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| ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE: MARS HILL WIND FARM TAKES HOLD |
| 01/15/2007 |
Associated Press
By: Glenn Adams
“Long before a visitor arrives at Mars Hill, the towers become visible along what used to be just another mountain. The total height from the ground to the tip of the blade is 389 feet. Each tower has three blades, which spin in winds whipping west to east toward Canada, just a few miles away.
More than half the turbines were commissioned as of last week, while some final tinkering and testing were being done. UPC expects all of the towers to be generating power for the grid by the end of January, and a formal commissioning ceremony is planned in February, the Newton, Mass., company said.
Now Mars Hill residents are trying to get used to their new, ever-visible - some say spectacular - neighbors. Town Manager Raymond Mersereau said some people tell him it's not half as bad as they expected, while others say it's worse. Most have registered no opinion, he said.
Mersereau acknowledges there's still a lot of skepticism, but he thinks that will fade quickly later this year when their property tax bills drop 20 percent thanks to the $500,000 a year in local taxes UPC will pay in each of the next 20 years.
Mersereau also sees the windmills as an eco-tourism attraction that will draw schoolchildren and others who are curious about the project. The added tourism, he said, will generate new businesses while complementing the Big Rock ski area that operates on the mountain.”
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