The Holland City Council has no objections to the meteorological tower planned for Windmill Island Gardens. The council voted to send a letter to its zoning board of appeals to that effect. The board will meet later this month to discuss whether to allow the Holland Board of Public Works to erect the tower that would measure weather conditions.

After Enfield town attorney Guy Krogh expressed his concerns with wind farm developer John Rancich's developer's agreement, a second version of the agreement along with a property-value guarantee was submitted to the town two weeks ago. The developer's agreement is written up as if it's clarifying the first developer's agreement, and the housing-values guarantee lays out an offer for Rancich to sign purchasing offers at 110 percent of the market value, among other things. Krogh's opinion on the first developer's agreement was negative, and he described proposed payments to the town as a "bribe."

A proposal to regulate certain types of windmills has hit a nerve in one Onondaga County town. A week from Thursday, Spafford will hold a public hearing on the law aimed at private windmills, but it's ignited a much larger debate. It's easy to see how you could get swept up with the idea of harnessing the wind in Spafford; it's a pretty steady part of living in many areas of the town. ...The town has nothing on the books to deal with wind mills of any kind. The law under consideration is aimed more at smaller wind mills; with three applications for them in the last two months, the supervisor says they have to start somewhere to regulate wind mills.

The board was slated to vote on the law last month but tabled it for further review, primarily based on a guideline that would have allowed a 10-decibel sound increase at a neighbor's property line. Some residents said that would be too loud. The new law calls for no more than an eight-decibel increase.

The citizens organization that opposes large-scale wind power development brought an Article 78 suit in March 2007 against the ZBA, claiming it incorrectly classified industrial wind turbines as utilities. Judge Hugh A. Gilbert dismissed the petition in August, ruling the classification was correct under existing zoning law. The group appealed the decision in September to the state Appellate Division, Fourth Department, Rochester. It also made a motion to have three documents that were not part of the lower court's administrative record included in the record of appeal.

On Tuesday night, seven property owners in one Steuben County town will find out if they will lose their land to a wind turbine project. That's according to our newspaper partner, the Leader. On Tuesday at 7 p.m., the Prattsburgh Town Board is scheduled to vote on whether to move ahead with eminent domain proceedings.

A joint meeting of the Town Council and Planning Board tonight will review the draft ordinance crafted by the wind power committee. The group, composed of community residents and alternative-energy experts, has created regulations for wind farms, including setbacks, heights and locations for turbines. The meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Hammond Central School cafeteria, is open to the public. No public comment will be taken at the meeting. "I think we have a good document," said Crayton L. Buck, chairman of the town's wind power committee. "We have about 90 to 95 percent of what the county had in the ordinance. They wrote it and we crafted it to our community."

A lawsuit to stop wind development in Howard and remove town board member Bill Hatch will continue its way through court. According to court documents from the Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department of New York, the court chose not dismiss an Article 78 lawsuit Tuesday following a motion by Hatch. According to court documents provided by Arthur Giacalone, an attorney for petitioner Gerry Hedman, the court chose to continue hearing the case and will accept additional filings. Town board member Bill Hatch, who has a lease with wind developer EverPower Renewables, was unaware of the ruling when contacted this morning.

The Marble River 229-megawatt wind project in upstate New York was approved by the state utility regulator on Wednesday, said its owners, AES-Acciona Energy NY and Horizon Wind. By the time it goes into operation by the end of 2009, it will be the second-largest wind farm in the state. The 320-MW Maple Ridge project in Lewis County is the biggest in the state. The wind farm near Clinton and Ellenburg in Clinton County will have 109 wind turbines, each 2.1-MW in capacity, with some blades towering 407 feet (124 meters).

A final vote by the Prattsburgh Town Board on whether to move ahead with eminent domain proceedings is on hold for a week. The town board agreed Tuesday night to a proposal by town Councilman Steve Kula to try to iron out legal difficulties with two local school districts before voting on the eminent domain issue. The board will invite representatives from the Prattsburgh and Naples central schools, the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency, and the county to discuss their issues in executive session at 7 p.m. June 24 at the town hall.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation will hold two public hearings Tuesday to hear environmental concerns about the plan. A company called Upstate NY Power Corp. wants to build as many as 90 wind turbines on Galloo Island.

This southern Columbia County town has closed the public hearing on an application for a zoning variance that would allow construction of a 135-foot-tall wind turbine at Buckwheat Bridge Angoras. But a decision on the controversial proposal is not likely for at least another month. ...The state Department of Agriculture and Markets supports the wind turbine application, but people who live near the proposed turbine site expressed a number of concerns, including: * The structure will attract lightning. * Sun reflecting off the spinning blades will create a flickering effect in their houses. * Noise generated by the turbine will be amplified by the surrounding terrain.

Responding to concerns raised by several residents, Supervisor Fred Norton said he has checked with the County Health Department about Forestville drilling test water wells on land the village owns on Putnam and Shaw Roads in the Town of Arkwright. "The Health Department said there are two separate aquifer tables in the town and individual residents should not be affected," Norton reported to the board. He went on to tell the board the final drilling will be subject to county and state department of environmental control reviews and a public hearing. ...Horizon representative Tom Stebbins said the responses to the DEIS generated hundreds of points that need to be addressed. Some of these are just clarifications, he said, while others will require additional studies.

Less than two weeks after a Brace Road resident put up a 133-foot windmill, the Town Board held a hearing Monday on a proposed law that would have outlawed that same windmill. The windmill's owner, Mark Thorn, came armed with a Power-Point presentation to lobby against the proposed law's 100-foot height limit on windmills and other restrictions he felt would discourage wind energy. Afterward, Supervisor Dodie Huber allowed that, "we may want to give it (windmill zoning) back to the Planning Board." Planning Board Chairman Terry Wilkins added later, "We've heard from the public. We'll work as a team and make the necessary changes."

A developer's agreement was submitted to the Enfield Town Board Wednesday that, if passed, would pledge the town's support for John Rancich's proposed wind farm and allow him to move ahead with purchasing agreements. ...The town planning board is continuing to draft a law to govern the wind farm in place of the wind law that was repealed in March by the town board that took office in January. If the agreement passes, Rancich would be able to receive his wind turbines on schedule in the Fall of 2009. If the agreement is not accepted and Rancich is unable to obtain the turbines next Fall, he may have to wait up to four years for another chance to purchase turbines, Rancich's associate Steve Bauman said.

According to Jim Fodges, the acting chairman of the planning board, the board is finishing up its State Environmental Quality Review of the project and signing off on several additional agreements with EverPower Renewables, the company proposing the project. "We've got a few more points to work on," he said last week. "I think our plan is to have our findings statement ready by our next meeting." ...The board also heard that the Payment In Lieu of Taxes agreement between EverPower and the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency is almost complete.

Neighbors in the Town of Ithaca will have to wait longer for wind power turbines in their yards. The Town Board delayed a decision to allow residential wind energy facilities. At a public hearing last night, neighbors voiced their concern about noise from the windmills.

With the numerous issues that building a wind farm raises for residents, the environment is always near the top of the list. In the case of the Horse Creek Wind Farm, which would be located in the Town of Clayton and the Town of Orleans, its the reason the project is going into a temporary suspension. The plight of the Indiana Bat and how wind farms can affect them is not a new issue for other wind farms in the nation, but it has been brought into serious contention for the Town of Clayton and the state since the bats are dying off in New York and no one is sure why. ...According to the DEC, "in New York, knowledge of (the bats) distribution is limited to known wintering locations-caves and mines in which they hibernate. There are eight hibernacula currently known in Albany, Essex, Warren, Jefferson, Onondaga and Ulster Counties." Until the DEC can figure out what is happening with the bats, the Horse Creek Wind Farm project is suspended.

The Westfield Town Board has classified the proposed Ripley-Westfield Wind Farm project a Type I action under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) and declared itself co-lead agency with the Town Board of the Town of Ripley. The resolution, passed at a special meeting last Wednesday afternoon, formally commences the coordinated environmental review of the project. Babcock & Brown Renewable Holdings, Inc. submitted an application for Special Use Permit and Part I of the required Full Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) to the Towns of Westfield and Ripley on April 29th. ...A Type I action under SEQR is an action that meets or exceeds one or more impact-related thresholds contained in the SEQR regulations. Type I actions are more likely than either Type II or Unlisted actions to have a significant adverse impact on the environment.

The Charlotte Town Board wrapped up its public hearing this week on the town's proposed zoning law with plans to enact the muncipality's first zoning ordinance at the board's July 9 meeting. While there were several questions posed during the hearing, many of the 30 residents who turned out - especially those planning to take part in a proposed wind turbine energy conversion project - indicated they were "satisfied" with the zoning program. "Like a lot of us, I'm satisfied with the zoning the way it is. ... I'm here mostly to make sure there are no changes,'' Darren Carlstrom said. ...One resident indicated another concern. "Is any member of the board getting paid in connection with a windmill farm contract, or involved in (windmill) negotiations?" he asked. Duncanson said this matter had recently been "investigated" by officials. "We found there is no one on the board involved in windmill contracts or contract negotiations at this time,'' the attorney said.