Fire and wind key in Enfield elections

ENFIELD - Former Republican town supervisor and councilman Gary Fisher is back in Enfield politics, this time running for supervisor against the Democratic candidate Frank Podufalski. This year the hot topics are fire and wind.

John Rancich's proposed wind farm and set-back requirements have become issues of public interest at several town board and planning board meetings, and contract negotiations between the town board and the Enfield Volunteer Fire Company that stalled last year are under way again.

Current supervisor Jean Owens is not seeking re-election, and the next supervisor will have to negotiate with the fire company if the contract negotiation goes into 2008, which it likely will.

Owens said that at a meeting between the town board and fire company the fire company's lawyer said he was advising his clients not to negotiate with the town board until after the election.

Podufalski, a retired postal worker who was once postmaster in Newfield and supervisor in Ithaca, said his employment experience negotiating contracts will help him work through negotiations with the fire company.

"I think the most important thing is fire," he said. "That's going to be one of the first issues I'm going to have to address. If that's not settled, something is going to have to be done to make sure we have continuity in fire protection and emergency services. I don't want to see a lapse in service like we were forced to possibly have last fall."

Podufalski added that he will be willing to sit down and negotiate with the fire company and will take a close look at a fire district - an idea that sprouted in the wake of the fire contract but never made it to public hearing.

Fisher thinks problems with negotiations this year stem from a lack of leadership, he said, and his hope is that fire contract negotiations are taken care of before budget season.

"My whole feeling is that you've got to begin earlier negotiations with these contracts," Fisher said. "(We) need to have it done by the time the budgeting process begins."

Fisher said he thinks attorneys need to keep out of negotiations because it "complicates the matter and doesn't expedite the process."

Fisher added that he's happy to have attorneys review contracts once they're agreed upon but said any involvement before that "muddies the water."

The wind debate in Enfield has primarily centered on the distance wind towers are set back from property lines.

"I don't think it's proper to have windmills right on property lines," Fisher said. "I think there should be sufficient set backs for safety reasons."

Rancich's biggest concern with set-back regulations from property lines is that when property lines butt into one another, a neighbor could keep a property owner from having a wind farm.

When asked about windmill set backs, Podufalski said he'd put one in his backyard, which answers the question some concerned residents have asked officials at public meetings: Would you put one in your backyard?

"The price of oil was skyrocketing this morning," Podufalski said. "It's supposed to be more than $100 per barrel by the end of the year. That, to me, says we need to look very seriously at other forms of energy."

He added he would have to weigh all the pros and cons before making any decisions on wind energy but said he sees more good than bad from them at this point.

Fisher said he doesn't think it's the town's responsibility to run a wind farm and does not see a reason for it.

Fisher, who runs a family farm in Enfield, said he sees the supervisor position as similar to being a chief financial officer because of the need to be fiscally responsible.

tashmore@ithacajournal.com