10/28/04
Dear Friends,
My husband and I own a home in the township of Fenner, NY and it is located in the middle of the Madison wind farm. I am not and never have been against windpower but I want people to be well aware of the negative side of these giant windmills before you allow them to be built in your neighborhoods. We have always believed that our neighbors had the right to use their property as they feel appropriate, in fact we were even somewhat supportive of the project in our area. Our home also sits well away from the setback distances called for by zoning.
Unfortunately we were not given all of the facts or we were given somewhat twisted information. We were told that the windmills had been redesigned so as not to be noisy but the grinding noise goes on 24 hours a day (when they are operating) and at times is far worse than other times. From our bedroom window we can see no less than 5 towers and from the living room another 2. On a stormy night the wind howls through our bedroom like a freight train - yes, I know the blades stop when the wind reaches a certain velocity but never the less they don't magically disappear and the wind continues to hit them greatly increasing the sound that travels over them. In the middle of the summer we cannot enjoy our yard or have the windows open because these machines constantly grind and have a negative effect on ones nerves. When at the house I find that my nerves are constantly on edge.
We also have lost our television reception and were forced to purchase a satellite dish. Prior to the towers we always had very good reception of the local stations and generally had 2 to 3 more and now it is impossible to get any of those stations. Incidentally there is no cable in our area. The builders/management have more than once promised us to look into this situation and have done nothing and also do not answer phone calls or follow up on appointments which they make with us.
Out of necessity to aviation there are lights on top of the towers which now flash directly into our bedroom and living room windows all through the night necessitating the closing of the blinds and robbing us of the view of our own backyard and God's gift of nature one of the main reasons we moved to the country in the first place.
Should your area decide to go ahead with the project I would suggest that cell phone towers be built into the towers. This was not done in our area and there is terrible cell phone coverage. To increase the coverage more towers now need to be built and I don't see that happening any time soon.
I have also found that the discussion to have or not have towers in a neighborhood has pitted neighbor against neighbor in some cases and long friendships have struggled, I find this to be very sad and a huge detriment.
The windfarm in our home area has also brought much traffic to the area that we never had to deal with in the past. Drivers stop and gawk in the middle of the road becoming a hazard to those who simply want to get to work or possibly to a store or Doctors appointment, etc.
Promises have been made and broken over and over again and I find that also to be an extremely sad situation.
I pray that you can find a way to work through many of the issues without having such a huge impact on those living near by.
Pastor Kathleen Danley
Gaines Carlton Community Church
Albion, NY 14411
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