Wind turbine noise problem in Mars Hill (Eastport, Washington: 2010, compensation)

[JustSayNo]

They were not TOLD about it until it was too late, as far as I can remember. THIS is one of the problems. The deals are made behind closed doors, leases signed, town boards brought on board and the deals are done. THEN, the public finds out "hey we are getting turbines, oh, 1000 ft from your house, and your house, oh and your house." "Well, it is for the greater good, sacrafice for the town (PILOT payments-NOT taxes, a much smaller amount-a pittiful pittence compared to their profit) and for the world......it is green.......weeeeeeeee........be happy"


Lucky, some leaseholders in some tiwns, like mine, can't keep their mouths shut and brag about the lease and the payment. THEN word gets out, then groups form to research and educate, find out about what these things do to the residents and the towns, and than the Boards are FORCED (not in Cohocton, NY's case) to face the issue and the residents whom pay the taxes and their saleries.

Mars Hill folks, correct me if I am wrong.

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

Originally Posted by kellysmith

I've been waiting for the golf course to open in Mars Hill to check out for myself what the impact of the windmills are. Well, today was the day. I was expecting to hear the whirring of the windmills. On the sixth hole of the golf course the tee is part way up the mountain. I will report that I heard nothing. Three windmills were not turning. I counted 16 that were visible from the golf course. I bet I get slammed for posting, but shedding some light on the subject...then you decide. I played 18 holes today and not once did I hear anything from any of the windmills. The golf course is cut into the side of the mountain. Downtown Mars Hill is two miles west. I think the windmill noise is not a major problem to 99.9% of the folks in Mars Hill. I had anticipated hating the windmills and how they would spoil the view from the golf course...add in the noise and I was on board that it was a bad thing.
After witnessing it for myself, I think the windmills are a problem for a handful of houses...maybe 5 or 6...maybe not even that many. Go ahead rip me for saying so...I didn't see any problem from the golf course...and I'd love to live there!!

Maybe one of the residents will give a you a good deal to live under a wind turbine. And maybe throw in a box of new golf balls as well....o and ear muffs. Its only on the 19th hole that the sound goes away

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

Ok so its just 5 or 6 people and not you and thats ok? Did you mean you would like to live on the golf course where your 98 handicap displaced the noise? Or did you mean you would like to live in one of the 5 or 6 homes where it was a problem?

[BovinaCowHateWindTurbines]

Originally Posted by DavidoftheNorth

Where were you guys while it was in the process of being permitted? It's kinda late now, don't you think?

Yeah and like people who had no idea that the wind companies were planning in secret for years to put together a multi-multi million dollar deal with lawyers up the wazoo and signed leases from private land owners and were some how supposed to not only understand the impact if they were given a chance but now have to take upon themselves to fight a large corporate enterprise.

[kellysmith]

Bovine mouth...5 or 6 people complaining out of over 1000 seems like a pretty small number to me. And again...windmillhater...what does my golf handicap have to do with windmills? Liberal left personal attack...go for it idiot! I repeat...the windmills are not a problem...at least to my eyes...and yes, I've been to the back side of the mountain. Run your mouth some more and attack anyone who disagrees with you. We probably aren't smart enough to know what's bad! Are you from "away"...bet you are...therefore you're smarter!! As for land for sale...farm land in Aroostook County is going for about $500 per acre. The cheapest on Mars Hill Mountain I see is over $4000 per acre...and that's not tillable land...only good for windmills!!!!!!!

[DaizyMaine]

Originally Posted by kellysmith

Bovine mouth...5 or 6 people complaining out of over 1000 seems like a pretty small number to me. And again...windmillhater...what does my golf handicap have to do with windmills? Liberal left personal attack...go for it idiot! I repeat...the windmills are not a problem...at least to my eyes...and yes, I've been to the back side of the mountain. Run your mouth some more and attack anyone who disagrees with you. We probably aren't smart enough to know what's bad! Are you from "away"...bet you are...therefore you're smarter!! As for land for sale...farm land in Aroostook County is going for about $500 per acre. The cheapest on Mars Hill Mountain I see is over $4000 per acre...and that's not tillable land...only good for windmills!!!!!!!

This is how it starts.....this is America, the land of the free.......take away the rights, lifestyle, and basic creature comforts from a few. It's only a few, right? What happens when you are one of the few? This country, this state and this town government is not supposed to work that way. Everyone has the right to live in peace. Democracy is supposed to provide the knowledge and facts with which to make an informed decision. These basic rights of the residents of Mars Hill were taken away. If you read my other posts you will see that I like the way the windmills look and they haven't had any negative impact on our farm or lives......but that doesn't make it less wrong or any less important to citizens of this town, state and country. I am from "away" but my husband has lived on this land all his life.....it doesn't matter where you are from, right is right and wrong is wrong all over this country.

[GregW]

I checked the DeLorme Atlas to find out where Mars Hill is located. It is way far away from darn near everything else. Not the back of beyond but real close. If the windmills can't be sighted there, then where can they be located? As I said before - Wind turbines have to be where nature put the wind not where they are convenient.

As far a rights go - where does it say people have a right to live in peace and quiet. So long as the law was followed then the machines are legal. Besides some folks have always suffered when new development has happened.

When we moved here (Londonderry, NH) it was peacefull and very quiet. As the town's population had tripled in twenty years that is no longer completely true. Traffic and airplane noise are now noticible. Too bad for us but change happens.

Learn to live with it or move away.

[crazyplants]

Originally Posted by GoldenCrow

I read an article in the Boston Globe about how residents in the Mars Hill area really regret that they allowed a wind power plant to be built in their area because of the noise.

Are there a lot of these projects under consideration in Maine? I'm from rural New York State, and many towns around us are being pushed by developers to allow these large wind installations.

Well, people may not like the wind turbines but neither do they like dams, nuclear,fossil fuels ect so what to do if you want power? I would put up a small one in my yard to turn my nose at the power comapnies if it were feasible for me to do so! These bigger wind turbines are all over Europe and have been for years, they become part of the landscape, you just get use to them and when I have been overseas I have never heard of anyone complaining that the birds fly into them....

[JustSayNo]

Originally Posted by DaizyMaine

This is how it starts.....this is America, the land of the free.......take away the rights, lifestyle, and basic creature comforts from a few. It's only a few, right? What happens when you are one of the few? This country, this state and this town government is not supposed to work that way. Everyone has the right to live in peace. Democracy is supposed to provide the knowledge and facts with which to make an informed decision. These basic rights of the residents of Mars Hill were taken away. If you read my other posts you will see that I like the way the windmills look and they haven't had any negative impact on our farm or lives......but that doesn't make it less wrong or any less important to citizens of this town, state and country. I am from "away" but my husband has lived on this land all his life.....it doesn't matter where you are from, right is right and wrong is wrong all over this country.

Exactly Daizy. I think what a lot of people "miss" in this entire situation is HOW and WHY the turbines are being built. It is a shady business pushing a technology as the "silver bullet" when actually the turbines are already outdated (better ones are being invented, have been invented) and they are being snuck in and forced on taxpaying, law-abiding citizens that are given NO choice in the matter. Something is very wrong when your town turns into a police-state of sorts-where you have no say in what happens with your taxes, what the ELECTED officials do. If the turbines were REALLY the magic bullet that would solve the energy crisis forever and we would no longer have to pollute and strip-mine, etc., then maybe the wind barons would have a case for all the money and devastation. BUT, the turbines DO NOT lessen our dependency, they take away 100s and 1000s of acres of trees (which I believe clean/filter the environment) they build roads, they dig for the concrete pads, they rely on traditional energy methods to keep the blades turning. No powere plants have been shut down, none in the world.

Now, why are we not spending some of the 100s of millions on better cars, better fuels, decreasing consumption. Why is America's solution always to FEED the increasing NEED for the benefit of the pigs that need it all at the sacrifice of other lambs? This whole process is unethical, unnecessary, and driven by greed. The Turbines are NOT the solution that they say it is.

And what do we get? Towns ruined, people divided, friends become enemies. How sad it is that no one cares about anyone but themselves these days. I see it on this thread.....the mountain is no where near where I am, why are people complaining, who cares.....etc. . Has anyone thought just how hurtful and painful it is for the residents whom live under these things to read words like these. Why are they less important than someone else? Why do their lives matter less? Makes me sick all around. So sad. Typical corporate, capitalist greedy machine.

Funny how all the people who live no where near a turbine all say "I would LOVE to live there, I would LOVE to have one in my yard" and all the victims who are forced to live with them would give ANYTHING to have even a choice in the matter.

[JustSayNo]

http://www.windaction.org/opinions/9398

Interesting article in yesterday's Investors Business Daily. It covers the lack of ability to store the energy, the cost, and the effect on traditional energy generation among other issues. A good read for everyone in this thread.