The wind turbines on Wolfe Island in Canada can be seen in Watertown, 30 miles away. How many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn't see, The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, The answer is blowing in the wind.

As a taxpayer in the town of Hammond I am very disturbed about how the issue of industrial wind turbines in our town will be decided. ...Councilman Ronald Tully II, Councilman James Langtry and Supervisor Janie G. Hollister have a potential conflict of interest here, as they all either directly own property, or have relatives who own parcels of land (or both), in the town that falls within Hammond's wind overlay zone that are large enough to erect many of these proposed turbines.

Former Perry Supervisor, now Horizon salesperson, Anne Humphrey's ad in last week's Perry Shopper was just more of the same typical of Big Wind sales pitches. Bless her heart, Ms. Humphrey is only saying what she needs to say to keep her job. We found it particularly amusing that Ms. Humphrey said, "It's not all about the money," yet, that's ALL she talked about. She said "it's about what is right for the environment," yet didn't say a single word to substantiate how so.

I am a north country native and have lived on the riverside of Route 12 in Hammond for 18 years. I am opposed to this Wind Energy Facilities Law in its present form. ...The revisions in this law were made by the attorney and are basically cosmetic. There have been no significant changes to any area, particularly the important health and safety issues like setbacks and noise levels.

Why do our town officials value the wind companies more than the citizens they represent? Furthermore, it's hard to understand why so many people are indifferent about the issue. Many people say, "I don't care one way or another because I won't see them from my house or from the village. They won't affect me." To me this translated to I don't care what happens to my neighbors or my community.

At what point does it become a matter of personal responsibility to stand up and speak out to preserve the priceless beauty and health of a God-given resource that once irreversibly damaged by corporate and political greed can never be replaced? ...Now after the introduction of industrial-scale wind turbines and high voltage switchyards and transformers to Sheldon, and the dumping of thousands of tons of industrial waste from the 100 year-old industrial steel site into the agricultural fields where food is grown or cattle graze ... we choose to exercise our rights as a democratic society and therefore stand up and speak out as necessary to preserve this land that is the Orangeville that we love.

AWEA CEO Denise Bode seems mildly disappointed by the numbers. Citing a slowdown in manufacturing of turbine components, Bode described the industry as "swimming upstream." The contrary current may get even stronger if my recent visit to upstate New York is any indication. Arriving for a family visit, I found that I'd landed in the midst of an uproar over wind farms, both built and proposed.

Let's be perfectly clear. The only way to "mitigate" problems associated with industrial wind turbines is to make sure the projects do not go up within residential areas in the first place. As reported in a recent Daily News letter ("Think big on wind energy" by David Bassett, May 20, 2009) , the U.S. Department of Energy admitted when these immense machines were being developed that they were intended for placement in the remote, unpopulated areas of the Midwest, and offshore -- not amongst rural/residential areas like that of WNY.

Petitions are being circulated in the town of Cape Vincent calling for a one-year town-wide moratorium on any wind farm development. The petition is calling on the Cape Vincent town officials to enact such a moratorium to thoroughly examine wind farm zoning regulations appropriate for the health, safety and welfare of all the residents of the community as well as the aesthetic impacts to the town and 1000 Islands region.

A payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement being developed by the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency will give away tens of millions of dollars in taxes with minimal return for the price being paid by county taxpayers. A uniform policy plan being prepared by the agency will collect $2.5 million from developers of the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm in its first year of operation. That represents about 15 percent to 20 percent of what would be collected if the project paid full taxes.

Jefferson County development officials continue to wrestle with the terms of a tax-exempt policy for several wind power projects planned for the county. ...The projects will have far-reaching impacts throughout the county and not just on the host communities, while they do not provide long-term jobs. Project developers should pay taxes like other businesses and industries.

In 2006, the town's Planning Board passed a resolution they did not need a wind law and Supervisor Thomas Rienbeck and the town board quickly followed by killing the wind law initiative. This ill-advised action exposed river and lake districts to unregulated commercial wind development for the past three years. The idea of a moratorium is nothing new either. Since 2006 the town board ignored numerous requests to institute a moratorium on wind development. So, what has changed?

In Mr. Waltz's opinion, the task of writing a meaningful noise ordinance that would, in fact, adequately protect Prattsburgh residents is difficult. Mr. Waltz made a number of extremely provocative comments. One, ...wind turbines produce no constant tonality, no universal signature, making the creation of a noise standard challenging. Two, the most critical issue isn't audible noise; ...Three, because the DEC Noise Guidelines measure DBA without any consideration of low frequency noise, those guidelines are not an appropriate standard for a Prattsburgh Noise Ordinance.

Somewhere behind the universal belief that wind will someday help provide some of the energy we need lurk some intriguing questions, many of them never before answered in quite the way the New Windsor Planning Board could find useful. ...Until we and New Windsor know a bit more about the impact these turbines will have in the back and other yards, it would be better to wait.

The presence of these overwhelming techno-energy giants brings to mind a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. ...It's hard to see anything else. When I look towards the water, I don't see the natural beauty of Kingston's harbour anymore. I don't see Garden Island, Simcoe Island or even Wolfe Island, as my vision is drawn to these massive propellers waiting in rest or whirling away, depending on the breeze. If the daytime view isn't bad enough, the blinking red warning lights on the towers at night light up the sky like a runway at Pearson International Airport.

I was one of a number of citizens representing 33-plus New York state grass-roots groups that attended the June 16 NYSERDA [New York State Energy Research and Development Authority] environmental stakeholder's meeting on wind power in Albany. The reasons for this unique meeting were to answer citizen's questions on industrial wind power that we have been asking NYSERDA for years now.

The line _ intended to provide more electrical power to New York City _ would not only have marred large tracts of upstate landscape and had a deleterious effect upon the environment, but would actually have raised electricity rates for those of us who live near where the line would have been built. After a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruling went against NYRI in March, it withdrew its application ...On June 9, NYRI requested a time extension to file comments with FERC to appeal its ruling. The firm has until July 9 to provide additional comments.

The town supervisor talks of how the record shows, where there is municipal water service, the building of homes will follow. What he fails to mention is that where there is the possibility of an industrial wind park that the "for sale" signs start to show up in the area as one can plainly see when driving through the village of Cape Vincent, including the one on Mr. Rienbeck's house which has been for sale for well over a year.

My house and land is in Prattsburgh, across from turbine sites for the Ecogen wind project, and my wife owns adjacent property in Naples, Ontario County. I've heard some people say "what's happening in the hills with the wind turbines won't affect me." What these folks may not yet realize is that, if these turbines are allowed to damage the value of adjacent properties, their taxes will go up. And the first step in this one-two process has just started.