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Editor:

As a resident of the Town of Barre community, and former Town Board Member, I have been trying to keep informed about the Heritage Wind project for our family and for our neighbors.

In reviewing the daunting modified application, I learned that my home is one of the non-participating receptors that will potentially be receiving above the 30 hours of shadow flicker and possibly up to 100 hours according to the Heritage Wind Shadow Flicker report.

We are located at Heritage Wind identified receptor 327 Tax parcel 107.-1-12.1. The report states that we could have a maximum of 1 hour and 9 minutes of shadow flicker at our home for 131 days of the year for a total of 114:05 hours “worse case scenario.”

I know that there are 52 of my non-participating “receptors” (aka people) that are predicted even after taking all other considerations into place in phase II and 43 even after taking into account passed wind speeds etc. that are predicted by Heritage Wind to receive over 30 hours of shadow flicker.

I would like to just note that the local ordinance for the Town of Barre states a maximum of 25 hours of shadow flicker, and the states has already deemed that to be unduly burdensome and overruled to a maximum of 30 hours. With this significant, and I believe major modification, that is being proposed by Heritage Wind, more people, myself and my neighbors will be negatively impacted.

My husband and I understand that the applicant is saying that there will be new technology, shadow flicker detection software in the wind turbines. However, this use of technology leads to many more questions, especially because of the significant number of homes, residents, receptors that will be impacted. Questions like:

• How does this shadow flicker detection software work on homes or buildings that are receiving flicker from multiple turbines?
• Where will the light sensors be located?
• How will the light sensors be maintained and ensure proper function?
• In the winter will snow cover deem them useless?
• How long has this technology been used? How has this technology been proven to be effective and actually work as they suggest?
• Where else in New York State is this sort of technology being relied on so heavily?
• Where else in the United States is this technology being used?
• Where is the supporting documentation for the effectiveness of this technology?
• What happens if a light sensor is not working and shadow flicker is greater than 30 hours annually? How will a resident be able to ensure that they, their property, their quality of life is protected?
• Majority of Appendix F is redacted and does not provide any proof of operation, how can this be relied upon? And why is this critical public health information being withheld from the public in the first place?

Table 4 is alarming because it shows some homes will receive over 3 times the maximum shadow flicker at their property with the other considerations already taken into place. For the 42 receptors listed in table 4 on average there are 22.5 hours over the annual maximum per receptor. The applicant’s “conservative assumptions”, still show a significant and major 967 hours of shadow flicker for residents that are non-participating of Barre that will need to be monitored with unproven technology.

The information above seems eerily similar to the information that the applicant (Heritage Wind) presented in regard to the proximity to the Iroquois wildlife refuge. In public comment #31 David Stillwell, Field Supervisor for the United States Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Services stated the following:

“We believe that the closer the turbines are to these unique biological habitats, the greater the impact is to species which frequent them. We recommend ORES deny the draft permit for the project and direct Heritage to design a project with less risk to wildlife.”

In response, ORES required the elimination or relocation of a handful of turbines. My question for ORES is, shouldn’t health risks to actual people require the same response? Does our health matter, or is ORES only concerned about impacts to birds? Does New York State’s energy policy demand that we be driven from our homes by incessant flashing light lasting over an hour a day, for a significant portion of the year!

Through the proceeding of this case, the applicant argued for unproven technology to be used to evaluate the impact of the industrial wind turbines on the unique biological habitats of the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge, and ORES ruled that this was not practicable and that those turbines would need to be removed or much more stringent environmental monitoring would occur.

As the unique biological habitats that are being more drastically and negatively impacted because of this new redesign are my neighbors, their children, their families, I ask you that you please protect them, as you did for the migratory birds and inhabitants of the Iroquois Wildlife Refuge.

Our residence is our home, our place of rest, and where we are raising and homeschooling our 4 children. The timing of the anticipated shadow flicker for homes that would need to be monitored by the sensors and everyone else is in the morning and evening, important gathering and activity time for our young family. These are times we often try to be outside enjoying the wonderful rural property that we have chosen to invest in.

We ask that ORES please maintain that the applicant has to keep the design of the project to have shadow flickers under the 30 hour maximum for non-participating receptors. This requirement was/ is a known requirement, and the modification of the project should meet this requirement; without the use of unproven technology.

Should the developer want to add this technology as a secondary measure to ensure that all non-participating receptors do not receive over the 30-hour maximum of shadow flicker, that could be beneficial. However, to use this unproven technology to ensure the maximum shadow flicker is not exceeded puts many Barre families like us at risk. What are our options if this latest technology goes awry? You are talking about our home, our biggest investment, and where we are schooling and raising our children.

We recommend ORES deem the modifications to be a major modification and work to ensure that the 30 hour maximum shadow flicker is maintained without the reliance on unproven technology and that Heritage Wind look to design a project within the scope of the law.

Kerri Richardson (former Barre town councilwoman)

Barre

Editor:

Is Mr. Trump acting in the interest of the United States or in the interest of Russia?

Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign accepted help from Russia. The Republican-controlled Senate investigation, (Select Committee on Intelligence on Russian Active Measures Campaign and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Elections), in 2020, determined that the Russian government disrupted an American election to benefit Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, owed a Russian oligarch millions of dollars and he shared information with Konstantin Kilimnik, identified as a Russian intelligence officer.

Mr. Trump refused to allow U.S. reporters to cover a meeting in the Oval Office in 2017 but he did allow Russian state-run media to cover the event.

In Helsinki, Finland, Mr. Trump told the world that he took the word of Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence.

Mr. Trump shared classified intelligence with Russia in the Oval Office which put a close ally of the U.S. in harm’s way.

In 2018, President Trump saluted a North Korean General, (an ally of Russia), while he refused to visit the WW l grave site of American Heroes at Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France. He called those heroes, “losers and suckers.”

Indeed, when U.S. troops were injured by an Iranian missile attack at Al Assad Air Base in Iraq, Mr. Trump dismissed those injuries as mere headaches, even though over a dozen soldiers were injured badly enough that they had to be flown to Germany for treatment. These soldiers were injured in the line of duty defending the U.S. Constitution, something Mr. Trump seems dismissive of.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars called for a Presidential apology, which never came. These are some of the ways Mr. Trump demonstrated, on a daily basis, how unfit he is to be Commander in Chief.

William Fine

Brockport

Editor:

The need today is real and Catholic Charities is, as it has been for the last century, here to meet the challenge. HOPE is central to the work we do every day. HOPE for our neighbors when they are homeless, hungry, in need or troubled. Everything starts with HOPE, thanks to the generosity and support of those who give through the annual Appeal.

Now underway through June 30, Appeal 2024, the agency’s 100th campaign, helps fund many programs and services administered by Catholic Charities along with several ministries through the Fund for the Faith.

In just the past year, nearly 1,900 neighbors of all ages, faiths or no faith throughout Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties were given HOPE by the programs and services offered by Catholic Charities. These include basic emergency assistance such as support for food and finding housing resources, working with domestic violence offenders for systemic social change, and parents who want to reduce conflict and parent effectively for their children. In Genesee and Orleans counties, our home visitation and friendly phones programs bring a sense of connectivity and quality of life to homebound seniors.

Thank you for choosing to give HOPE by supporting this year’s Appeal. Please visit ccwny.org/donation.

And if you or someone you know needs HOPE in Genesee, Orleans or Wyoming counties, call us at 585-343-0614. We have offices in Batavia, Albion and Perry.

Katelyn DiSalvo

Tri-County District Director, Catholic Charities