Living in Lexington Township for the past 15 years has been one of the best decisions that my husband and I have made in our 51 years of married life.

The locals took us under their wings and made us feel like one of them as soon as the moving van departed. We could not ask for more generous, kinder neighbors.

Upon the arrival of the big wind industry in our local area, however, we began to rethink our decision to retire and make our final home here in Lexington. After all, had we not moved here because of the peaceful, country surroundings?

Now, living in Lexington Township is sort of akin to being afloat in a boat without a rudder or a steering wheel. We are adrift without direction or any means of declaring where we want to be in the future.

Our fate lies in the hands of the Department of Environmental Protection, now that the Land Use Regulation Commission no longer makes decisions about wind development in the unincorporated territories.

The DEP is notorious for having approved of every wind development permit application that has been presented to it.

So, where does that leave us here in Lexington? We are faced with the possibility of having industrial-size wind turbines on our surrounding mountaintops, although the citizens of Lexington Township (and Concord Township) have signed petitions demanding that Iberdrola Renewables leave our mountains alone, in their pristine state, and move elsewhere.

The problem since 2008 has been that residents of the unincorporated townships have had no voice in decisions made regarding industrial wind development. Why should we be treated differently from those citizens living in towns?

Linda Miller

Lexington Township