Part of the beauty of living where we do is that our kids have acres and acres to roam. With the exception of one crazy neighbor that drives exceedingly fast even when my kids are on our tiny gravel road, my kids are safe to roam and explore. Our township is criss-crossed with prairie trails that are ideal for horse rides, bike rides or long hikes.
As I sit at the kitchen table right now, I am able to look out the window and watch Madison ride her dressage horse across the field to the neighbor's barn. During the yucky weather she has been lucky enough to work out a barter system where she will do some chores in his barn to earn her riding time in his heated indoor arena. She needs to keep riding when the weather's too yucky to haul Ka Ching and Madison to her dressage instructor about 20 miles away.
One aspect of the wind towers that concerns us is that they have been known to throw ice chunks from their blades up to one half mile away. At every public meeting, Marc or I expressed our concern that having wind towers located 1750 ft from our home would endanger our children, animals and property. Somehow, this concern was dismissed by every commissioner except Mark Armstrong. I was emphatic that our concerns be heeded as I fear my family could end up being the statistic that causes new and responsible setbacks.
Once the turbines go up, I will no longer feel safe allowing my children to wander to the back of our property which is a half mile long from our home. That would place them far, far to close to the spinning turbine blades and even in good weather, I fear debris flying off and hitting them. I also worry about the infra-sound and its effects upon our horses........and us too.
So just for today, I will relish the fact that the towers are still not erected and my children are free to use our entire property without fear of harm from an industrial implement positioned in the midst of quiet, rural homes. Small things to be grateful for, but the reasons we chose to live here, in the country, and not in the heart of an industrial 'park'.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Here we go
Eight years ago, our family chose to move to North Dakota from the Portland, Oregon metro area. My husband works for the federal government and we chose to relocate to the Bismarck area as it fit with our lifestyle which involves enjoying our animals and the beauty of God's nature.
We originally settled just North of Bismarck on 3 acres and quickly realized we needed more space for our kids and animals, primarily our horses. In 2006 we bought a 3800 square foot home on 40 acres approximately 22 miles North and East of Bismarck in Crofte Township. We have 4 families that live nearby to us, each on a minimum of 40 acres. Two of our neighbors are professional horsemen and make their living by training and riding horses. Our home, at least for us, is ideally situated amongst horse-loving people amid vast open prairies where the only sound to be heard is the wind in the grass, dogs barking and Meadowlarks singing.
Living in the rural area was a distinct choice. Our family chose to live in a rural area, away from city noises and disturbances. However all that is about to change. For two years now, we have been fighting with our local planning commission to keep industrial wind turbines out of our township. The overwhelming majority of property owners in Crofte Township have made it known that we do not want 330 feet tall industrial wind turbines located here. Somehow the voice of the many has been dismissed and our township will now be forced to live with these monstrosities within a legal setback from an occupied residence of 1750 feet. That is far to close!
NextEra, a subsidiary of Florida Power and Light will be installing several turbines within 2900 feet of our home. In addition to the noise, vibration and shadow flicker, we are also concerned about our property value. While NextEra dismisses our concerns, there is plenty of peer reviewed evidence that supports our concerns regarding health and re-sale issues. Who in their right mind would buy our home with several industrial turbines looming and casting shadow flicker and creating pulsating noises 24 hours a day and pay us the fair market value? I know we would never, EVER have purchased this home if there were wind turbines nearby, nor if we knew there was even the slightest possibility of turbines being put up nearby.
The intent of this blog is document the effects that the impending turbines may have upon us personally. Right now the nearest turbines are 3-4 miles away approximately and we can hear the constant droning and whooshing sound they emit. We can only imagine how obnoxious they may be when located 2900 feet from our back deck.
As these towers are erected, we offer an open invitation to any person or government official of legislative committees to visit our residence and experience the impacts of the turbines upon unwilling neighbors. No amount of pleasant meetings with NextEra representatives can accurately depict what life is actually like living in the shadow of these industrial turbines. Our quality of life is being stolen from us and the way of life we have chosen is being infringed upon by those without a care of how it affects others.
Please check back often as the development phase of these turbines take off. Our family remains committed to providing accurate, honest examples of what life in the shadow of turbines is REALLY like.
We originally settled just North of Bismarck on 3 acres and quickly realized we needed more space for our kids and animals, primarily our horses. In 2006 we bought a 3800 square foot home on 40 acres approximately 22 miles North and East of Bismarck in Crofte Township. We have 4 families that live nearby to us, each on a minimum of 40 acres. Two of our neighbors are professional horsemen and make their living by training and riding horses. Our home, at least for us, is ideally situated amongst horse-loving people amid vast open prairies where the only sound to be heard is the wind in the grass, dogs barking and Meadowlarks singing.
Living in the rural area was a distinct choice. Our family chose to live in a rural area, away from city noises and disturbances. However all that is about to change. For two years now, we have been fighting with our local planning commission to keep industrial wind turbines out of our township. The overwhelming majority of property owners in Crofte Township have made it known that we do not want 330 feet tall industrial wind turbines located here. Somehow the voice of the many has been dismissed and our township will now be forced to live with these monstrosities within a legal setback from an occupied residence of 1750 feet. That is far to close!
NextEra, a subsidiary of Florida Power and Light will be installing several turbines within 2900 feet of our home. In addition to the noise, vibration and shadow flicker, we are also concerned about our property value. While NextEra dismisses our concerns, there is plenty of peer reviewed evidence that supports our concerns regarding health and re-sale issues. Who in their right mind would buy our home with several industrial turbines looming and casting shadow flicker and creating pulsating noises 24 hours a day and pay us the fair market value? I know we would never, EVER have purchased this home if there were wind turbines nearby, nor if we knew there was even the slightest possibility of turbines being put up nearby.
The intent of this blog is document the effects that the impending turbines may have upon us personally. Right now the nearest turbines are 3-4 miles away approximately and we can hear the constant droning and whooshing sound they emit. We can only imagine how obnoxious they may be when located 2900 feet from our back deck.
As these towers are erected, we offer an open invitation to any person or government official of legislative committees to visit our residence and experience the impacts of the turbines upon unwilling neighbors. No amount of pleasant meetings with NextEra representatives can accurately depict what life is actually like living in the shadow of these industrial turbines. Our quality of life is being stolen from us and the way of life we have chosen is being infringed upon by those without a care of how it affects others.
Please check back often as the development phase of these turbines take off. Our family remains committed to providing accurate, honest examples of what life in the shadow of turbines is REALLY like.
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