Posted with the permission of The Naples Record, originally published Wednesday August 5, 2009
To the editor:
My name is Bill Barker. My wife, Malla, and I have a home at 505 Chapman Road, off of Olney Road, which sits in the shadow of the proposed Industrial Wind Tower Incentive Zone on Clute Road. Like so many concerned Italy town resi¬dents, we'd like to voice our strong and telling opposition to the Ecogen Incentive Wind Energy Zone application. I would briefly cite five specific concerns:
1. The presence of flickering top-lighting from the very tall industrial towers would constitute a constant unsightly intrusion in the Italy area. This concern is not hypothetical as it is already apparent among the 20-plus IWTs in the Cohocton area readily visible travelling out of Italy en route to Naples, where one literally 'cannot see the forest for the wind towers.'
2. Well described noise emitted from the operating IWTs will deeply impact not only those of us in the immediate proximity, but others in Italy Valley.
3. There will be inevitable irretrievable decline in the complex of natural scenery that constitute the much-hailed beauty and serenity of Italy township. It is not insignificant that world-renowned composer Chuck Mangione's signature trumpet piece, "Hill Where The Lord Hides" was written while he was a guest of previous owners of our property, referencing the very land where IWTs would be located in the Wind Energy Incentive Zone. Such words would ring hollow if the proposed application is approved.
4. My application - and likely others — applying for Conservation Preservation Easement status with the Finger Lakes Land Trust is likely to be made a mockery if Industrial Wind Towers are installed next door. This has serious financial as well as philosophical implications.
5. The piecemeal town-by-town development of IWT sites in New York State, of which Italy would become another instance, is not part of a well-thought-out proven strategy for alternative energy, but rather a mechanism whereby developers/investors reap the benefits of extraordinary tax credits with virtually no risk to themselves.
Our town is a mere pawn in this money-driven game - a money-driven game all too reminiscent of the obscene manner in which so-called financial service industries have made fortunes in the real estate, health care and other sectors of the economy at the expense of the rest of us, bringing on the recession now effecting county, country and world.
No amount of amenities can begin to offset the profound negative impacts of an Industrial Wind Farm on the special quality of life and environment in the Town of Italy. My family and I urge our elected representatives not to accept the proposed Wind Incentive Zone application.
Bill Barker, Chapman Road, Italy
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