Cape wind power development still stalled

Apr 15 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Nancy Madsen Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.

The town is in a waiting game again on working on wind power development.

The Planning Board did not schedule a second meeting in April to consider the supplemental draft environmental impact statement from BP Wind Energy's Cape Vincent Wind Farm. The supplemental statement was submitted. The board canceled a second meeting in March because the town's consultants had not finished reviewing the document for completeness, which still isn't done.

Chairman Richard J. Edsall repeated during the board's meeting Wednesday night that the other proposed development in the town, Acciona's St. Lawrence Wind Farm, has not submitted a site plan application yet.

"Before we consider their application, St. Lawrence Wind will need to submit a map showing who they have contracts with and who have good-neighbor agreements," he said. "I want it clear who is in the project and who isn't in the project."

Board member Richard H. Macsherry said the board should work on refining criteria to review the projects regardless.

"I still advocate for moving on that discussion as soon as possible," he said. "This has got a long way to go, and perhaps conditions beyond the Cape Vincent environs will determine the debate."

Clifford J. Schneider, Cape Vincent, gave the board five proposals for a property value assurance plan, by which the developers would guarantee property values or pay the difference if they fall because of wind power development.

He also reminded the board of a complaint resolution process that a committee of town officials agreed on as part of discussions on a wind zoning law in January 2010 that he found preferable to the one proposed by Acciona in its site plan review criteria, accepted by the board in October.

The complaint resolution language on which town officials agreed gave penalties and a process that included town officials, consultants and residents to examine the validity of complaints.

"There were penalties in effect and there was not a tribunal of wind-friendly people to review complaints," he said.

Mr. Edsall said the board isn't obliged to follow Acciona's criteria word for word. He told Mr. Schneider, who has been critical of the wind power development in the town, to find others to urge passage of a zoning law that includes elements that were considered in early 2010 and that all parties agree on.

Mr. Edsall said, "I would suggest that you try to find some people on both sides of the aisle that would ask the town board to pass a partial wind law with the pieces like the complaint resolution process and how to study sound. People all over the board agreed on that."