Enfield Town Board member Rob Harvey has a great idea regarding wind-farm legislation in Tompkins County. Recently he said the towns should get together to discuss a uniform wind-farm law that could be used in each municipality.

Harvey's suggestion should become an action item for each level of municipal government in Tompkins County - towns, villages and the City of Ithaca included.

Harvey made his suggestion after it was revealed Enfield's town attorney has authored a memo that spells out several concerns about the proposed developer's agreement John Rancich submitted to the town this month. Rancich wants to build 12 wind turbines off of Black Oak Road on Connecticut Hill in Enfield. Some of the revenue generated from the project, at least $35,000 or 10 percent of the revenue, whichever is greater, would be paid to the town. While there are possible procedural problems related to the latest delay in Enfield, other details of the proposed wind farm, including how far the turbines should be set back from property lines, have also caused delays in the past.

Enfield is not the only town dealing with the many details related to wind turbines. Recently the Town of Ithaca temporarily shelved a law that would allow residential-scale wind energy facilities. That delay was caused after residents requested that the board reduce the noise threshold for a wind turbine to 5 decibels. The town was originally considering a threshold of a 10-decibel limit.

As Harvey told The Journal's Tim Ashmore: "Our planning board can coordinate with other planning boards as well. The Town of Ithaca is our neighbor. The Town of Newfield is our neighbor ... I would think that our planning board and all these other planning boards ought to get together and come up with one law."

Maybe a uniform law is not the answer, but if the towns could agree on some type of boilerplate agreement, it will be easier for residents, developers and government officials to navigate the possibilities of wind energy. This uniform consensus is needed, especially since there are no state or county mandates to guide the towns as they make important decisions.