Road work for the proposed High Sheldon Wind Farm will start in late June or early July, an Invenergy representative said Tuesday.

Surveyors and boundary crews have begun preparations for the project that will install 75 electricity-producing wind turbines in the town, said Director of Project Development Eric Miller.

"The project's moving ahead," he said. "We've directed GE to start shipping turbines."

The turbines are scheduled to arrive in September, Miller said. They'll be delivered at a rate of eight per week.

Work on an electrical substation may start a little before the planned road work, he said. The wind farm will generation up to 129 megawatts annually, which is enough to power 60,000 homes.

Councilman Glenn Cramer questioned Miller briefly about the status of a lawsuit filed by six town residents, seeking to nullify special use permits and variances for the project. They had been approved by the Town Board and Zoning Board of Appeals.

Courts have so far upheld the legality of the town's position. But Cramer said he'd heard Invenergy had offered the plaintiffs $75,000 to settle.

"That's a private litigation matter, Mr. Cramer," Miller said. "We don't discuss that in public."

Cramer said the information had been "made public" to him, but Miller again responded he couldn't discuss litigation in public, although he offered to talk about it with Cramer later.

Miller declined to comment on the issue after the meeting.

Arthur J. Giacalone, the plaintiffs' attorney, confirmed this morning that Invenergy had offered the plaintiffs a total of $70,000 to settle. He said his clients had refused the offer, which would have amounted to $14,000 for each of their properties, in return for dropping the appeal.

They intend to appeal the lawsuit's Sept. 19 dismissal in the State Supreme Court in Buffalo. Giacalone said the oral arguments may be heard this coming September.

In other action:

A public hearing to discuss an amendment to the town's windmill law has been set for May 20 at the Town Hall.

The amendment is designed to clarify the law where variances are concerned, said Supervisor John Knab. It would make clear that the Town Board has the authority to approve setback variances, with other variances being delegated to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Both the Town Board and ZBA approved variances for the High Sheldon Wind Farm last year. That became an issue in the lawsuit, which argued both entities lacked such authority for various portions of the project.

Cramer asked if the amendment admits the town was wrong on the issue. Knab said the proposed issue is just a clarification.

"I guess this is something we should have done right in the beginning," Cramer said.

The proposed amendment itself may delay the lawsuit appeal, Giacalone said this morning. He said he needs to see if it's an attempt to "moot out" the plaintiffs' arguments.

"My planning was to have this lawsuit filed by May 1," he said.