Spanish multi-national Iberdrola unveiled a slimmer version of the Jordanville Wind Project before a packed town-hall meeting Monday, Nov. 10. It was unclear, though, if anyone has changed his or her mind on an issue that divided the townspeople of Warren and Stark, where the wind project is planned, and Herkimer from Otsego counties; the northern county gets the benefits, and two counties share the impacts.

"We had been all over the world looking for some place to live and we left our heart here in the Finger Lakes and this is where we came back to. We absolutely loved it here...until...we knew about the wind project," Judi Hall said. The back and forth over First Wind's bid to build wind turbines ended with the company's success. Champions of the project like Tom Casey, who sits on the town/village planning board, say the project puts Cohocton on the cutting edge of new energy and helps the economy.

Between the noise issues and the unpleasant lighting effects, some residents have packed up and left town. Salamone's daughter, who formerly lived with her family in another Davis Road residence, is among them. ...An Iberdrola company spokesperson contacted late last week did not respond with a comment prior to press time.

The Fallsburg Planning Board will consider granting a special permit to Sullivan County Community College to build a 250-foot tall wind turbine, despite vocal opposition at a public hearing last week. ...Two models are being considered for the propeller turbine, which would be built about 150 feet behind the main campus building, above the geothermal field. One proposed model has three blades, the other has two. Because the two-bladed turbine would be slightly louder, engineers cited its noise levels. The center of the blades would record a decibel level of 99, on par with a chainsaw or subway.

Several Cohocton town residents want to know why they have to call wind developer First Wind to complain about noise from wind turbines instead of town officials. ...According to Joe Bob, one of the town's code enforcement officers, the town's wind law specifies exactly how much noise can be made at a certain range. ...Graham said he thinks he was lied to when First Wind, then called UPC Wind, offered to place turbines on his property.

Members of the Planning Board said they were surprised at their meeting Monday when they were informed that the town of Richfield had recently issued a building permit to a couple who purchased an 8-acre tract adjacent to the land where the wind farm would go.