Letters 6/23/11

Property rights

My case against Whitman County is a property rights case.

Does surrounding a residential property with an industrial wind turbine development decrease the value of the residential property?

Does placing one (or in my case eight) industrial wind turbines within 3,500 feet of a residential property create a health threat? (At First Wind’s Mars Hill, Maine project, of the people who live within 3,500 feet of the turbines 82 percent of exposed subjects reported new or worsened chronic sleep deprivation, versus 4 percent in the non-exposed group.î)

Considering one must disclose possible health threats before selling a property, does residential property that is entirely surrounded by an industrial wind turbine development become completely unmarketable?

Is it wrong to dump 70 decibels of noise pollution onto a home all day and all night for days on end?

Is it wrong to place the Danger Zone of an industrial wind turbine over residential property? The Danger Zone is the turbine manufacturer’s term for an area of danger that extends thousands of feet.

Is it wrong to place the Danger Zone of an industrial wind turbine over the only public road that provides access to a residential property?

Does blocking safe access to a residential property with a Danger Zone decrease the property value?

Has the Whitman County government gone too far when it allowed an industrial wind turbine development to completely surround a residential property?

Has Whitman County’s land use decision concerning industrial wind turbines placed an undue hardship on the owners of residential property that is completely surrounded by the turbine development?

How you answer these questions and how our government answers them are two different things.

There is something seriously wrong with government when it responds to facts in a manner that is diametrically opposed to the will of the people.

Consider the possibility that government is not for the people; but rather, government is for itself.

The time to change government is when you see government taking away your neighbor’s rights. If you wait until government steals your rights, it might be too late.

Roger Whitten,

Oakesdale

Squirt gun ban

As the 4th of July Parade in Johnson approaches it’s time to take stock of past parades. People enjoy taking part in its non-flashy, laid-back character whether as an entrant or visitor. In recent years the water fight element has started to take its toll on the parade and fun. Animal and classic car units are concerned about damage to their entries, and there have been calls from some parties stating they won’t attend because they don’t want to be drenched.

What started out innocently enough with squirt guns has turned into crowd/participant water fights and is causing problems. There is no safe zone for water fights as this parade is very unique: turn around and follow the same route from start to finish. For safety’s sake we are requesting no squirt guns or water fights, etc. from now on. It’s been a fun parade to be in and watch grow for the past 40 some years, and we want to keep the next 40 years a parade that shows off family creativity and great community spirit.

Kathy Druffel Wolf,

Uniontown

(Wolf is one of the original Druffel kids who started the parade and has been an enthusiast since 1967.)