My name is Jack Schoppa. I am a real estate appraiser and broker in the small town near Mr. Tatom's property.
Since I learned about this proposed project I have done extensive research on industrial wind farms and have condensed what I have learned into an article of my own relevant to this particular project.
In my defense please allow me to state that I am all for alternative energy sources. I am plenty sick and tired of paying $75+- to fill my pick up. (And, no, I can't properly tend to my few old cows with out a big pick up.) Also, in my defense, I have not read every post here, I have only scanned several of them.
I will say that some comments are right on target. Others are not.
One thing that you need to understand is that this little area is very scenic with rolling hills and mature trees. It is known as the "North Texas Hill Country" and some have identified it as "A Little Colorado in Texas". And it is these scenic rural views that create the demand that drives the property values in this area. A short distance to the south and east is the beginnings of the D/FW metroplex and the congestion associated with that. Shortly to the west is the rocky, Mesquite covered plains of west Texas. To the north is Oklahoma which is a completely different market. So, we are, in fact, in a unique little "pocket" that is currently in high demand primarily for its scenic rural views, privacy, and short distance to the D/FW metromess. Folks out of the D/FW metromess flock (and I do mean flock) to this area on weekends just to drive around, visit our small town stores and see the countryside. So, I hope that this helps you to understand why THIS particular site is important to us local folks.
Another misconception I seemed to notice repeatedly is about the size of these industrial windmills. I notices one of the posts was from a guy who has lived beside a water tower for his whole life and has become "desensitized" to it. Well, that is a good thing for him, but will he have to find someone who is already "pre-desensitized" to something similar to that to sell his house to? Might he have to accept a lower price than a similar house a mile away from the water tower in order to sell it?
So, please allow me to present a brief description of the actual size of these boogers so everyone will be thinking along the same line.
FOUNDATION: The concrete and steel foundation is 14 feet in diameter and 28 feet deep in the ground and weighs 167 TONS. What will happen with these in 50 or 100 years when the windmills are removed?
TOWER: The tower alone is 260+ feet tall. That is very similar to TWO TIMES the height of our local water tower and is 14 feet in diameter. That ain't like no high line pole.
GENERATOR: The generator that sits on top of the tower is as big as a small school bus and weighs about half again as much as a D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer (for those who may not know, those are the really BIG bulldozers).
BLADES: Each blade is 131 feet long, about the same as our water tower and weighs 6.5 TONS. The "fan" created by the three blades is very similar in circumfrence to a 747 Jumbo Jet. Think about how far away a jet is when you see them flying in the sky. Well, that is how far away you can see these things. When a blade is at its high point during rotation it is 393 feet in the air, about the same as THREE water towers, or about one and one-third football fields. The "fan" only rotates at about 22 rounds per minute but the tips of the blades are moving at about 180 miles per hour. That is a big circle.
COMMENT: Try to imagine a "fan" the size of a 474 and weighing about 19.5 TONS whirling around on a small school bus mounted on top of two water towers.
VISIBILITY: I have personally seen the wind farm out west of Abilene, Texas, from what I scaled on a map to be right at 60 miles. Of course that is much flatter country than here. They look obvious at 40 miles away and look big at 30 miles away. You can see them, and the shadows they cast, from the air when you fly over that country in a commercial jet. These here things ain't nothing like no oil wells or no power lines.
THE ENERGY COMPANY AND THE DOMINO EFFECT: The energy company came into this part of the country about a year ago. They pinpointed key locations and contacted those land owners and had them sign CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS stating that they would not talk about this project with anyone. That is why I felt the duty and responsibility to write the article after I learned of the project. I NEEDED to let my neighbors know what was about to happen to us. Now, if this is such a good thing, why do you think the energy company requires Confidentiality Agreements?
The energy company moved into this area quickly and quietly, spotted a few key locations, convinced those land owners how rich they would get and then made them swear to secrecy. Quite a plan huh? Then when the news does finally break, as Mr. Tatom referred to in several of his posts, the energy company can claim that his neighbor has already "signed up" and so, since he is going to have to look at his neighbors windmills, he may as well go ahead and sign up too. A ploy that works just as the energy company would have it.
INCOME: They say they pay a nominal annual fee and then each windmill generates about $4,500 to $15,000 per year depending on how much electricity your windmill generates. And they are not required to even generate any electricity. If the market price of electricity goes down, they slow production, just like OPEC.
FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY AND PROJECT PROGRESS: I do not know how many land owners have "signed up". And I do not know how many windmills it will take to make the project financially feasible for the energy company. They may already have as many as they need and the project may be a "go". But I do know that they are contacting some land owners who are in the line of choice that have NOT signed up, like Mr. Tatom. It would be my feeble opinion that if enough land owners can focus on the long term affects to the entire area and not focus so much on dollar signs, that there are likely enough "holes" in the line to keep the project from being feasible and the energy company may just go away.
As for property values, well, what do you think? As a real estate appraiser and broker I would consider these things to be an "external obsolescence". Something similar to a large trash dump land fill project, or a HUGE power transmission line (except on poles TWICE as tall as a water tower) moving into an area. What effect does something like that normally have on property values?
Well, that is all I have time for now. For more information I have posted my entire article on my website at
WWW.NORTHTEXASPROPERTIES.COM click on the button for Wind Farm Article. Or simply google up "Wind Farms".
Respectfully,
Jack Schoppa
