Town Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck began the wind law committee's meeting on Thursday afternoon by clearing up some mistakes and misconceptions about the draft amendment to the zoning law. "No one was ever interested in it being in anywhere but the agricultural-residential district," he said. To that end, the committee agreed to add a setback from the riverfront and lakefront district boundaries of one and a half times the height of the turbine.

Suburban DeWitt is the latest town to grapple with how to handle wind turbines. The planning board is proposing an ordinance that would ban from residential properties the tall, bladed turbines most typically in use, chair Michael Lazar said. But the ordinance would allow another, less common type of wind conversion generator - a vertical axis wind turbine, he said. Typical wind turbines or windmills would be permitted only on land zoned for industrial or high-tech use, Lazar said.

The state Public Service Commission has deemed NYRI's application complete and scheduled public hearings, including one in Oneonta in October, on the proposed 400,000-watt power line. Introduced about 21/2 years ago by New York Regional Interconnect Inc., the proposed direct-current line would run about 190 miles, from Marcy in Oneida County to New Windsor in Orange County.

Stark town officials said they have been paying close attention to these potential conflicts of interest and have followed legal advice to make sure they haven't done anything wrong. But officials from the Otsego 2000 residents group have sent a letter to the state Attorney General's Office asking for an investigation into the practices of the developer of the project - Iberdrola Renewables, Otsego 2000 interim Executive Director Nicole Dillingham said. Iberdrola Renewables is moving forward with a plan for a project that would include 40 wind turbines in southern Herkimer County, Communications Manager Paul Copleman said.

St. Lawrence Wind Farm developer Acciona has shrunk its proposal from 96 turbines to 53. Acciona showed off the new maps for the wind power development at a public forum at the village fire hall Thursday afternoon and evening. Project manager Pete Zedick said the winnowing was a result of the environmental studies and feedback from its draft environmental impact statements. "We've done a lot of work to comply with the requirements of the town and take environmental and land constraints into account," he said.

[T]he Town Board on Monday unanimously passed a revised version on its second attempt. The Town Board had passed the proposal back to the Planning Board in June following a public hearing during which residents aired objections. Along with outdated technical language, windmill owner and Zoning Board of Appeals member Mark Thorn found the proposed tower height too low. He also said a setbacks of 1.5 times the height of a tower would make it hard to put windmills on smaller properties, thereby discouraging their use.

A court victory for wind farm advocates in the town of Lyme has apparently come too late to save a proposed wind farm project. British Petroleum Alternative Energy, which had hoped to build turbines in the town, halted plans after council members passed a zoning law that BP found to be too restrictive. ...While the case was being decided in state supreme court, BP went ahead with its plans to build 95 turbines in the town of Cape Vincent.

The Town of Volney has followed suit with other central New York municipalities in establishing regulations for residential wind energy systems. The town board adopted a local law regulating private windmills during its meeting last week. "We felt it was important that if people started to get interested in residential wind mills that there be at least some regulations in place to give them some guidelines," said board member Kevin Connelly.

A state Supreme Court judge has ruled the Lyme Town Council acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when it rejected 10 property owners' petition protesting the adoption of a local law regulating the siting of wind turbines. Judge Hugh A. Gilbert also declared Thursday the town law adopted May 6, which, among other things, required a minimum setback of 4,500 feet from the high-water marks of Lake Ontario and the Chaumont River, is invalid.

The town released the preliminary zoning law amendment for wind energy facilities this week. Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck said Wednesday that the committee appointed by the board has not yet found a date to meet. ...The setbacks proposed in the law are farther than those in some Jefferson County towns, but less than those in others.

Interviews with architects, engineers and energy experts on Wednesday suggest that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's proposal to place wind turbines atop the city's skyscrapers and bridges, as well as off the coastline of Queens and Brooklyn, would be complicated and expensive and barely begin to meet the growth in demand for electricity that is expected in the coming years. ...Even if Mr. Bloomberg could find investors willing to build turbines capable of generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity, experts said, operators of the city's grid would be able to count on only 100 megawatts, or less than 1 percent of peak demand.

After an hour-long public hearing on Thursday, Aug. 14, the Spafford town board unanimously approved a local law approving the erection of residential windmills. Residents filled the Spafford Town Hall meeting room to speak their minds on the town's proposed regulation, a law that had already seen some revision. Many of those in attendance were in favor of the law. "Windmills seem to have generated a lot of public interest," said Supervisor Webb Stevens at the beginning of the public hearing.

ZONING CHANGES: Residents pushing to restrict wind farm development plans Residents continue to push for tighter restrictions on wind turbine placement through amendments to the town's zoning law. First, the town may add 250 feet to the setbacks from residences for wind turbines after a positive public hearing before the Town Council on Thursday night. "There was no objection to anything," Supervisor Donna J. Chatterton said Friday.

Significant changes to the proposed New Grange Wind Farm's transmission line location plans require a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Study be prepared. The Arkwright Town Board learned Monday about the supplemental report ...''Based on this review, New Grange has indicated additional information will be developed to augment studies as required, based on comments received from various involved New York state agencies,'' Adams said. ''These agencies include Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Public Service and Department of Agriculture and Markets.''

Farmers from the prime agricultural land in the town want the zoning law amended so any new electric transmission lines, such as the proposed line from the Galloo Island Wind Farm, must be below ground. ...They presented a zoning law amendment to the Town Council at its meeting Thursday night. Mr. Davis consulted with attorney Mark G. Gebo on the law. Mr. Gebo helped the town of Lyme draft its zoning law on wind power development. The Lyme law includes a similar provision. The Ellisburg proposal would require transmission lines above 125 kilovolts to be placed underground.

More than three dozen Hamlin residents are suing the town over a new law regulating the development of wind farms. The Hamlin Preservation Group and 39 town residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday in state Supreme Court against the law, claiming it will allow electricity-generating wind turbines that will ruin Hamlin's rural nature and environment. The Hamlin Town Board unanimously approved the law at a contentious meeting April 24. One board member abstained because he had signed a lease agreement with a wind energy firm.

Hamlin residents who oppose a new town law regulating the development of wind farms have sued the town. The Hamlin Preservation Group and 39 town residents filed a lawsuit Tuesday in state Supreme Court against the law, claiming it will ruin Hamlin's rural nature and environment. The Hamlin Town Board unanimously approved the law at a contentious meeting April 24.

Will Hartsville town officials be able to negotiate a good compensation package from wind developers? That's the question Hartsville town Supervisor Steve Dombert has, and he wants a second opinion. Dombert said at Wednesday night's board meeting the town needs to find out what its bargaining position with German wind developer E.On is. To do so, he proposed sending the town's 2006 wind law to Gary Abraham, an Olean area-based environmental attorney, who has experience with environmental groups and wind companies.

Spafford Supervisor Webb Stevens said the town's new windmill law is about getting control of the size of windmills built in the town. The town board voted 5-0 Thursday to pass a local law that will allow residents to construct windmills that are no more than 60 feet tall. The vote came after a public hearing on the law attended by more than 60 people at Spafford Town Hall. Some residents are concerned the law will eventually lead to wind farms with windmills 260 feet or taller. They asked for a moratorium to further study noise and other effects of windmills, but Stevens said a moratorium "only delays the inevitable."

People in the Town of Ithaca can now put windmills on their property as long as they're not too loud. The Ithaca Town board passed a law Monday night allowing people to put small wind facilities on their land as long as they don't exceed a maximum of 55 decibels of noise. The law was considered at previous meetings.