In Barre, don’t vote for one-issue candidates but those with vision for town

Editor:

We are getting close to voting day, June 22nd (and don’t forget that early voting starts on June 12th) and I want to urge Republican Barre voters to make time to vote!

Please make it a priority! And please vote for Sean Pogue, Lynn Hill and Tom McCabe for Barre Town Board if you don’t want endless litigation hampering the Heritage Wind Project (turbines).

More importantly, don’t put people on the Board who only have one issue they are concerned with rather than governing. It would be a disaster for this town, in my opinion.

This current Board has been strong and visionary in trying to get the best deal for Barre. All concerns raised that they are not giving residents information or are not following protocols is just plain false.

Claims that special needs children are at risk or that there will be health concerns in general are not backed up by factual evidence. And the two credible surveys in Barre clearly showed that the majority of residents support the project. The survey that the anti’s are touting that 70% are against the project would not hold up to any scrutiny by an independent audit.

The fact is that turbines and solar are coming one way or another. We can either get a good deal for the town, county and schools now while it is offered, or see them coming anyway and we get very little. It is not just New York State going to green energy; turbines have been built in 44 states, and there are 12,000 major solar projects currently in the US database. Green energy is on the rise in both blue states and red states. The fact is that people are doing just fine living with them.

It is my belief that in a few short years, no one will freely admit that they opposed wind turbines because the facts will be more widely known. I visited the High Sheldon wind farm community a few years ago with a group to hear residents and Board members talk about their progress after 10 years, and they were very excited to talk to us and tell us how great things have been.

In Sheldon, they also had a group of anti-wind protestors, who claimed that they would  move if the turbines were built, and predicted that all kinds of awful things would happen. As a bus took us around the town, one Board member pointed out that none of the residents who indicated they would move actually did. And the group of speakers said that after the turbines had been around for about a year, many of the residents who had been previously opposed came to thank the Board, citing the lower taxes and other great benefits.

Property values did not go down. The roads were vastly improved. The Town had new equipment. The schools had benefited greatly. The farmers flourished.

So don’t let the anti-crowd mislead you about the turbine project. Don’t let them scare you away from the best deal Barre has ever seen! Please vote on June 22nd for Sean Pogue, Lynn Hill, and Tom McCabe, who will support this issue but will also serve all the residents and do care about many issues besides the turbines.

Chris Loss

Barre