Frankfort ordinance needed 

I’m writing as a resident of Waldo County for 25 years. Mary and I consider Frankfort our community, something we didn’t have growing up. We care about the people who live here.

Nine months ago, five others and I were voted on by the townspeople (not self-appointed) to draw up an ordinance that would protect the health and welfare of Frankfort. These people are not just anti-wind, but care about this town and have taken this matter very seriously, putting their lives on hold.

Eolian Renewable Energy [personnel] aren’t members of our community, won’t live here afterwards, and it is a company who wants to change Maine.

Wind energy may have its place, but research shows it doesn’t belong in rural areas where people live near these industrial machines. This ordinance is not a cut-and-paste job, as some have stated. Months were taken to draw this up. I’ll admit we weren’t perfect, but any mistakes were ours. This was new to us and we did the best we could under the circumstances.

These turbines will affect every member of our community, whether you live nearby or not. The effects include the adverse health effects from the noise and shadow flicker produced by these massive 450-foot machines, and the loss of property value even for those living a mile or more away.

These concerns are well-documented by the World Health Organization, sound experts, numerous doctors and real estate agents from around the world. Eolian’s representatives can white-wash these issues, but the fact is these turbines offer little and take much from towns like ours. For wind companies to deny this just shows their lack of compassion for anyone who would be affected by them.

Most disturbing is how it has divided our community. Friends, neighbors and families have turned on each other. Scare tactics are being used to make the ordinance look like something that it’s not, saying it will stop people from raising pigs, horses, building a shed or putting up a personal wind turbine in their backyard.

Read the ordinance; it is strictly for industrial wind turbines, and will have no effect on anyone other than a large-scale wind developer. Eolian has tried to drag these other issues into the debate because they know if they base this on their project alone the people of Frankfort would overwhelmingly vote them out like many other Maine communities have.

The icing on the cake is that Eolian will walk away with millions of taxpayer dollars. It’s the only way they can afford to put these up. Huge tax subsidies that come from our pockets. Possibly a 60-percent tax break from what Eolian would have to pay our town.

This comes in the form of a TIF [tax-increment financing] which Eolian has brought up numerous times. These taxes can’t be used for our school or to lower property taxes. We pay them to destroy our health, financial welfare and communities while they laugh all the way to the bank.

Consider these facts before voting, then please vote “Yes” and protect your neighbors because no one else will.

Steve Imondi

Frankfort