Monroe anti-turbine vote falls short of a majority

Twelve of 29 Monroe County legislators signed on to an advisory resolution opposing the local construction of offshore wind turbines in Lake Ontario, leaving the resolution's author three short of a majority.

All 12 county lawmakers who endorsed the non-binding resolution were Republicans. None of the legislature's 13 Democrats signed the resolution, which was offered by Rick Antelli, a Republican who represents shoreline neighborhoods in Greece.

Lawmakers in Wayne, Oswego, Jefferson and Chautauqua counties have voted by wide margins to oppose the plan by the New York Power Authority to locate one or more wind farms in the near-shore waters of Lake Ontario or Lake Erie. The Niagara County Legislature endorsed the power authority proposal last year, but recently named a panel to revisit that decision.

Unlike those counties, Monroe's legislature did not hold a public discussion or public vote. Instead, they used a more informal process in which Antelli submitted a resolution of opposition to his colleagues for their possible signature. His resolution was filed in mid-July; it took until today for legislative officials to come up with a final tally of who signed and who didn't.

Antelli said strong opposition to the project by his constituents prompted him to submit the resolution, which refers only to the construction of turbines off the Monroe County shoreline.

The power authority is reviewing five proposals from private wind-energy developers, though officials will not say anything about where those developers want to build their turbines.

The shoreline from the town Greece eastward to the Wayne County town of Ontario was one zone identified by the authority as technically suitable for offshore turbines.