I have read with amusement the comments of Rob Aliasso from Henderson. He claims that wind farms will destroy the pristine beauty of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. He’s too young to realize that his idealized image vanished when the St. Lawrence Seaway was created and when the numerous trailer parks along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River developed more than 50 years ago. He can’t see the polluted beaches, the damage invasive species have caused and the sewage draining into these waters.
Mr. Aliasso also claims that the wind companies have run roughshod over communities. If he talked with many wind-farm township supervisors, township assessors in wind-farm areas, or the superintendents of schools receiving monies from the wind farms, he would not say that about these thriving communities. He would also have a very different impression if he talked with many of the more than 55,000 residents living in the 14 wind farms covering more than 25 townships in New York state.
Since Mr. Aliasso can’t see beyond more than a couple thousand feet of the shorelines, he has no idea how much once-viable farmland has gone to scrub brush in Cape Vincent. Lands that once produced crops for the dairy industry have become wastelands as one after another dairy farm has ceased operation. Even though the farmer no longer sustains a dairy or raises the crops necessary for milk production, he still pays taxes on the land. As the income to farmers dwindled, so did the economy of the village of Cape Vincent. Many who have lived in Cape Vincent for only a decade or two have no idea what the village was like in an earlier era when dairy farms were numerous.
Times have changed, and the future requires alternative methods of energy production. The farmland beyond the village of Cape Vincent could once again become viable. The income the farmers received through turbine leases could once again benefit and strengthen the economy of the village. All who own property, especially seasonal landowners who pay taxes on more than one property, would benefit from reduced property taxes.
source: watertowndailytimes.com
