Burke puts 90-day hold on wind law

More than 120 people squeezed in to the Burke Town hall Thursday night to air their opinions about the town of Burke's draft of the proposed wind law, and attorney CJ Madonna proposed a moratorium on the proposed wind law as a stop-gap measure in case of any changes.

The town council voted unanimously to place the 90-day moratorium. Town councilman Jim Otis made the motion and David Vincent seconded it.

Extra chairs were brought out to accommodate, but people were still standing along the back wall when the meeting came to order. The public was then allowed to present 3-minute long comments, starting with Burke residents and moving on to out-of-towners.

Some residents were in favor of the wind turbines. For instance, Bill Wood said property taxes in Churubusco had been reduced 32 percents and then another 10 percent recently due to the wind turbines.

"Like it or not, you will all benefit from a stabilized tax rate," Wood said.
Martin Vincent, who works for Noble Power, pointed to the jobs created by the wind turbines.

"It's great to have a job here 10 miles from home," Vincent said.

Others were strongly opposed to the wind turbines. Calvin Martin of Malone read a letter from Ken Tacy's attorney, Cathi L. Radner of Miller, Mannix, Schachner and Hafner, LLL of Glen Falls. It asked that members of the board with an alleged conflict of interest in the law... [truncated due to possible copyright]  

More than 120 people squeezed in to the Burke Town hall Thursday night to air their opinions about the town of Burke's draft of the proposed wind law, and attorney CJ Madonna proposed a moratorium on the proposed wind law as a stop-gap measure in case of any changes.

The town council voted unanimously to place the 90-day moratorium. Town councilman Jim Otis made the motion and David Vincent seconded it.

Extra chairs were brought out to accommodate, but people were still standing along the back wall when the meeting came to order. The public was then allowed to present 3-minute long comments, starting with Burke residents and moving on to out-of-towners.

Some residents were in favor of the wind turbines. For instance, Bill Wood said property taxes in Churubusco had been reduced 32 percents and then another 10 percent recently due to the wind turbines.

"Like it or not, you will all benefit from a stabilized tax rate," Wood said.
Martin Vincent, who works for Noble Power, pointed to the jobs created by the wind turbines.

"It's great to have a job here 10 miles from home," Vincent said.

Others were strongly opposed to the wind turbines. Calvin Martin of Malone read a letter from Ken Tacy's attorney, Cathi L. Radner of Miller, Mannix, Schachner and Hafner, LLL of Glen Falls. It asked that members of the board with an alleged conflict of interest in the law governing wind power recuse themselves from the voting process.

Radner said that David Vincent would allegedly receive easements from Noble Power, and Arnold Lobdell would allegedly receive easements from Jericho Rise Wind Farm.

Then Radner requested that Vincent and Lobdell as well as any conflicted members of the zoning board abstain from any further votes concerning the wind energy law.

Malone town councilman Jack Sullivan read a statement from the Malone town board requesting that no wind turbines be sited within a mile of any Malone resident.

Wind Pros & Cons

Burke residents turned out in force to air their opinions about the town of Burke's draft of the proposed wind law in a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Several of the points made by both sides were met with heavy applause.

Some of the points made by people in favor of wind turbines were that they:

• create jobs
• offer clean, renewable power
• are less dangerous than nuclear power
• are less environmentally damaging than coal
• would bring money into town
• would bring farmers to make use of disused lands
• would help preserve the environment for future generations
• would help to lower the local tax rate
• and would not hurt the local bird population.

Some of the points made by people opposed to wind turbines were that:

• they would create unpleasant amounts of noise
• they could pose health risks
• they would create light flicker
• they would damage roads
• they would leave thick power cables in public view
• they would disrupt the scenic views, are ugly
  they would be costly to remove
• a law exists banning further tax credits for wind power, meaning possible abandonment of the turbines
• members deciding legislation allegedly are directly benefiting from the turbines
• they would lead to problems reselling homes and lead to lower property values.