Watch out Mason county

[Willy]

I went to the meeting last night 6-28 at West Shore CC for the hearing on Consumer Energy request for a special land use. I was certainly suprised by some of the comments. According to County ordinance the special land use can only be approved if the 9 conditions for the special use are met. When Jay Kilpatrick of Williams & Works, the zoning Planner gave his opinion to the County Board I was amazed at what he said and he used a straight face when he said it. He said the 500 ft. towers met the criterea to be allowed in the agricultural district when clearly, according to the County's own ordinance requirments, they did not. This man must be working for Consumers and as far as I am concerned has lost all credibility as far as representing the County.

According to many of the citizens who spoke, CE, did not contact them if they were not involved with lease agreements regarding easements, so many of the people were left out of the loop even though the towers would adversely affect their lives. It seems that the land owners who signed leases formed a "pool " orginaization to deal with the zoning and other dealings that would arise.

According to other citizens:

1. Lease signers are banned from discussing the terms of their leases due to a "gag" clause in their contracts. So much for transparancy.

2. Leases have been signed by land owners in Freesoil and CE, so this will not be the limit of these turbines. CE has plans to blanket the county with them. 

No. 2 is why I titled this discussion as such.

Every independent study that stated adverse affects to real estate values and affect to human health were denied by CE experts. It truly was an amazing show.

Below are links to photos showing the beautiful vistas now to be seen in SW Mason county where these towers will be installed, a total of 59 I believe. These vistas are a part of the history and makeup of what makes this area a great place to be and they will be forever altered if these towers are allowed to be installed. If the link doesn't work then see the photos over in the photo section.

http://ludingtoncitizen.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?scr...

 

 

 

[Eye On Ludington]

Robert

 

Sorry if you feel I have insulted your intelligence.  That was not my intent.  I provided a situation worthy of consideration.  Just because you disagree does not mean I intended to insult you.  Unfortunately, emotions seem to come into play whenever one side already has their mind steadfast made up. 

 

Everybody wants electricty whenever they need it.

 

I visited the McBain area when every turbine was spinning.  There was no noise from even 300 feet.  So I know for a fact that the noise issue remains unproven.

 

PS:  I do not expect people to do anything they want on their property.  But there is still dispute whether these things fit the appropriate zoning criteria or not.  The courts may ultimately have to decide.

[Robert]

No emotions Eye, so don’t suggest I subscribe to the liberal mindset of ranting long and loud about something I have little knowledge of., just to be different. Check out our group. A common sense approach , less the back stabbing, outrageous  fact less  shouting, etc. Emotions? Funny, police presence is required at all local community meetings and guess who gets emotional? That is why I am done with this topic here. If you want them in Mason County, more power to you. You seem to be in the minority but look back to my earlier posts. My observation was, it seems like a done deal, against the majority and these little meetings nothing more then going through the motions.

The effort here is strong here and in my opinion factual, reasonable.

http://arcadiawindstudygroup.org/?utm_source=awsg-all&utm_campa...

[Eye On Ludington]

Phrases like "liberal mindset", "ranting long and loud", "less the backstabbing", "outrageous fact less shouting" are why I sense emotion from you.

 

I tried the shadow experiment this evening while the sun was just starting to cast long shadows.  I used a tree approximately 50 tall with a cumulative linear branch spread about 50 feet across.  I referenced an approximately 25' x 25' specific spot in my field and clocked when the tip of the tree shadow reached that specific spot.  Within 45 minutes, the shadow cast by the tip of the tree had moved nearly 200 feet South and 200 feet East.  But the original spot was now completely covered with the shadow cast by the center of the cumulative branch spread.  The area was still completely covered 15 minutes later.  What this suggests is that on this evening the tremendous width of wind turbine blades would have caused shadow flicker upon that particular spot in the field for a minimum of 1 hour at least.  Not sure what time effect upon that particular spot will be tomorrow as the sun's location & movement changes daily.  But safe to say it would probably cast at least an hour of flicker again tomorrow and at least a few more days beyond.

 

This actual real-life example would suggest with little doubt that the wind industry's claim that a typical home would receive less than 10 hours of flicker a year could not possibly be true except under very rare circumstances depending upon location and terrain. 

 

How is that for unbiased comment and opinion?  Do you want discussion or do you want control?

 

 

[Eye On Ludington]

Robert

 

I agree with most of these words from your link:

 

"We have used the most accessible half of the world’s supply of fossil fuels, we are causing global climate change by burning what is left, and large nuclear plants are dangerous. We must start conserving energy now and will soon need “alternatives” which produce abundant, clean and affordable energy if we want to maintain any semblance of a modern society. We must stop wasting resources on false “solutions” which do not work,"

 

 

Not sure what is causing global climate change but I do agree we must start doing a much better job of conserving.  I would love to have a small private windmill on my own property.

[Willy]

The County passed the wind tower special land use so I can now agree with those that say there are  corrupt members  on the Mason county commisson board. There is no way these towers meet the 9 conditions for zoning approval. I wonder how much bribe money was handed out. If these jokers are not recalled then we will get what we deserve. It doesn't matter if you agree with these towers being installed or not because when a group of elected officials ignore the laws that have been established, no matter what the situation, then we all have corrupt representation. This vote proves that these  local government officials do not represent the citizens of Mason county.

[Robert]

Sounds kind of like this Willie:

Why is Duke only studying Joyfield Township? Joyfield Township has refused to adopt zoning which might limit the project. Three of the five members of the Joyfield Township Board, as well as the Chairman of the Benzie County Board of Commissioners, who represents Joyfield and Blaine, have already signed leases with duke that obligate them to do whatever is necessary in order to maintain the necessary permits for the project, and to keep confidential duke’s “confidential” and “proprietary” information.

And I thought I read that Consumers just cut a check to Mason County for 2 million.

[Willy]

I've notice the full page adds in the LDN placed by Consumers Energy to sway the public into accepting huge industrial towers in Mason County's beautiful rural setting has changed to full page adds thanking Mason County for allowing them to install the towers. When you think about it, putting all those adds in the paper was a stroke of genius. Along with the bribes to County officials and land owners they were able to quiet any criticism by the local press by filling LDN's bank account with money by running those expensive full page adds day after day. It's nice to know that Consumers is using the money we pay for our utilities to further stick it to us and it's nice to know that LDN's integrity and soul can be bought for the price of advertising fees.

[Robert]

Willie,

Here is a little something that may interest you and XD. The underhanded tactics of big wind and how the FOIA is only used against the little people that may not have the money to research their interests. We paid our money but the games continue. As our billboards say...ENJOY THE VIEW-IT COULD BE YOUR LAST CHANCE.  

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 2, 2011

For more information contact:
Jesse Williams
Jesse L. Williams, PLLC
[e-mail]
231-944-4911

Arcadia Wind Study Group Seeks Judicial Review of Central Michigan University’s Three-Month Failure to Comply with Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act 

BENZIE AND MANISTEE, MICHIGAN, August 2, 2011 – Today the Arcadia Wind Study Group announced it is seeking judicial review of Central Michigan University’s failure to comply with Michigan’s Freedom of Information law in the 19^th Judicial Circuit in Manistee.  The dispute stems from a request filed by the AWSG on May 5^th for information relating to a public opinion survey conducted by CMU on behalf of Duke Energy back in March and April.  The mail and telephone survey sought the opinions of property owners in portions of Benzie and Manistee Counties who would be affected by Duke’s proposal to install 112 industrial wind turbines, each of which would be over 500 feet tall, throughout the region.

In May, in response to AWSG’s request, CMU indicated that it had already gathered 1,552 pages of responsive materials and estimated that it would take university employees a total of 35.5 hours to comply with its obligations under the law.  CMU also alleged the authority to withhold other public documents in its possession. In the twelve weeks since receiving AWSG’s request, the University has only turned over 157 of the 1,552 pages of documents it had collected and identified as responsive as of May 27^th.

Also in May, CMU also requested a “good faith deposit” of $616.79, or half of its estimated costs to process the request.  In response, the AWSG provided $1,233.59 – the full amount – in order to prevent further delay on the part of CMU.

“We really hoped we could have avoided going through the courts,” said Doug Carter, President of the Arcadia Wind Study Group, “but frankly, after three months of delay, our good faith and patience has been exhausted. CMU received our request on May 5^th and the Freedom of Information Act requires public bodies to respond to requests like ours within 15 business days – that was May 27^th. We understand that people are busy, but at some point the convenience of CMU and the desire of the nation’s largest utility company to shield its activities from the light of day must give way to the public’s and the taxpayers’ right to know.”

The request for judicial review filed yesterday evening asserts two separate violations of the Freedom of Information Act. First, it alleges that CMU has arbitrarily and capriciously violated the law by failing to disclose at least 1,395 pages of uncontested material related to the AWSG’s request which CMU had identified and gathered by May 27th.

Second, the request alleges further violation of the Freedom of Information Act through CMU’s refusal to disclose the final report and a number of other documents related to the study, that are clearly public documents as defined by the law.

“The law is very clear on the responsibilities of public bodies and provides an avenue for judicial review when documents are withheld,” said Jesse Williams, the attorney representing the AWSG in this matter. “I am hopeful that we will be able to engage in negotiations with CMU in order to bring a fair and quick resolution to this matter.”

The Arcadia Wind Study Group is a Michigan nonprofit corporation formed to research and inform the public and policy makers regarding environmental, land use, local economic and other public policy issues in Manistee and Benzie Counties. Its members include hundreds of citizens, property owners and others who share a lifelong connection to the unique and pristine region of Northwestern Michigan.

The action is pending as case number 11-14283-CZ in the 19^th Judicial Circuit in Manistee.

More information regarding the Arcadia Wind Study Group and the action commenced yesterday evening is available online at www.arcadiawindstudygroup.org. A complete copy of the complaint is available at http://awsg.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/awsg_vs_cmu_aug2.pdf.

Further information about this action can be obtained from the attorney representing the AWSG in this matter, Jesse Williams, at 231-944-4911, or [e-mail].

—

END

[Willy]

Robert

I am pleased to see that someone is trying to fight to keep those monsters out of your area. I can't imagine these huge towers being located in such beautiful landscapes. Good Luck.

[XLFD]

And I have to thank you, Robert, for exposing me to this attorney.  Mine is not really interested/well-versed in FOIA issues, so I may contact Mr. Williams eventually and see if he is interested in getting our City to act within the framework of the state FOIA (and their own recently-amended FOIA). 

I like his chutzpah, and his biography.  Here is his bio  Att. J Williams, hope he gets some results for you,-- keep us posted.

[Robert]

Fortunately, I haven't had a need for a good attorney in recent years but in my opinion, Mr. Williams seems to know his shit (sorry). Duke Energy is the largest energy company in the US., with endless resources and the ability to hire the best, to attempt to silence the little blips in their effort to use subsidies before they are taken off the table? Ethanol, done, wind next. If it is such a great idea, private industry would be all over it.

 

http://arcadiawindstudygroup.org/category/signs/

 

Three farmers (winders) on the Manistee County Road Commission directing employees to collect signs from yards in the Village of Arcadia.  

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

Idea.. Make the signs twice the size... and place them beyond the roads 20-30ft right of way.. then have anyone who tries to take them down arrested for trespass.