As i drive down Rt. 102 towards beautiful and historic Wickford Village and see this monstrosity hovering overhead in the skyline I will forever remember the current town manager and town council for what they've done to this town. We wouldn't let Home Depot put a sign up in the parking lot that could be seen from the highway because we wanted to preserve the Rural historic character of the town but yet they allow this? When voters drive by this eyesore it should be a reminder to them to vote out Bestwick, Dolan and Houston

Yes, this is going to be a terrible eyesore. And the one in Portsmouth is broken, with no one wanting to foot the $600 000 repair bill. I was driving through Lovely Jamestown yesterday. They are ruing that section of 138 with signs. How many are there now? Approximately 85, many are duplicates. Most useless. In 1975 there were about 10 signs. Mom still found Newport alright.

I think the wind turbines are kind of peaceful looking. I don't mind them terribly. But it will be lousy if one breaks down and it's sitting there doing nothing like the one in Portsmouth. That will be very frustrating.

Angel Fish, peaceful looking!!!! I don't think that you would feel that way if it were in your neighborhood, listening to the noise it makes and the flickering it causes. You should have attended some of the meeting to find out how really dangerous this "peaceful" turbine is.
As for Dolan, Bestwick and Houston vote them out they really do not respresent the true people of North Kingstown

I'm not going negative on this nearly finished structure now blessing our town's landscape.
I'm not going to mention the now shut down Portsmouth turbine or the Falmouth, MA residents continuing health complaints.
Instead, I'm going to take the economic road. $150/mo or $1,800/year? You're kidding, right? Let's see, how to spend such a windfall?
*earplugs for increased noise from 134 foot fan blades flopping in the air?
*new thick shades for shadows (flicker) from 134 foot fan blades flopping in the sun?
*triple pane windows (closed all the time) for "insulation" R-value?
*doctors bills for unheard but felt within our bodies, low decibel "sound" waves from stress movements (blade-to-pole-to-foundation) eminating great distances from the turbine base?
*new roofing and helmets for the kids for potential ice "balls" hitting roofs (or other places)?
*birdfood as you'll expect less ground wildlife sightings (from vibration) and maybe a trash can for hawk or bat carcass picked off the lawn once in a while?
*fencing to keep pets off your "quiet" neighborhood streets while gawkers drive thru with eyes up 400'?
*a new RE agent to show the multiplicity of new potential customers waiting to buy homes within several hundred feet of your community's new lawn ornament.
$150/mo. Wow, what a magnanimous developer!
God's speed my friends
NoResWindNK.com..........is sad today

When are we going to learn that you can't go home again? "Change is inevitable - except from vending machines".

The wind turbine is a mile from my home. I'm not immune.

The windmill issue is one that this town council really punted on. For that, all of those who voted to allow this should be kicked off the council. At best, these machines are only 35% efficient! As for Mr. DePasquales claims of the Providence wind turbines, none of them have produced 1 watt of energy. The project is incomplete. It should also be noted that another turbine manufacturer, Vestas is close to bankruptcy. The manufacturer of the Portsmouth wind turbine is also bankrupt. These green energy projects are turning out to be a big bust. The taxpayers are really getting hosed on these ventures.
I took a ride through that neighborhood yesterday when I saw this monstrosity sticking up in the air. If you think this looks bad now, wait until those blades go up. I feel for those property owners living in that development. If the housing prices haven't fallen enough already, this machine will really impact those values. The town council should pass an ordinance to give a tax-exemption to these property owners due to their incompetence in handling this issue. Local government really hurt these property owners!

Congrats. to all the home owners who live at the Green. Enjoy your green energy and your monthly $150.00 "kickback". Oh did I forget to mention the depreciation on your lovely homes, and noise factor... swish swish, swish... Oh I'm getting nausea and ready to throw up.... but hey it sure "looks nice"....Happy 360 degrees. (LOL)

I've never taken issue with the visual, but as with all things it is about appropriate venue. Popping in one here and one there throughout residential neighborhoods was never the intended implementation of these clean and green energy producers. As "wind-farms", the best use is just that, either off shore, or in far more isolated rural areas placed together in large numbers to make effective use of favorable wind patterns......aka FARMS of towers "planted" together in one spot in large numbers. Sadly, some saw the loop holes made available by the rate purchasing incentives. If the gov't creates an opportunity to make a quick buck, there is always someone who will take it. IMO residential area implementation was never the intent of what is a wonderful alternative and clean energy source. Just as a field of wildflowers in a sweeping meadow are beautiful to behold, so too wind-farms. But imo, dandelions sprinkled here and there, tend to spoil the lawn. With property values, the debate over noise and flicker, etc seems advisable to stick to "farm" type implementation.

To Govstench. Pass a tax -exemtion for those property owners... you have to be kidding. Did you attend any of the TC meetings regarding Wind Turbines? Large numbers of NK residence continued to voice their opposition to Wind Turbines in residential areas. Many Green home owners supported DePasquale's plan and those in opposition never stepped up to the plate to oppose it. Correction...some did when it was to late. It was greed my friend... good old fashion greed...Here is the hook, I'll pay you $150.00 per month toward your electric bill if you sign right here.... while I'll make millions. DePasquale can walk away from his home with the profit he will make erecting "The Beast". Please wake up.

What a WONDERFUL reminder right before election time as to who is responsible for this mess. Time for the current Town Council to go. They foolishly allowed this to move forward without doing adequate due-diligence.

I would feel sorry for the Village Green owners except they were also blinded by "green" (either money or energy) and agreed to something without understanding it. Now that turbine sits closer to their homes than even the ridiculously lenient future state guideline allows. If anything goes wrong, I can't imagine the legal costs to the town for failing to protect the public, especially since they were made aware of the potential issues and had an opportunity to stop the process. Plus many hundreds of home owners near the turbine can now start demanding reductions in their appraised home values (the reductions in value being offered to European homeowners as compensation for the risk and nuisance are astounding).

So do remember this at election time -- time for the existing Town Council to go!

I just looked at the picture attached to this article. Although I am 100% in favor of clean, renewable energy, there is certainly locations these machines should not be placed. You buy a house in a residential neighborhood because of the house, and whats around it... and then some politicians (the people elected to office to uphold residents concerns) get involved and totally flip your "sanctuary" or "place of refuge" upside down. I personally want to SHAME Mr Bestwick, Mrs. Dolan, and Mrs. Hugeston for their blatant lack of responsibility in this matter. (along with other issues these usless humans have done). Why did these people run for office? Why are they re-running for office? It's obviously not because they are concerned with North Kingstown. It's all about personal agendas, power trips, personal financial gains, and cronyism. I hope the sun will shine again some day in North Kingstown, but it will not happen if these defunct creatures are elected back into office.

I wonder how this happened?

http://avoiceinamerica.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/money_changing_hands.jpg

November 6th is Election Day......

Very much appreciate everyone's curiosity about this curiosity, but also appreciate respectful drivers who go slowly and are mindful of small children who often play outdoors in the circle. Thanks, from a NK Green Neighbor!

The manufacturer setback recommendations were ignored.
These large industrial turbines were never meant for residential areas.
Re: light flicker: the wind doesn't blow in one direction. The blades can/will turn to adjust for wind direction and speed.
The fact that the developer is marketing this subdivision as
"Green" is laughable. If one was truly interested in being "green", them you wouldn't cause a large carbon footprint building a new home, roads, infrastructure, etc. then put up an industrial turbine and call yourself "green".
Lastly, these turbines aren't run by gentle breezes and fairy dust. They have powerful magnets in the motors to allow them to move. Do a quick Internet search to see how the precious metals needed for the magnets are mined in parts of China. Hardly "green "
Lets stop being brainwashed.

Thank God we were able to stop this happening at Stamp Farm! And it wasn't easy. We didn't want accidents on So. County Trail from the looky-loos, the ice throw, the shadow-flicker(especially for those people with migraine, espilepsy and other neurological problems), the constant low-level hum that makes people and animals sick, the killing of birds and bats. All you have to do is ask people who have had to live with that for some time to get a good idea of how miserable it is to live with one of these things in a residential area:(

My husband & I were active when the turbine issue was being decided & I seem to recall that the builder had received certification for the base only for the turbine at NK Green.His attorney even argued at a Zoning Board meeting to that effect.Did I miss something?Did he receive a further certification for the turbine itself?I would really appreciate answers from members of the Planning Commission,Town Council, Town Mgr. & Town Planner!

I for one, do not blame the developer as the main culprit in this. The developer is not an elected official and owes nothing to the citizens of Nk. The tc are the ones who owe a duty to the citizens and the have failed. Miserably.

One other point which is unrelated to this machine is that the Town of Bristol pulled out of the EBEC agreement on October 10th. Setting aside all of the problems with the EDC, the 38 studios fiasco and having government intervention in the renewable energy market, what is going to make it very tough for these machines to be profitable is the continued drop in natural gas prices. The bulk of electrical energy generation is done by natural gas in RI. Your rates have been gong down due to that fuel! As more gas pools are found, this decline should continue. Good luck with this developer with his wind turbine - he has his contract but the next one may not be as attractive.

With backward phobic attitudes like the ones exhibited here, progress will be painfully slow in this town. Most parts of the world are far ahead of us in adopting renewable energy sources. It is time to open your eyes and embrace the few ways we have available to meet our energy needs without resorting to such oxymoronic concepts as "clean coal"

Simple question: Who on the current town council voted "YES" for this thing?

I drove by the new turbine yesterday and it's a lot bigger than I ever imagined it would look. I'm all for wind energy but putting this right in the middle of residential NK was a HUGE mistake.

Dolan, Hueston and Bestwick all voted for it. Vote them out.

Well said, Noreswindnk:)

Noressindnk you are right on the money. However I do like Martin's comment. I heard a rumor that Mr. DePasquale bought the house next door to Martin and will be erecting the same "beast" on that property as well. Wake up Martin. (LOL).

Mark. Please do not take offense but what did you think this Wind Turbine was going to look like. Had you been involved you would have known. Please get involved by voting in this election.

Dave, only one comment, aside from which we agree completely. You say you don't blame the developer but blame the elected officials. If I may....

It's about time the country/world took PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for their actions. No, we can't vote for the developer, understood, however HE is the litigious Son of a Gun (I'm afraid he'll sue me) who sued the town twice and his neighbors for $25 MILLION BUCKS. He scared everyone for his greed. This isn't about the TC, PC or elected/unelected UNPAID volunteers, it's all about him and his greed period. He knows what he's doing and why. He doesn't give a lick about the town, you or the people, it's dollars b...a...b...y!!!!

You put any five hamburgers into the five TC seats and have a developer present them with 27 neighbor signatures saying "I want this in my backyard" along with NOBODY from the public dissenting, and what answer would those five burgers give? They were deceived!!!! We all were deceived and folks like Martin still are being decieved. Call a spade a space, yes vote for what you want changed, but in the wild west they wouldn't run the sherrif out of town, they'd run the problem out.

Noreswind, you will never get the government you desire. Giving the tc a pass and stating that there was " no dissent" is naive and inaccurate. They were deceived?? You've got to be kidding! The same people have been making the same poor decisions for years...see the pattern?

Dave, No passes given. No chance of that. We agree as I said. TC screwed up, given, correct, move 'em out. Done, fine. I'm past that. It's the core issue I'm on to. Morality, ethics, sense of right, community, personal adherence to unwritten rules (even when you can get away with something). That's what this is about. Teach our kids what's right and what's wrong about people and our society. What's this been?
Lawsuits, six different lawyers including a town judge, gov't freebies, electricity overcharges for residents, kickbacks, need I continue? Change your elected sitting volunteers on council, fine. But spend just a little time trying to change the root problem too. We have found the culprit and he is us.

The hypocrisy here is amazing. Everyone in this ridiculously liberal state is all for environmentalism and renewable energy, as long as they don't have to see it or hear it in their town. You can't have it all ways. Either you deal with renewable energy, or deal with fracking for gas and imported oil from the Middle East and the tar sands in Canada. The amount of NIMBYism in this town is absolutely nauseating. Where do you think much of the power you use now comes from? Nuke plants. Yeah for renewable energy at wind farms out in the midwest, as long as no liberal in RI or MA has to see it.

Have to set the record straight. THERE IS NO "CLEAN COAL"! That term came from a fabrication of a potential idea that is unworkable, whereby the smokestack emissions are forced underground and compressed into hot liquid carbon dioxide, which will leak out slowly over a couple hundred years. It was never accomplished. Other than that, some gains have been made to reduce fly ash, but not carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide levels are soaring in our atmosphere AND ocean waters which creates an acid layer on top of the ocean which kills plankton and breaks down the food chain. So even without final proof that there is a greenhouse effect, carbon is damaging oceans badly. Coal plant waste is also highly radioactive due to the uranium present in coal. http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/31/us/georgia-coal-power/index.html

So, is wind the answer? NOPE. Govetench has it exactly right, not enough efficiency for the cost of materials needed for the windmills. The electricity is much more costly under the best scenario. It will get worse as more of these break down and they will. The price will settle out at a high level per watt.

What DOES work (and is NOT being embraced by green Obama). Geothermal. I visited an open house with geothermal groundwater heating and cooling and it was great, and MUCH cheaper than the oil heat it replaced and now they have central air too. It is available to most houses and buildings in America and produces only the pollution needed for the small amount of electricity required to run the heat exchanger. Combine that with stringent insulation and weatherization building codes and we would be free of much of the problem. Why is this existing option not embraced in policy? Because it is decentralized and not controlled by large players (who have lobbyists). Add a couple vac-tube solar panels for hot water, and you will recoup these costs per building in only a couple years then save money and the environment (for real) for years to come.

The comments are starting to get into a bunch of different "green" and political issues that can go worthlessly back and forth, some points more valid than others.

However, at the end of the day I would hope a vast majority of readers here would at least agree that a 413 foot industrial wind turbine DOES NOT belong in a residential neighborhood within a couple hundred feet of families.

@ Mark Henricks - you are partially right on the electrical generation to Rhode Island. The nearest plant is at Brayton Point, Somerset, Ma. However, that plant along with the facility in Providence, Johnston, Burrillville and Tiverton are all natural gas. Brayton has the ability to switch fuels depending on the costs. With the vast pools of natural gas being discovered in this country and the pipelines going to Canada and down south, the regulators figured the best fit was for natural gas. This game plan which was put into play in the mid 1990's reflected the best stable price from gas to coal. Oil has been such a unstable commodity and is not cost effective to ship through transmission lines.
I personally have no axe to grind against renewable energy as long as it is cost effective. The contracts that are underway for Deep Water Wind puts that cost at 24.5 cents/kWh. If you look at your domestic A-10 rate for electric, you will find it around 12 cents and falling. The advantage the North Kingstown turbine has over Deep Water Wind is it is easier to service rather than having to dispatch ships to those sites off Block Island. The biggest issue with wind turbines is finding reliable service engineers to work on them and keeping that maintenance on schedule, otherwise you end up with the Portsmouth mess.

Poor planning, period. How did the Planning Board/ Planner allow an industrial power plant in a residenital area?? Crazy - my guess is someone fell in love with the idea of "green" energy, blinded by the light!

STOP STOP EVERYBODY.... I was just traveling down Rt. 4 South and noticed a bright "RED" blinking light that was never there before. At first I asked my Iphone the date... thinking it may be Christmas Eve and Rudolph was helping Santa... No; maybe an aircraft making an emergency landing.... No; maybe a UFO... but to my amazement it was "the Beast". Hey Mr. DePasquale... you never mentioned a red blinking light your $150.00 a month neighbors have to tolerate from sunset to sunrise 365 days a year.... or maybe you did. There is however a "bright" side to the story; They will never get lost trying to find their way home at night, just follow the RED BLINKING LIGHT. (LOL)

Just remember who is responsible on Nov 6th!!

I was out of town during the erection of this 413' fiasco! It was great to come home to an eyesore in the beautiful town of NK. I hope the councilmembers are pleased with this dumb decision they will have to look at on a daily basis. One of the primary reasons for allowing this to happen was the threat of lawsuits against the town. Well when this fiasc starts to create problems for the residents you'll see a lot more lawsuits and more then likely for more dollars then the builder was suing for! Good work councilmambers, I hope you enjoyed your terms in office since you'll be gone come November!