To the Editor:

In response to “Town is Getting Screwed Over by Council Members” which appeared in the April 4-10: The writer needs to think a little more broadly about who would be "getting screwed" (in his words), if dozens of giant wind turbines go up in Hopkinton.

According to an Adirondack Council's DPS comment, these would be the tallest structures in upstate New York! "The size and scope of this project are alarming. Turbines of 500 feet in height would far exceed the height of any structure currently in or near the Adirondack Park." There are no taller structures between Manhattan and Montreal. Not only that -- they spin, they blink red lights at night, create shadow flicker and ice throw, and they are loud!

This isn't a project that has implications only within Hopkinton. Do you think there is some kind of wall you can't see through at the town boundary? A very tall wall that will block the view from neighboring towns?

You think people living in Parishville, Nicholville, Winthrop, Stockholm, Potsdam, and other nearby towns don't have a stake in this? They have a huge stake.

Why would you tell the people from Parishville to "get back in the truck"? Isn't the North Ridge/Avangrid Office located in Parishville? Where does North Country for a Brighter Future meet?

As a matter of fact, it appears they meet in Parishville according to the Public Information Program (PIP) available on the DPS site at http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?Mattercaseno=16-F-0268. Just refer to the document title North Ridge PIP Tracking Log dated 3/6/2018, listed under the Filed Documents tab.

Wind developers have a favorite tactic they like to use in rural communities. We have seen it repeatedly in Jefferson County, Franklin County, and St. Lawrence County. They tell their leaseholders to make the point over and over that “a man has a right to do what he wants with his own land!” May sound good in theory, but thankfully that isn’t so. Private property rights have been limited since ancient times.

Suppose a developer or a private property owner wanted to bring such things as automobile or motorcycle racing tracks (noise) large scale hog farms, poultry farms, or rendering plants (stink), rock quarries and mines (noise, dust, and truck traffic), an amusement park with a big roller coaster or Ferris wheel (noise, traffic, dust, garbage), etc. etc. etc. into town.

Do you think people in neighboring towns should have nothing to say about that? Yet none of those things would bring stark visual impacts or drastically change the nature and identity of Hopkinton and the surrounding area, compared to what Avangrid is seeking to do – apparently with your help.

In a governed community of people, we have obligations to protect the well-being of others – in our own community as well as in neighboring communities.

Surely the government and people of Hopkinton will take this obligation to heart, because people should be the priority, not money.

Dolores Rice

Hopkinton