CHATEAUGAY - Work on two wind parks in development in Chateaugay have been suspended for the immediate future.

Both the 13-turbine Noble Chateaugay II Wind Park and Horizon Wind Energy's 53-turbine Jericho Rise project will not make any progress this year, both as a result of the unstable economy.

Horizon's Dan Fitzgerald told the Chateaugay town board at its Monday evening meeting that the company took stock of its ongoing projects and decided to give precedent to windfarms in development in the Midwest, where Fitzgerald said it can get more bang for its buck.

In Clinton County, construction of the Marble River Wind Farm had been suspended until 2010. It was originally scheduled for spring 2009 construction, he said.

No timeline has been set for construction of Jericho Rise, however Fitzgerald said he is campaigning to have both Chateaugay's park and Marble River built in 2010, with the argument that this option is more cost-effective than building them successively.

Regardless, the final form of a Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is required under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), will be completed by the end of February or beginning of March, Fitzgerald said.

The park will be constructed in both the towns of Chateaugay and the town of Bellmont.

Also at their Monday meeting, the board took action on the progress of Noble Environmental Power's Chateaugay II Wind Park by passing two resolutions.

In the first, the town of Chateaugay was granted lead agency status going forward in the development of the park. The resolution was approved after a motion and second from Council Members Art McCormick and Helen Ryan. Town Supervisor Dan Bilow abstained from the vote, and Councilman William Trombly was absent from the meeting.

A 30-day comment period has also been opened, with notice on the Chateaugay II having been filed with 17 agencies for comment within 30 days, including the state Public Service Commission (PSC), state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Franklin County Highway Department and Legislature, and Chateaugay Highway Department, among others.

At the board's next meeting, it will consider another resolution relating to Chateaugay II, this one starting the process for Noble to file a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The scoping document which usually precedes a DEIS - as per SEQRA - will not be conducted, since Chateaugay II is the third windpark the town has undertaken. It was therefore deemed unnecessary to proceed with that step, explained the town's wind attorney C. J. Madonna.

However, beyond these preliminary actions, the Chateaugay II park will likely not make any further progress this year, confirmed Noble Project Developer Andrea Dumas.

She said the company is holding back on production in response to the unsteady financial markets. Along the same lines, development of the DEIS will be suspended as well.

In a parallel move, the Chateaugay town board adopted a second resolution barring any further action regarding the Chateaugay II windpark until Noble replenishes the town's consultant account. The fund currently contains about $9,000, but the town wants that number to be $50,000 before any further work is done.

"We can't keep operating the way we've been operating," said Bilow, referring to the town's previous experience with wind developers.

Resolution 2 of 2009 was unanimously approved with no abstentions, and a motion and second from Councilmen Fred Cook and McCormick. The resolution bard both Madonna and Conestoga Rovers and Associates (CRA) - the town's consultants - from doing any further work related to Chateaugay II beyond this Friday.

Determining lead agency status and filing notice with involved agencies will conclude both parties' work until further notice.

In more encouraging news, the 71-turbine Noble Chateaugay Windpark, which was built this summer, is now producing power, according to CRA Consultant Justin Russell.

According to Russell and Madonna, 71 certificates of occupancy have been issued for each of the turbines, as has a single Certificate of Completion for the entire park.

Dumas could not comment on whether the 14-turbine Noble Bellmont Windpark - which adjoins the Chateaugay park - would be constructed this year.