Cumberland Times-News
— It was with dismay that I read that Garrett County commissioners are discussing raising property taxes to handle the budget shortfall projected for next year.
In these dire times when the economy is bad and prices are rising, residents of Garrett County are already stretched thin and cannot afford a property tax increase.
Also, there is a proposed closure of Dennett Road and Kitzmiller elementary schools because of the short fall in the school budget which is disheartening for the Garrett County residents.
The two operating wind projects on Backbone Mountain are paying about $1.7 million per year in taxes to the coffers of Garrett County for the over 20 years. Additional wind development projects are proposed in Garrett County that could bring $2 to $3 million a year in addition tax revenues for the next 20 plus years.
Besides, these wind projects will bring much needed construction jobs and the developers will be pumping millions into the local economy. You can ask the Oakland area hotels and motels, gas stations, restaurants, fast foods and ice cream shops on Route 219 besides the concrete and stone suppliers, and construction equipment rentals.
These businesses can tell you what it was like during the Backbone mountain wind project construction in 2009 to 2011. We need to thank the previous commissioners that they had the foresight of supporting the development and construction of these two wind projects.
Instead of embracing wind development, the new Garrett County Commissioners are being brain washed by few nay-sayers in the name of aesthetics and are proposing unreasonable setbacks and height restrictions for the wind mills in the name of “Land Management Ordinance” and “Sensitive Areas Ordinance” which in actually amounts to county-wide zoning.
Everyone knows that, except for Deep Creak Lake and few other areas, any kind of zoning in the county will be vehemently opposed by majority of Garrett County property owners. All we have to do is to look towards our neighboring Allegany County, which adopted exactly the same ridiculous setbacks and height restrictions couple of years ago practically killing all wind development.
Now Allegany County is facing a budget shortfall of $3 million and facing cutbacks in services to the residents. Newly elected officials in Allegany County are realizing the loss and have recently negotiated a deal with the Somerset wind project across the border in Pennsylvania giving them transmission access which will bring in $14.5 million to the county and to the property owners over the next 10 years.
After the recent outcome of the Maryland General Assembly, where both Senate and House bills, seeking authority by Garrett County to enforce these setbacks and height restrictions for wind energy projects, failed in Annapolis.
Common sense begs to ask the questions: How can the legislature be expected to approve such bills that basically goes against the state law requiring 20 percent energy from renewable resources by year 2020?
I wonder if the county’s business experts ever bother to conduct any economic analysis to figure out the potential revenue losses by proposing these restrictions to kill potential wind development.
I believe in renewable energy. While the experts are studying the natural gas fracturing option for groundwater contamination from pumping chemicals in the ground, let us move forward with wind development in Garrett County.
Wind energy has none of the harmful emissions, is a clean and safe source of energy and wind turbines are generally quiet in operations.
For this reason, the American Lung Association uses windmills in their advertisement for clean energy. Wind development will help us avoid school closings, avoid reduced services and budget shortfalls. Let’s be smart and pro-business and support clean energy.
Robert Spangler
Frostburg
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