BATH - A three-member subcommittee of the Bath town board will begin a review of other municipalities' laws regarding the siting of wind turbines in preparation for the drafting of a local law regulating wind farm developments.

Town Councilwoman Robin Lattimer will direct the committee, joined by James Emo, chairman of the town's planning board; and Mitchellsville resident James Arthur.

Lattimer last month noted wind turbine technology is improving, thereby increasing the odds a wind farm developer may someday be attracted to the Bath area. To date, wind patterns in the town have not distinguished it as a candidate for wind turbine developments.

Board members took no action in connection with Lattimer's committee, although town Supervisor Fred Muller raised the possibility of a local moratorium on wind farms while the committee investigates land use regulations.

"The one time we could've had a moratorium, we didn't and it came back to haunt us," Muller said, referring to the construction of an adult products store on Worth Road.

Rumors of such a store preceded its opening by months, and Muller indicated he believed a moratorium could have been effective.

"I don't know that it's necessary to throw up a moratorium," Lattimer responded.

Separately, Bath town resident Hal Bailey told board members he had visited several wind turbine sites in Cohocton during windy conditions. "I could hear the wind blowing, but I couldn't hear the windmill," Bailey said.

The Cohocton wind turbines have been the source of several noise-related complaints by Cohocton residents. Bailey, however, said he stood directly under one of the turbines and didn't think the noise was troublesome. "It didn't seem to me the noise was a problem with them," he told board members.

Lattimer said setback requirements would likely be a principal feature of any local land use regulation for the siting of wind turbines. However, she added, the subcommittee would take its time researching the issue. "We're not going to rush into it," she said.