one of the numerous proposed wind farms, and wasn’t it too bad, as we would never enjoy a similar experience again should these turbines be allowed to be built. In thinking about this, I feel it is time to speak out. I have been just one of the silent majority, reading all the articles, letters, etc. in the newspapers, having formed a very strong negative opinion to all the proposed wind farms, but as with so many others had been quiet, simply keeping my opinion to myself hoping that the elected officials in Stark, Warren, Cherry Valley, Fairfield, Norway, etc. would be smart enough to represent us all in the entirety to oppose these wind farms rather than weaken to the voices of the few who will profit substantially. We should all be able to see through these representatives from Reunion Power LLC, Community Energy, Inc., Jordanville Wind LLC, etc. for what they are – salesmen! Do you recall the stereotype of the traveling salesman trying to convince people to buy a faulty product? They may have found a few to swallow their sales pitches, but not the majority of people. These salesmen do not live here, so they do not care if they are turning neighbors against each other with their orchestrated presentations, tours and false promises, failing in all aspects to be honest in their quest to line their pockets. Nor do they care what would be involved, building roads and cutting down trees to erect and maintain these turbines, or what negative effects these wind farms would have on real estate values. The proposed turbines would affect all of us in some way. They would be able to be seen in every direction for miles and miles and miles. A blight on our landscape as dangerous as the proposed power lines that the people in the Utica vicinity are objecting to. Think about it, have you taken a drive to appreciate and really see all we have here? All of our beautiful natural assets? Any wind farm would alter our scenic areas and have a negative effect on all of our positives. How can we justify this when the price tag is too high? These salesmen are asking us to sell ourselves and future generations short by compromising our historic views and landscapes for their gain! Can you truthfully, I mean honestly and truthfully, believe these salesmen are pushing this hard for something that so many are opposed to for any other reason other than how they will gain? We have to be smart enough to say no! We need to ask our elected officials not to fail us by falling into their baited trap. They must protect and preserve our beautiful and historic countryside so every generation can enjoy the magnificent views with every sunrise and sunset. Judie Stone Richfield Springs
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