S.T.A.R.T.

Chaumont - State appellate judges sided Wednesday with a lower court in determining that 10 lyme town residents presented a valid petition last year to require a supermajority to pass a wind energy facilty law.
The petition was signed by residents who thought the town zoning law had “excessive” setback requirements that stifled development of wind power. But the board rejected it after concluding the signers did not represent 20 percent or more of the total acreage in the town.
State Supreme Court Judge Hugh A. Gilbert disagreed with the boards contention that two signatures on a jointly owned parcel were required to include that acreage.
“We believe that it is sufficient for only one spouse to sign the petition,” Appellate Judge John V. Centra wrote in affirmation of Mr. Gilberts decision.
The board passed its zoning law by a 3-2 vote. The court has invalidated that action, saying the residents petition triggers a four vote requirement to pass the law.
(I had suggested a petition at the last meeting of START at the firehall. You were going to send it out by mail to all the START members and leaseholders but I never recieved it. I believe from looking at the map at the firehall we should have at least 20 percent of total acreage in the town owned by lease signers. My question can we submit the signatures on wind leases to the town board and can the leases be used like a petition (ask gary to find out from a lawyer). Next we would need to find the total acreage of the lease holders (ask gary for acreage totals) and the total acreage of the town of Machias to see if its above 20 percent. Im hoping that would take care of the setback issue..Ive been studying it for weeks. I feel its our only hope with that.
Im trying to work on the DB issue with sound..I might be on to something with that to..Ive been working on that everynight. If I have something I will message it or bring it to the next meeting.
Scott Anderson
anderscot5@yahoo.com

ANYBODY READ THE NEWS EVERYBODY’S COLUMN RECENTLY REGARDING THE WIND TURBINE INDUSTRY? IT SEEMS THAT THE WRITER WANTS YOU TO BELIEVE THE DR. NINA PIERPONT STUDY BUT, I BELIEVE THAT IT ONLY INCLUDED 10 FAMILIES. THAT DOESN’T SOUND LIKE MUCH OF A STUDY. ALSO, I BELIEVE TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES IS TO SHOW THAT IF THE 6000 TURBINES THAT WERE BUILT IN DENMARK WEREN’T THERE THAT THEY WOULD BE BURNING MUCH MORE COAL THAN THE SAME AMOUNT AS IN 1999. ANOTHER REASON FOR AN INFORMED PERSON. NUMBERS CAN INDEED BE USED TO REPRESENT MOST ANY THING.

sponsored guest are welcome to attend a maximum of 2 meeting before submitting a application for membership.Membership applications may be submetted @ a START  meeting or mailed to START  @ P.O.Box  432,Machias N.Y.14101.A completed and approved application is necessary for a individual to attend a third and all future START meetings

On June 1st and 2nd, START will be hosting an open meeting with guests from the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA). This meeting will be focusing on the role the CCIDA may have in wind projects in our county. Please click here for more details.

June 1st- Machias Fire Hall, Route 16, Machias, NY 6:30-8:30pm
June 2nd-Pioneer Middle School, 12132 Old Olean Rd, Yorkshire, NY 6:30-8:30pm

Congratulations to the following members of START who have been named as officers:

Co-Chairperson: Brian Rieman
Co-Chairperson: John Noto
Secretary: Pat Sherwood
Treasurer: Phil Andreozzi
Membership Coordinator: 
Media/Data Coodinator: Patti Jankowski

We also finalized the groups By-laws and membership requirements and application.  Click on link at top of page to view.

Setbacks are often hard to conceptualize.  Rich Gerlach provided us with some interesting numbers that may help us all to understand the proposed setback distances.

Distance from the front of the Machias Fire Hall to Route 16: 350 feet

Distance from the fire truck hall to Route 16: 400 feet

The setback proposed from a residence to a turbine is almost 3 times (!!) the distance from the fire hall to Route 16.  This may be an excellent point to make if you address setbacks at the public hearing.

As we discussed at our meeting on Monday, we thought it would be a great idea to have an outline of what we were going to say to the board at the public hearing on Monday, March 9th.  We think that is important to follow this guideline to show unified support from as many landowners as possible.

Outline

1) State your name

2) Where you own land

3) How you use your property, i.e. full time resident, vacation property, etc.

4) State that you are a supporter of wind development, large and small scale.  You can mention that you are a member of START.

5) State other comments that are of specific concern to you.

Feel free to comment on this!

– The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) recently observed a milestone in the expansion of wind power generation in New York. At 6:00 pm on February 19, 2009, the combined total output of all wind plants in New York reached 1,000 megawatts (MW)….

Click here to continue reading.

 Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, 2009, 7pm at the Machias Fire Hall. 

Please bring a small snack to the next meeting to share.  If you cannot, THAT’S OKAY!!  Come anyway and enjoy!

If you know a supporter of renewable energy technologies you may bring them as a guest.