Yates landowner states her reasons for backing turbine project
(Editor’s Note: Donna Bane read this letter to the Yates Town Board during its May meeting.)
To Yates Town Board Members:
At the Public Hearing on April 9, I submitted a letter to the Town Board about my application on the “Met” Tower to be constructed on my property. Let me read part of that letter:
Many people have stated why they don’t want the wind turbines to go up. I heard the remark they do not even want a test tower in our town or anywhere in Orleans County.
There will be multiple testing going on, and I for one would like some answers to all the “what if” questions. These questions cannot be answered without this testing.
Having been a permanent resident of this town and paid taxes for 49 years, it is my right to go forward with this project.
I urge the Town Board to approve this application to put a test tower on my property.
That being said, now I would like to address the wind turbines.
I have signed a contract to allow turbines on my property, as is my right to do, for several reasons.
1) I fully believe we should find alternative ways to create electricity. Isn’t a better option to use wind, which will always be there to utilize? Sooner or later there is the possibility that coal will be unavailable.
2) This project would be beneficial to our Town, School and County taxes. Many of the people in the Town of Yates have a difficult time paying their taxes. Talking to an owner of two turbines on his property, he has not paid town taxes since 2006. I am not suggesting that we will not pay town taxes here; what I am saying is that, hopefully, our Town Board will find a way, with the payment they receive, to help the Town of Yates residents by applying it to lower our taxes. I would not even want to guess what our farmers pay for their taxes as my tillable farm land doubled in assessment in 2014. I will put as many wind turbines on my property, as possible, to help me and the Town of Yates residents.
3) Some of the reasoning against them, to me, seems absurd, such as birds flying into them. We should take cars off the road, I have killed birds that have flown into my vehicle. Birds fly into airplanes, maybe they should ground them. Hunters kill birds, and other wild life, maybe we should allow no hunting in our town.
4) Some people say the wind towers are ugly. I find them fascinating. I would rather have them on my property instead of a gas well or cell phone tower. I am sure most everyone has a cell phone. The cell towers are ugly, but what would we do without them.
5) I find it rather disturbing that property owners, whose legal residence is not in the Town of Yates and have no voting rights here, can come into our town and intimidate some land owners with their negativity.
I could go on and on. The point I am trying to make is we need to progress with the times. When we are approached with a project that could very well help the residents of this town, we the people of this town should get on board and stop sticking our heads in the sand.
In closing, other residents are entitled to their opinion, and I respect that. Some of my remarks may seem kind of harsh, but I am entitled to my opinion, and expect the people against it to respect mine.
Thank you to the Town Board for allowing me to speak.
Respectfully,
Donna R. Bane
Lyndonville
