Horizon Wind Energy is in the process of installing more meteorological test towers, Arkwright Town Board members learned Monday. Horizon representative Tom Stebbins said one was being constructed on Ruttenbur Road this week and a second is planned for Center Road by the end of June. Councilwoman Linda Fairbanks asked what procedures need to be followed to notify Horizon when the wind escrow account established with Arkwright needs to be replenished. She said she did not like that a temporary stop order was issued last month because of this.

The Town Zoning Board of Appeals decided it needs more time to review the controversial Buckwheat Bridge Angoras area variance application for a 135-foot-tall wind turbine before determining what height will be allowed. ...Dr. Melamed says he needs more power than is generated by his solar panels to run his mill on a more full-time basis. He proposes to generate that power--20 kilowatts--by putting up a wind turbine with a 120-foot tower and 3 15-foot-long blades for a maximum height of 135 feet. The town zoning law will allow the windmill, but only at a height of 75 feet, which is why the doctor has applied for a variance. His application has been before the ZBA since October 2006.

A disagreement over the terms of a tax deal for a windfarm development in Prattsburgh will apparently have to be settled in court. The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency refused to change the terms of a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement Thursday for a 36-turbine project by First Wind, formerly known as UPC. Attorneys for the Prattsburgh and Naples school districts requested a renegotiation claiming the company should be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxes. ...The Prattsburgh school district is being shorted about $1 million, school attorneys claim.

The town of Cherry Valley's Citizens Committee on Renewable and Alternative Energy is sponsoring a presentation next week by town of Caroline supervisor Don Barber. Caroline town officials have put together a proposal to build a 10-turbine, 2.5 mega-watt generating facility that would be financed, owned and operated by the town. The town would issue bonds to finance the project, and once those bonds are paid off, revenue generated by the turbines could be used to reduce property taxes. ...The smaller scale would address some of the residents' concerns about the visual impact of the industrialscale turbines, Garretson said.

A two-year special-use permit was issued to Babcock & Brown Renewable Holdings of Houston to erect a meteorological tower on land off Fredonia- Stockton Road. The tower is designed to measure whether there is enough wind velocity in the area for a wind farm. A public hearing on the permit was held Wednesday night, prior to the regular meeting of the Pomfret Town Board in Town Hall. Three people attended the public hearing and no one spoke.

After discussing it for about 10 minutes, board members agreed to approve a "host community agreement" with Empire State Wind Energy LLC of Oneida to pursue a project on the Davie-DeBoover farms off County Road 6. Town Supervisor Mary Luckern, however, told board members that they would later be asked to approve a contract with the company, because it was "just an agreement" they passed Tuesday night. It would also be determined later how much money the town would receive from the project, she said.

The Town of Westfield has received a wind project SUP application from Babcock and Brown, outlining the possible areas which the company would like to set up turbines. “We filed a permit application in which we request 83 different turbine sites,” said Matt Dallas of Babcock and Brown. “However, it could be much less depending on what size turbines and which sites are approved based on the environmental impact report and many other factors, including wind speed.”

As Jefferson County, towns and school districts continue negotiations on splitting wind power development payments in lieu of taxes, towns have asked for an even larger piece of the pie than an earlier suggestion that included a host community agreement. ...According to a spreadsheet obtained by a Freedom of Information request from the Jefferson County administrator's office, the town of Clayton offered numbers in which towns would receive 47.5 percent, schools would receive 37.5 percent and the county would receive 15 percent of any tax break money.

Each group is up against the same cookie cutter" approach when a wind energy developer enters their town with a potential project, Hall says. And they're often re-inventing the wheel in their efforts. Hail is among those organizing the Citizen Power Alliance. The coalition of groups and activists aims to address the bigger, state issues involved in energy projects and policy. ...Hall said the state's pursuing the "fast track" for such projects, which would override local laws and ordinances passed by towns. We're looking for a sound environmental and energy policy on the state level," he said. "We feel the current direction does not work."

Wind farm opponents have called on Steuben County District Attorney John Tunney to investigate their wide-ranging allegations against a county agency, municipalities and individual officials. In a May 5 letter to Tunney, Cohocton Wind Watch's chief spokesman James Hall demanded an investigation into what he feels are alleged criminal actions. Those include false claims, filing false instruments, bribery of public officials, larceny and fraud. ...If Tunney decides to take action, Steuben would be the third county in the state to investigate criminal wrongdoing associated with wind farms. The Franklin County District Attorney's office is conducting a grand jury investigation into wind farm-related abuses, and Delaware County is also investigating alleged criminal activity.

Steuben County's district attorney refused to comment Wednesday on a demand from an environmental group for a criminal investigation of wind farm development in the county. Cohocton Wind Watch, a group opposed to wind farms already under construction, has called for a grand jury investigation of suspected criminal conduct by wind developers and public officials. In a May 5 letter to Steuben County District Attorney John C. Tunney, the group says "several residents and property owners of Steuben County have information of suspected criminal conduct."

A Burke official with an option to lease land to a wind-farm company lost his court battle and must answer a subpoena from a Franklin County grand jury. Town Council member David Vincent must turn over all correspondence, contracts, receipts, leases, purchase agreements, options or communications he has had concerning Noble Chateaugay Windpark, Noble Energy, Jericho Rise Windpark and Burke Wind Power. ...[Judge] Demerest said a grand jury must be given wide powers when making an inquiry. "Here, the inquiry appears to be whether or not wind-energy developers are improperly interacting with local government officials," he wrote.

Steuben County's district attorney refused to comment Wednesday on a demand from an environmental group for a criminal investigation of wind farm development in the county. Cohocton Wind Watch, a group opposed to wind farms already under construction, has called for a grand jury investigation of suspected criminal conduct by both wind developers and public officials. In a May 5 letter to Steuben County District Attorney John C. Tunney, the group says "several residents and property owners of Steuben County have information of suspected criminal conduct."

Blades have begun to turn on 121 wind turbines here and in neighboring Ellenburg, a 35-minute drive northwest of Plattsburgh. Saturday, they turned with a soft whush, whush, whush. "Whush, whush, whush, all day long, all night long - I moved here because it was so peaceful and quiet," groused Allen Barcombe as he pointed to the nearest tower, jutting up 400 feet into the sky behind his house. ...The New York turbines, in two projects developed by Noble Environmental Power, are the first of nearly 400 expected to go up in five towns on a windy plateau just south of the Canadian border. When completed, the development about 90 minutes from Burlington will represent the largest concentration of wind turbines in the eastern United States.

The Lyme Town Council approved a strict zoning law for wind development that one developer said will make industrial turbine development virtually impossible. The approval was on a 3-2 vote at a special meeting Tuesday night. Before the vote, the council received a report from the assessors that invalidated a protest petition from wind development supporters that would have required four votes for passage of the law. ...BP Alternative Energy Project Manager James H. Madden has said that the law would make BP's proposed project section in Lyme impossible.

[T]he City Council approved a payment-in-lieu-of- taxes agreement for Steel Winds II, the second phase of the wind energy development on the former Bethlehem site. The agreement covers each of the proposed 13 turbines for 15 years, beginning when each is put into place. The payment will be based on $10,000 per megawatt for the 32.5 megawatts expected to be produced. ...A significant change in the new agreement is the inclusion of the school district and Erie County in the disbursement of PILOT monies. Neither was included in the original agreement...

At the outset of the hearing, town attorney Daniel Spitzer said its purpose was to record public statements and opinions on the DEIS, which is part of the required State Environmental Quality Review process. ...Arkwright Zoning Board of Appeals chairman Fred Bretl said he read through the DEIS and has forwarded concerns he has about the project to the town. "I accept the fact that we need to address energy problems and, thinking about the future generation, I'm in favor of the project," he said. But, he noted, the project has fractured the community with some residents supporting it and others opposed to it.

[A]fter they had brought a house in Depauville, they found out about the proposed Horse Creek Wind Project. They and their doctor believe that the turbines will produce similar low-frequency noises and those noises will interfere with his defibrillator. ...The low frequency noise range of these wind turbines could interfere with the proper functioning of Mr. Wilkie’s AIC defibrillator leading to shutting down of the device,” Carroll L. Moody, Mr. Wilkie’s cardiologist, wrote in a visit report. The plans for the development show one turbine within a half mile and nine within 1 ½ miles. In six months Mr. Wilkie had lived up here, he had not had an incident, his wife said. But 12 hours after he returned to Florida in March to finish moving and visit his doctor he collapsed. A second collapse led to a five-day hospital stay.

When commercial wind turbines were first proposed in Brad Jones' hometown of Italy, N.Y., he thought it was a good thing. ...Semi-retired, he began to spend close to 40 hours a week researching its potential effects. Others in his community joined in and they began networking with residents in areas facing the same issue with the Citizens Power Alliance. What they uncovered made them feel quite differently about the 400-plus-foot turbines, Jones said.

The Port of Ogdensburg could see many more wind turbine shipments in the years ahead with the number of wind projects being planned in the north country. An obstacle for the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority to overcome first is finding a solution to straightening out Paterson Street near routes 37 and 68. The sharp curves in the street don't make it ideal for trucks hauling wind blades spanning nearly 150 feet to access it. ... The first shipment of wind turbine parts for the Wolfe Island project unloaded Saturday at the port could be the catalyst for landing more shipments, especially with possible wind farms in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, OBPA officials said.