At the recent Williams City Council meeting (10/14/2010) 4HR resident, Thad Johnson, was acknowledged by NextEra Wind Energy for his advance work on their behalf and his impending opportunity to profit from the installation of the Perrin Ranch Wind Farm project.

This reporter was present at last Thursday's City Council meeting and observed firsthand Matt Gomes' (NextEra's on the ground Go-To-Guy in Williams) glowing reference to Thad's potential gain.

Seems Thad can't do enough for NextEra, he has generously offered to take pictures for the local newspaper for articles written by local journalists and he has seized the moment to introduce NextEra to any group that he feels will promote their success.

Thad also used his previous position on the Executive Board of the Williams Chamber of Commerce to introduce NextEra to local businesses.

BTW, Thad's recent bid for re-election to the Chamber of Commerce failed. He was not re-elected by the Chamber to serve on their Executive Board again, although he does remain as a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

Call me snarky, call me whatever, but there is no way I could NOT share this with 4HR owners who will face a serious threat to their already devalued property values, if this Perrin Ranch Wind Project gets permitted by the Coconino County Planning and Zoning Commission.

Our property values have declined 27% this year alone. We will surely lose more property value if these 400 foot tall turbines are placed within the proposed half mile distance from our southern boundary (Espee Road).

One property on that boundary is now up for sale for $15,500 - this is a 36 acre parcel with trees and access to the Cataract Canyon.

Imagine if this property doesn't sell now what the value might be after the turbines are installed.

The Perrin Wind Farm is NO FARM - It's an INDUSTRIAL power plant going up in a pristine rural environment surrounded by several communities (HMR, 4HR, Grand Vista Estates, and Junipine Estates - just to name a few).

The plan calls for 62 turbines that are 400 feet tall. The Perrin Ranch and the checkerboarded state lands that adjoin it encompass ~64,000 acres.

Mike McCauley the rancher/owner of Perrin Ranch will earn ~$1 MILLION dollars per YEAR from the 62 turbines that are proposed. This is his money.

The energy that will be produced will NOT be used to power local homes or businesses. The turbines will be tied into the grid and sent out-of-state.

Why do we want to spend our tax dollars (federal subsidies) to pay for the installation of these 62 turbines when we will NOT receive any benefit from them?

Not only will our property values drop but our pristine vistas, wildlife experiences, and quality of life will disappear.

As I write, NextEra is working on a deal with the McNally Ranch which is east of Valle heading towards Snowbowl/Flagstaff.

Mr. McNally, another rancher/owner serves on the Williams City Council and he wisely recused himself from the council meeting last Thursday because as he said, "I have a conflict of interest because I am discussing with NextEra placing turbines on my ranch".

So not only are we looking at turbines to the South of 4HR but now they could be to the North East.

The entire economic base in the Grand Canyon Corridor (Williams to Grand Canyon) is based on Tourism and Hunting. Do not fool yourself and think these will not be dramatically affected by these turbines.

NextEra claims the animals will leave during the installation but will return soon afterwards. They also claim tourists will find the turbines intriguing as they wind their way on the Grand Canyon train through the wide open spaces leading to Grand Canyon.

Fortunately, there are many residents along the Grand Canyon Corridor that do NOT want want these turbines.

These citizens have joined together and formed a coalition to STOP the Perrin Ranch Wind Project.

We call ourselves "Coconino County Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy" and our slogan is "Save Our Wide Open Spaces".

If you want to help us STOP this project, please contact me and I will add you to our mailing list.

We meet weekly in Williams. We are planning a Town Hall Public Meeting (our second one) and would like your participation.

Thank you for reading this and any support you are able to provide.

For more information please visit: www.sowos.org


Sherrian Bloomquist