logo
Article

Richfield board, energy firm reach agreement on wind farm

The Daily Star|Joe Mahoney|January 24, 2012
New YorkGeneral

The only obstacle to the project at this point is a lawsuit filed by 34 residents who claim the town planning board improperly issued a special use permit to Ridgeline. That case has been assigned to state Court of Claims Judge Donald Cerio of Madison County. A hearing is expected to be held March 16, said Larry Frigault, one of the citizens battling against the wind farm.


RICHFIELD SPRINGS -- A six-turbine wind farm proposed for the town of Richfield got a boost when the town board entered into a host agreement with the developers -- although opponents are vowing to stop the project in court.

"We were very pleased that Richfield's elected representatives have spoken and passed a very strong community-host agreement," said Owen Grant, the project manager for Ridgeline Energy of Albany, the firm that hopes to switch on the 18.4-megawatt wind farm later this year.

Newly elected Richfield Town Supervisor Francis Enjem said the host agreement was approved 3-2 this week after a spirited debate.

"I wanted to find out more about the project before they went through with it," said Enjem, who voted against …

... more [truncated due to possible copyright]

RICHFIELD SPRINGS -- A six-turbine wind farm proposed for the town of Richfield got a boost when the town board entered into a host agreement with the developers -- although opponents are vowing to stop the project in court.

"We were very pleased that Richfield's elected representatives have spoken and passed a very strong community-host agreement," said Owen Grant, the project manager for Ridgeline Energy of Albany, the firm that hopes to switch on the 18.4-megawatt wind farm later this year.

Newly elected Richfield Town Supervisor Francis Enjem said the host agreement was approved 3-2 this week after a spirited debate.

"I wanted to find out more about the project before they went through with it," said Enjem, who voted against approving the agreement.

Backing the project -- dubbed "Monticello Hills" by Ridgeline -- were town board members Mary Margaret Snyder, Bonnie Domion and Laurie Bond. Robert Seamon joined Enjem in opposition.

Under the agreement, Grant said his company will pay for an independent engineer to advise the town on the projected costs of decommissioning the wind farm.

It also assures the company will pick up the tab for ongoing environmental monitoring. The towering turbine will be located on both sides of U.S. Route 20.

"It really provides robust protections for the town," he said.

The only obstacle to the project at this point is a lawsuit filed by 34 residents who claim the town planning board improperly issued a special use permit to Ridgeline.

That case has been assigned to state Court of Claims Judge Donald Cerio of Madison County. A hearing is expected to be held March 16, said Larry Frigault, one of the citizens battling against the wind farm.

"We were shocked that the town board approved the host agreement, knowing the permit was in jeopardy," Frigault said.


Source:http://thedailystar.com/local…

Share this post
Follow Us
RSS:XMLAtomJSON
Donate
Donate
Stay Updated

We respect your privacy and never share your contact information. | LEGAL NOTICES

Contact Us

WindAction.org
Lisa Linowes, Executive Director
phone: 603.838.6588

Email contact

General Copyright Statement: Most of the sourced material posted to WindAction.org is posted according to the Fair Use doctrine of copyright law for non-commercial news reporting, education and discussion purposes. Some articles we only show excerpts, and provide links to the original published material. Any article will be removed by request from copyright owner, please send takedown requests to: info@windaction.org

© 2024 INDUSTRIAL WIND ACTION GROUP CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WEBSITE GENEROUSLY DONATED BY PARKERHILL TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION