What Could The Objection Be To The Wind Farms?

Lookatmeknow!! · May 29, 2009, 10:19:04 AM

This truly bothers me. We need the windfarms in Elk county. I don't think that the windmills would be any bigger danger to the area than the oil wells. We used to run cattle on grounds that had oil wells on them, and they look alot worse than the windmills. This really disturbs me.

L Hendricks · May 29, 2009, 08:54:07 PM

Larryj - you are right on... exactly.... When I talked with "The Nature Conservancy" - the president went back 30 years ago when there was talk about making all the Flint Hills into a park... I remember how upset my parents were at the thought of a park... but we do now have the park at Cassoday...Wilma - I don't know exactly what we can do ... one of the strong opponents to our wind project is Mr. Devlin. He would like for the commissioners to make it so that no wind farms could be built east of Hwy 99...to protect his ranch and Flint Oak. In his opinion, wind turbines in Eastern Elk County would ruin Flint Oak. He also wanted the commissioners to get a decommission clause with TradeWinds - we are in the process of getting that done. We are not zoned and have no right to dicate what a landowner can or cannot do with his/her land. It is really frustrating - I see the wind project as one of Elk County last hopes to get out of the financial struggles we are in.... it would bring in badly needed finances, new jobs, more families... plus help many of the local businesses that already exist...

Wilma · May 30, 2009, 07:02:54 AM

I don't know Mr. Devlin, but I know he does good things with his money. Why would he object to a wind farm on the far west side of Elk County when his concerns are on the east side? Is he living in Elk County? Maybe I should back off here as I am sure he pays much more in taxes than I do. But for the record, isn't the welfare of the citizens of Elk County more important than the money from one landowner on the east side? If this wind farm can reduce taxes, shouldn't it be encouraged? Again, if there is anything that I can do, let me know.

greatguns · May 30, 2009, 07:16:11 AM

I don't believe this is the first one he has objected to.

L Hendricks · May 30, 2009, 09:15:45 AM

Mr. Devlin does do nice things for Elk County. His objection to the wind farms (anywhere in the Flint Hills) - 1) they are ugly and belong in Western KS 2) it is not a cost effective means of producing electricity (nuclear is better) 3) we won't get our money from the developer 4) When the farm becomes obsolete we will be left with these ugly costly turbines to get rid of (hence the reason for the decommission agreement) 5) the turbines are harmful to the wildlife. I have also heard from more than one source that Sec of Parks - Mike Hayden is also opposed to them. It is so hard to fight the "big money, politically entrenched". I am encouraged it will still happen...not sure exactly how to fight this battle.

Wilma · May 30, 2009, 09:30:09 AM

No. 1. They are not ugly. I have been looking forward to maybe being able to see them from my window.

No. 2. Nuclear is better. Maybe, but I feel that it might be more dangerous.

No. 3. Is there a reason to believe that we won't get our money from the developer?

No. 4. How long would it be before the farm becomes obsolete?

No. 5. Harmful to the wildlife? I would like to hear more about that.

I still don't see a reason to not have a wind farm in western Elk County.

sixdogsmom · May 30, 2009, 10:40:17 AM

I agree Wilma, and it is a crying shame that a single land owner can put the skids to what is perhaps the future in this county. And sorry, but I do not see anyone dictating what a landowner east of 99 highway can do with his property in the future. All to assure that an undisturbed private wildlife habitat can be assured. Very presuptious IMHO!

Roma Jean Turner · May 30, 2009, 05:47:02 PM

Another instance of 'beauty being in the eye of the beholder'. I, like you Wilma, love to look at them. I am fascinated by them. I recently saw them in California, can't remember the highway number, but was traveling from Bakersfiled, CA back to LasVegas. Our friend in Bakersfiled told us later that a large windstorm came up and blew one of them down across the highway closing it down for awhile. Fortunately we got on the other side of it before it happened.

Rudy Taylor · May 31, 2009, 08:07:17 AM

Liz: I wonder if Trade Wind Energy would sign an agreement NOT to broach the east side of Highway 99? Actually, I don't think the east side has that many possibilities anyway since there are more landowners, trees, etc. The wind farms I've seen are all located on wide open prairies, such as those found west of Howard.

It's my understanding that if ... and when ... this wind farm is accomplished, the next expansion of Trade Wind might be south, into Cowley County, not east.

I've talked with Mike Hayden and he's like most of the state politicians and Westar officials ... a bit hesitant to put his name on the line as a supporter of this project. But I'll stay on his case. I DO know that he has heard from the project opponents.

I think one of the fears that the Devlins might have is the potential of wind farm propagation. If you go to the website <http://www.kansasenergy.org/wind_projects.htm> you could get really paranoid about how much of our Kansas landscape might be dotted by wind farms in future years. However, few of them will materialize. Most are only proposals for feasibility studies. And, yes, there's one listed near Elk City, but so far it's only a far fetched idea. Those looking at the project don't even know if it would be in Elk, Chautauqua or Montgomery County.

L Hendricks · May 31, 2009, 09:42:02 AM

TradeWind has no desire to develop east of Hwy 99 - there is a group of developers that put a proposal in to Westar for a site E of Hwy 99 but according to the wind data - the wind over there is not very good, much like it is in CQ county. As far as the life of the project - we have a PILOT agreement for 20 years renewable after that. I have heard 20 years is the likely life but what was the expected life of nuclear plants? As far as Tradewind paying us the money - it is as good as the paper it is written on. No one can predict it. Most of these developers are LLC and could be gone tomorrow. We all know there are only 2 guarantees in life! As far as wildlife, you can make various arguments for or against this. Most are concerned about the prairie chicken - which we haven't had them around for a very long time. There is talk that the transmission lines affect the migration of various birds, but again they are already there.