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February 23, 2013

Letter to the editor - Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013

Anonymous The Kokomo Tribune Sat Feb 23, 2013, 12:09 AM EST

— Making statistics say anything they want

I have read with great interest the various articles from juwi, letters to the editor, attended various meetings (tax abatement hearing, juwi open house, etc.) concerning the impending Prairie Breeze Wind Farm. With very few exceptions, most everyone who is for the wind turbines has financial gain for themselves or family members, or work in the wind industry. Most everyone else who will be affected is against it.

I have family members signed on with E.ON. We have many neighbors, friends and acquaintances, teachers, bus drivers, parents of our kids’ friends and church members who will benefit, but we are NOT for these 50-story industrial structures to be placed in our rural area.

Juwi presents experts and studies that show there will be no impact to property values after the construction phase; however, just as many experts and studies show there is impact to property values, some of them are even the same!

There is a saying that “you can make numbers (statistics) say anything you want.” It has to do with the interpretation of the numbers and studies. Many show property values for houses 5-10 miles from turbines, with little activity within 1-2 miles. Is the reason for this that there are few homes within 1-2 miles, or is it because the houses that close do not sell?

Some areas and/or individuals have been able to force wind companies to buy houses where they couldn’t get the fair market value, and the wind companies turned around to sell the houses at an average 40 percent loss!

I spoke with the expert juwi had at the open house, Dr. Mark Thayer of San Diego State University. He admitted that the studies do not look at the number of turbines in proximity to the houses. It seems most houses have just a few within a 1-2 mile radius.

According to the filed plans, there will be six or seven within a half-mile of us, 17 within 1 mile, and 35-37 within 2 miles! And we are not unique; many other homes around here are in the same boat.

The Tipton County Master Comprehensive Plan says that it “will allow development in locations that allow the county to retain its agricultural heritage and lifestyle.” And to “… preserve and protect property values throughout the county.” Also that “the policy of this plan [is] to protect and conserve land values and to minimize conflicts among the land ….”

This is the most divisive thing we have seen since school consolidation in the 1960s/1970s (before my time)! We even had our “No Wind Farm” sign stolen from our yard this week!

Quite simply, we don’t want the wind farms; we don’t want the wind turbines. We are tired of the lies, conflicts of interest, the over-exaggerations from the wind companies and the land owners looking to benefit.

Kevin Vanosdol, Kempton

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