To All:

I received this e-mail and attachments (vide infra) from members of a community activist group in Potter and Tioga Counties that is working to stop the Wind Farms near Cherry Springs State Park.

I will not editorialize it, it is FYI. I did take the liberty to highlight what I felt were important points in the exchange between the Head of the Potter County Planning Commission and Bob White, AES Construction Manager. I would recommend that any amateur astronomers voice there concerns directly to the Potter County Planning Commissioner whose e-mail address is listed. She is a publicaly elected official; release of her e-mail address is legal under the Commonwealth of PA Sunshine Laws, etc.

Gastronaut

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This old e-mail exchange just came through. Bob White is the project manager for AES (the company planning to build the wind farm). Wanda is the chairman of the Potter County Planning Commission. As you can see Wanda is clearly for the project. I expect her to lose her position when the new commissioners are elected in November. The two current commissioners who support the plan have already been eliminated from the ballot. They could try a write-in campaign, but that is difficult with the new computer voting system. This week has several meeting scheduled that will be very interesting and intense. Things have been slow during the summer, but will be heating up very quickly now. Will keep you informed.

----- Original Message -----

From: Bob White
To: W. Shirk

Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 9:29 PM

Subject: RE: Scale view of turbines from < redacted > back yard deck

Wanda:

It is terrific that you visited the Fenner project. We find, as you did, that once people have visited actual operating turbines that many, if not all, of their concerns go away. We, AES, hope that through the permitting and study process, including the process with your commission, we can show people what the project will be like and try to address any concerns they may have.

Regarding Cherry Springs, I am doing some work to identify how much of an impact to Cherry Springs there will be. Our closest turbine is 11 miles with the bulk of them being 13 to 15 miles from the park. The lights will be red and are not very intense.

You may have seen a recent email from Mr. < redacted > about his request for a copy of the map. I did refuse his request and and explained it to him as follows. As I stated to him, and at the meeting, there are some design parameters that we use in the siting process that were not included in the creation of the map because time did not allow and the expense of doing the work for these parameters is prohibitive at this stage of the project. Thus this map is only intended to give people an idea of the areas being considered for turbines and not for actual turbine locations. The number of turbines on the map is close, +/- 5 or 6, to what will be the final number. I did provide your commission a copy of the map for their information and use with the understanding that it is only preliminary. In addition, it is very costly to produce the map. If I give to one person I feel compelled to give it to anyone who asks. This would be very costly and, since it is preliminary, not serve much purpose.

If there is anything you need from me, information or attending any of your meetings to respond to your commission's questions or questions from the public please do not hesitate to ask.

I look forward to working with you and your commission as we move forward with the project. I appreciate your support for the project.

Thank you,

Bob W

From: W. Shirk [mailto:wshirk@pennswoods.net]
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 7:02 PM
To: Bob White

Hi Bob,

Thanks for taking time to write this note regarding the Art Kear projection.

My husband < redacted > and I visited the Fenner project (20 turbines) near Syracuse, NY, on Saturday. I found the wind turbines to be awesome, majestic, incredible, amazing, inspiring.... fantastic! Having made the visit, I can attest to the quietness of operation and to the impressive beauty that I believe the turbines actually add to the landscape.

We talked to folks up there and heard that while there was considerable objection before the turbines went in six years ago, there are now only three or four people that still have any problem with them. The vast majority think it's the best thing that ever happened to their township. I've been reading a good bit about the turbines and am enthused about defending the project. I think it's wonderful that our area has been selected to host something as marvelous as this.

The folks at Fenner are gearing up to build an $800,000 Wind Energy Education Center. To folks who say the turbines will hurt tourism here, I say that it will bring far more tourists than this part of Potter County has ever seen.

The concern about seeing lights from Cherry Springs State Park, where the state is building a $2 million astronomy center in conjunction with the Dark Skies resource of Potter County, is the only thing even close to a legitimate concern, but there is 13 miles distance, and I think the lights will be below the sight level at Cherry Springs. I understand that at a distance of 12 miles, the curvature of the earth makes things of equal elevation to be out of sight, such as ships 12 miles apart at sea. The turbines will be at a slightly higher elevation than Cherry Springs State Park, but the combination of distance and perhaps some tall trees will probably preclude visibility of the lights. (We hope the lights will be red rather than white, as an additional pacifier to our astronomers.)

We expect a group of protesters at our Planning Commission meeting tomorrow night, but I feel more than ready to respond to them in an intelligent and informed manner. Naturally, some of them will continue to make noise, even though they are a small group. The majority of people here, I am certain, are thrilled about the project and eager to see it begin.

I look forward to assisting AES in every way possible.

Wanda Shirk

Chairman, Potter County Planning Commission
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Here is an interesting link: http://www.horizonwind.com/projects/whatweredoing/newyork/marbleriver.as...
Check out the size and scope of these projects.