“Reckless” describes the actions of Frank Bachler, Meredith town supervisor.
Bachler ignored 825 resident-signed letters asking for a ban on industrial wind turbines. He also ignored and tossed away like trash more than a year of meticulous, carefully crafted, sensible research; the same guidance Bachler personally requested from the Meredith Planning Board. Much of this recommendation stems from European experience over the last two decades; guidance designed to protect the citizens of Meredith from the personal and environmental damage actually experienced by people and animals who live in the flickering shadow of industrial wind development.
In search of a buck, at the expense of the public, Bachler arbitrarily replaced the board’s recommendation with one based on the developers’ wishes. The new law is based not on public health, welfare and safety, but instead caves in to wind industry specifications, designed to maximize developers’ profits.
With clouded vision, blinded by money and recklessly uninformed, Bachler is leading Meredith down a frightening and uncertain path to the future with the most liberal pro-industrial wind law ever proposed in New York.
The irony of this travesty is the small sum of money Bachler is willing to accept in exchange for selling out Meredith. Typically, a wind developer pays less than 2 percent of a project’s total revenue to the leaseholders and the town. If Bachler has his way, our beautiful Meredith will be sold out to big business and Wall Street for pennies on the dollar.
Bachler’s legacy, a short-sighted, reckless gamble with Meredith’s future, will be a ruined economy and landscape _ all in exchange for the dubious promises of slightly lowered taxes, questionable leaseholder paychecks, and unenforceable performance standards.
Now’s the time to protect your health, independence and property rights. Please stand up and take action against Bachler before it’s too late.
Robert Lidsky
Andes
4 June 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/06/05/bachler-ignores-towns-needs/