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POLL OF THE COMMUNITY OF BOVINA regarding the DESIRABILITY OF WIND TURBINES - Final Report
October
10th, 2006 |
| POLL
OF THE COMMUNITY OF BOVINA
BACKGROUND The town of Bovina, like many others in upstate New York, is considering the impact of proposed large-scale wind turbines on the community. As a “home rule” state, Bovina must make it’s own decision about wind turbines, large and small, and the Department of State has encouraged all communities to determine what their residents want. To that end, an independent community organization, The Alliance for Bovina, believed it an important first step to poll all residents for their opinion about whether or not they wanted industrial wind turbines, small wind turbines, or both. METHODOLOGY A poll was sent to every taxpayer and registered voter in Bovina, with the mailing lists coming from the Delaware County Real Property Office and Clerks Office. The poll went to 866 Bovina taxpayers and registered voters. Each person received only one poll, even if they were both a registered voter and taxpayer, or if they owned more than one parcel. To assure that the poll remained anonymous, it was verified and the results tabulated by an independent pollster in Milford, PA. The pollster separated the portion allotted for signatures from the poll after insuring that the person responding was on the list of those to be polled. The polls were mailed out on September 3rd and the deadline for return was September 15, 2006.
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| QUESTIONS
The poll asked two questions, as follows: Question 1: Do you want the Town of Bovina to allow industrial-scale wind turbines (up to 400 feet in height, linked in groups, and intended to provide electricity for sale on the regional power grid) within the town and tax jurisdiction of Bovina? Circle one:
Question 2: Do you want the Town of Bovina to allow small-scale wind turbines (up to 120 feet in height and intended to provide electricity on site for a single farm, business or residence) within the town and tax jurisdiction of Bovina? Circle one: NO YES In addition, there was space allotted at the end of the questionnaire for respondent comments. RESPONSE RATE Out of 866 questionnaires mailed, 540 were completed: a response rate
of 62%. According to a standard market research industry formula, the
very high response rate indicates that the results would not have been
different had 100% of respondents completed the survey. In statistical
terms, the poll reliably predicts the opinions of the entire population
of Bovina. |
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OVERALL RESULTS: |
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| QUESTION 1: | |
| The responses to Question 1 indicate that the residents of Bovina are overwhelmingly opposed to industrial wind turbines. 83% were against, 16% were for, and 2% had no opinion. |
| Number answering: | NO 446 | YES 85 | BLANK 9 | |
| Percentage answering: | NO 83% | YES 16% | BLANK 2% | |
| QUESTION 2: | ||||
| The responses to Question 2 indicate that the residents are evenly divided about allowing small turbines for individual homes or businesses: 48% were against, 49% were for, and 2% had no opinion. | ||||
| Number answering: | NO 261 | YES 267 | BLANK 12 | |
| Percentage answering: | NO 48% | YES 49% | BLANK 2% | |
| Comments
166 residents (or 31% of the total) included a comment in their questionnaire.
See separate binder for comments. |
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| DETAILED
FINDINGS
The table below shows that the residents of Bovina can be divided into
three main groups: |
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| Group | Question
#1 |
Question
#2 |
Number
Responding |
% |
| 1 | No | Yes | 188 | 35% |
| 2 | Yes | No | 7 | 1% |
| 3 | Yes | Yes | 74 | 14% |
| 4 | No | No | 255 | 47% |
| 5 | N/A | Yes | 4 | .007% |
| 6 | N/A | No | 0 | 0% |
| 7 | Yes | N/A | 5 | .009% |
| 8 | No | N/A | 3 | .005% |
| 9 | N/A | N/A | 4 | .007% |
| N/A= no answer | Total | 540 | ||
| The
largest group is Group 4 (255 people, 47%) who are opposed to both large
and small wind turbines.
The second largest group is Group 1 (188 people, 35%) who are opposed to large turbines and for small wind turbines. When combined, these two groups represent 443 people (or 82% of the
residents) who are opposed to large turbines |
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| The
smallest of the three groups, Group 3 (74 people, 14%), is for both large
and small wind turbines.
Interestingly, this shows that while Groups 1 and 3 differ on the issue of large turbines, they both support small turbines and when combined represent 262 people, or 48% of the population. CONCLUSIONS As stated above, the research shows that without question the vast majority of the residents of Bovina are opposed to large-scale wind turbines in their community. The research also shows that while the community is divided on the issue
of small turbines, there is a common support for them among the opponents
and supporters of large turbines. This is clearly a subject that would
warrant additional research and exploration. |
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