Editor:

A recent writer to the Letters to the Editor in the Orleans Hub suggested we might learn more about the proposed Lighthouse Wind project if we “Attend Meetings.” All I can say in reply is “I’d love to!”

If Lighthouse Wind were to be so kind as to tell me where and when they were holding public meetings, I would be standing in line to be the first one in the door so I could get a front row seat. The truth, however, is that Lighthouse Wind holds meetings for their leaseholders and, except for one or two public meetings early in the process three to four years ago, has been unavailable to the public at large.

The Town Boards of Yates and Somerset have invited Mr. Mark Goodwin, CEO of Lighthouse Wind’s parent company, Apex Clean Energy of Virginia, to meet with them; Mr. Goodwin has not even shown the common courtesy to have acknowledged receipt to their letters of invitation.

The new project manager for Lighthouse Wind, Mr. Paul Williamson, has thus far not shown his face in public since becoming involved in the project. The truth appears to be that Lighthouse Wind does not want public discussion, does not want to hear the voices of opposition to the project, and wants to force this project down the throats of these unwilling towns through the Article 10 process which has stripped home rule from the people.

Steve Royce

Appleton

Photo by Tom Rivers: Save Ontario Shores members had a float during the Lyndonville Independence Day Parade showing their opposition to the proposed Lighthouse Wind project.

Editor:

The table below shows the results of an empirical assessment of public comments made to the DPS website in relation to the Lighthouse Wind Project as proposed for the Towns of Yates and Somerset by APEX Clean Energy.  All comments made to the DPS site regarding the Lighthouse Wind Project were included in the assessment and cover the time period from January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2018. All comments were read fully in order to ascertain position regarding the industrial wind turbine project. The positions were tabulated as in favor of or opposed to the project.

The results are as follows:

The overall results for the time-period January 2015 to June 30, 2018 are as follows:

Comments in favor of Lighthouse Wind Project =  233

Comments opposed to Lighthouse Wind Project = 1024

Percent of comments in favor of Lighthouse Wind Project = 19%

Percent of comments opposed to Lighthouse Wind Project = 81%

For over three years, the results continue to show overwhelming opposition to Apex Clean Energy’s Lighthouse Wind Project.

Overwhelming opposition…

Thank you,

John B. Riggi

Councilman, Town of Yates

Return to top

Editor:

Mr. Lauricella recently posted his concerns on the matter of immigration. It’s a serious subject requiring deliberative thought and actionable solutions. Our United States immigration policies unquestionably require considerable and comprehensive reform if they are to stand any chance of working. Given that, however, Mr. Lauricella merely retreads the same tired, worn and stereotypical opinions that have been entirely disproven over the past 150 years. That Mr. Lauricella also does not provide any support for his positions is personally disturbing.

I could offer to Mr. Lauricella that Republican President Ford  created the “Domestic Council Committee on Illegal Aliens” to study the effects of undocumented workers in the United States. The results of the study showed that immigrants were good for the economy and they gave more in taxes than they took in welfare or health care.

I could add that as a result, during the Reagan administration the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was passed. It allowed legalization of status for both undocumented people who had lived in the United States before 1982 and agricultural workers.

Mr. Lauricella may care to recall that in September of 1996, the Democrats were done with liberal Reagan reforms so the Clinton administration passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The bill intended to make deportations easier and focused on immigrants with criminal convictions. It also penalized employers who hired undocumented workers.

Mr. Lauricella is undoubtedly aware that during the Obama administration more immigrants were deported than in any other presidential administration in history. Most of those caught were within 100 miles of the border and the Obama administration required that all were finger-printed and thus had formal criminal records attached to them. This last fact may not fit neatly into Mr. Lauricella’s preconceived notion of the Leftist Democrat Socialist vote.

It’s true that immigrants use state and local resources. Quite a few native-born American’s exploit and take advantage of government programs too.  However, take a high-immigrant state, like North Carolina, and we see immigrants utilized $900-million in available state programs. On the other hand – those same immigrants paid out nearly $4-billion in state and local taxes and contributed an additional $14.2 billion in spending power.  This is data, Mr. Lauricella, not opinion.

I would add one additional and widely overlooked argument for why immigration as a whole to this country is worth keeping an open mind about.  This has to do with our national security – but not in a way you may be thinking. When national security analysis are created, the United States makes net assessments against our near-peers– specifically China and Russia – and our near-peers do the same.

When Russia and China view the United States, it is not our weapons systems, our technology or our military budget that scares them most – it is our immigrants. Russia’s population is unhealthy and declining rapidly. China’s population is aging out rapidly. When China and Russia look at the United States they see millions of mostly young people from all over the world flocking to our shores and not theirs.

Our exponential expanding manpower assisted by immigration is the one thing neither of these other countries can reproduce, reengineer or compete against and they know it. From a long-term national security viewpoint, China and Russia would consider themselves blessed to have immigration problems to concern themselves with.

Darren Wilson

Lyndonville

Return to top

Editor:

Usually, Paul Lauricella’s ultra-conservative points of view don’t bother me. However, his recent letter of July 2 crosses the line of accuracy and morality. To believe him is to assume all immigrants, undocumented or not, are living high on the hog, milking all kinds of public services at taxpayer expense. As we have learned to do with our current “president,” let us fact-check Mr. Lauricella.

My grandparents didn’t come here from Italy believing the “streets were paved with gold”, as he said. They were ready to work, despite the hardships and privations of being in a strange county and not knowing the language. And work hard they did. My grandmother kept the house and cared for the children so my grandfather could work the stone quarries, build the buildings and pave the streets with sandstone.

Regardless of what people like Mr. Lauricellla and Fox News say, there are very few taxpayer services immigrants can qualify for. Since the 1980’s, less than one percent of Medicaid goes to screening and stabilizing emergency patients regardless of citizenship status. Let me restate that; a minuscule amount of money is spent on the emergency health needs of immigrants. Who among us, besides Mr. Lauricella and Mr. Trump would turn away very sick children? This is not prenatal care or other vital treatment services. Immigrants don’t qualify for that. In this country, we don’t advocate neglecting hungry children or their education. Therefore, Congress has allocated funds for school nutrition programs, WIC nutrition, and Head Start. Mr. Collins, are you listening? Do you care?

And Mr. Lauricella, undocumented immigrants cannot vote. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to receive Social Security benefits, even though many contribute to the system.

Democrats are not “the enemy, trying to take down America.” Mr. Lauricella sees “leftists and socialists in every nook and cranny, even heads of religious institutions.” We have heard this kind of talk before. Read your history of Nazi Germany and the McCarthy era in 1950’s America. Cynicism designed to divide our country and scapegoat the helpless.

I don’t know any of Mr. Lauricella’s “leftists, communists and socialists.” But I do know the difference between Democrats and Conservatives. The former is the party of “US.” The latter is the party of “ME.”

Lies and paranoia will not serve our country well. Christian values of charity, mercy and benevolence will. When you see an immigrant child and their hard working parents, ask yourself a question that Charles Dickens asked; “Are they not of the human race?”

Al Capurso

Gaines

Editor:

I am writing to refute some statements by the Town of Somerset Supervisor Dan Engert in an interview recently. Dan said that the Town of Somerset is “fully supportive of spending whatever money is necessary to defend their interests and defend the health and property values” of our Town.  He said that 70 percent of the town’s residents are opposed to windmills and that over 60 turbines will be erected.

Our town is not fully supportive of opposing windmills. And there will not be 60 turbines. In truth, no more than 50 is the number planned at this time. In truth, there are over 100 contracts signed so there are over 100 signers plus their families who support this project in the total project area of Somerset and Yates.

Over 10,000 acres are signed up with more being signed periodically each month. In truth, we still don’t know what 44 percent of the people who received the survey from a couple years ago think about the project (they never returned it) so it’s impossible that 70 percent of our residents oppose it.

I am concerned about the reporting of inaccurate and incomplete information concerning this project. One thing that is truth, is the amount of our tax dollars being spent to oppose the only major development to come to our town in years. Now our county is spending more of our dollars to prevent it. Somerset alone has spent $260,000 since 2015. Another $250,000 from the Town of Somerset and Yates, plus another $15,000 from Niagara County, is planned for the upcoming year alone!

This is not insignificant and this information should be known by every family in our towns. All to prevent economic development in our town and work opportunities for local businesses, that would equal several million dollars over the next many years.

What’s the plan here when the coal plant completely disappears from the revenue stream?  What’s the plan when people begin to leave our town because our taxes continue to increase and the benefit of living here away from jobs and stores, continues to disappear? What’s the plan for a school whose enrollment is declining rapidly and multiple classrooms are empty?  What’s the plan for empty storefronts?

The only positive I see in our town, other than the prospect for wind turbines and all they can bring to a community, is that multiple houses have gone up for sale recently and have sold very quickly, leaving me to believe that people are not being scared away, as some would have you believe, because of the probability of wind turbines in the Town.

Please ask questions and research. There is a new project manager in town. Talk with him. Attend meetings. Somerset needs an infusion of positive energy and development. This is our opportunity.

Susan P. Atwater

Town of Somerset

Editor:

I listen to these “Pro Invasion” proponents harkening back to when their ancestors came here, how great it made the country. The one thing that they leave out is that those people had no safety net. No welcome to America we are setting you up in a hotel and gas station chain or putting you and your entire family on welfare, food stamps, housing, Medicaid, and every other freebie that the working man has to pay for.

Those ancestors came here thinking the streets were paved with gold and quickly found out that you had to make your own way. They also had a high opinion of America, learned the language, assimilated and became part of the American culture. They studied and became legal American citizens.

There was also a point in time when we stopped all immigration so those who were here had time to assimilate and to love their new country. Today we have those in power within our own institutions teaching those coming to the country to hate it. That it is racist, homophobic, riddled with white privilege.

No wonder some won’t assimilate. They teach them how to take advantage of our system, to use every advantage to come here illegally and stay here on the taxpayers dime indefinitely – all for their vote. They are the Democrat Party. Leftists, Communists, and Socialists in place in every nook and cranny of the public sector and heads of religious institutions. They are the enemy with one goal – to overwhelm the system. To take down America. Vote for candidates that will stand firm against this invasion. Are you listening, Congressman Collins?

Paul Lauricella

Lyndonville

Editor:

What a pleasure to be able to look at all the pictures and to read the descriptions for the Barre Bicentennial presented in the Orleans Hub. It is simply wonderful for all of us who read the Hub to be able to slowly reminisce on the rich history of this historic rural community while lauding the depth and continuation of Barre families with so many youngsters.

The continuation of so many family businesses in Barre shined through each picture.

Barre, take a collective bow, you did yourselves proud! As did the Hub!

Karen Watt

Albion

Return to top

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Mighty St. Joe’s Drum and Bugle Corps from Le Roy performs during the Albion Strawberry Festival on June 9.

Editor:

Along with most of the local residents I was totally unaware of the amount of time, effort and – yes, even money – expended by the members of the Albion Strawberry Festival Committee to present, arguably, the Village’s largest social event.

This year I became involved in the project by volunteering to solicit sponsors of the newly-acquired banners to be displayed along Main and Bank Streets during the festival. In all my many years of volunteering I have never worked with such a dedicated group as this one, which truly represents the adage “it’s a labor of love” for the community. The members are so concerned in doing everything properly, and in a timely fashion, that this project has become a true neighborhood event enjoyed by all.

One of the banner sponsors told me that she had just come back from Atlanta, Ga., where she attended one of their “Blossom” Festivals and she said ours (Albion) far exceeded theirs. A well-deserved compliment to our hard-working committee!

From the Albion-area community I thank each and every member of this group who work so hard every year for our enjoyment.

Joe Gehl,

Co-Director

Albion Betterment Committee

Return to top

Editor:

One of the delightful aspects of Gaines is how much the past is connected to our present. From the old homes to the cobblestone structures which are unique to the area, we find beauty in the work of those who came before us. After almost 200 years, we can still find hospitality at the Village Inn. The farming families who till the fields and care for the orchards we pass by daily have known each other for generations.

It has been tremendously disheartening to hear of plans to build a Dollar General across from the Cobblestone Schoolhouse in Childs. Dollar General reflects nothing of the character of Gaines. It has nothing to do with agriculture. Nor is it a small business with a vested interest in the community. Dollar General is a faceless corporation, with no responsibilities to anyone except its shareholders, who care for nothing except more profits.

We will have lost much if a Dollar General is built across the road from perhaps the most pristine one-room schoolhouse in the state. We will look a little less like Gaines, and more like every other community in the United States that finds itself situated on a major highway. Some things are more important than the bottom line. Character matters.

Sincerely,

Adrienne Kirby,

Resident of Childs in Gaines

Editor:

Danny Donohue released a statement that it is outrageous the Supreme Court caved to greedy corporate CEO and the wealthy on the Janus decision. He no longer can force public employees  to join his union.

Mr. Donohue also is eligible for three pensions totaling over $130,000. Much of this pension was funded from this forced membership. Talk about greedy and wealth. You will now have the freedom to join the union. If the cause is worthy his membership will not be impacted.

Why blame greedy corporate CEOs and wealthy when all the court did was give everyone the freedom of choice? Gov. Cuomo as he typically states that protection is stripped away. He would much rather eliminate your freedom of choice and force you to join something against your will. If the union supports their members, this decision will have no impact on them.

Edward Urbanik

Lyndonville

Editor:

In answer to the concerns of Mr. Knab I offer the following:

Appointments by law are made by the Republican committee to fill vacancies.  The Town Board does the same.  At the last town Republican meeting 8 of the 10 members were present, including Mr. Sidonio, we filled two vacancies and endorsed a candidate for council unanimously. No other names were brought forward by any committee member. Anyone interested could contact any member at any time and their help will be greatly appreciated. We have a committee of 12 and generally have two alternates. We are elected every two years.

The Town of Murray meeting room holds 90 people and at the most was half filled during the discussions about the property maintenance law, and there were people on both sides. The property maintenance law, as you are well aware, mirrors the State property maintenance law, (click here to the state law  and click here to see the local Murray law) with the addition of the requirement to pick up garbage cans and limit the time refuse stays roadside. The local law allowed us to treat infractions as violations, not misdemeanors. Please take the opportunity to review and compare.

Potholes are not a violation. The grass as in the state law must be kept shorter than 10 inches. The aerial imaging you refer to is the Pictometry, which is taken once every three years, is hardly intrusive. The Supreme Court has ruled on the admissibility of this evidence. Further I have never had to use it in court, but do use it to help those that forget to obtain a permit become compliant.

No there is no politics in code enforcement, every violation has a picture. The code enforcement position is a Civil Service job, it has nothing to do with politics. I was number 1 on the list when I was hired. There is a lot more to code enforcement than property maintenance. My job is to protect the people in the Town. When there is a fire, a faulty appliance producing carbon monoxide, a car crashing into a house, I go out whatever time of night. When a contractor does faulty work I inspect and have it corrected.

I am the Town of Murray Republican Chair because I was elected by my fellow committee members. I have served in leadership positions in the American Legion, the County Joint Veterans Council and the Rotary. I have a proven record of leadership.

The committee interviews prospective candidates, fundraises, collects signatures on petitions and helps to get our candidates elected. The committee endorses, but supports the winner of the primary. That person is the choice of the party. These are hardworking unpaid individuals. Sometimes I think your group doesn’t seem to understand that it’s not the loudest voice, but the majority that rules in this country. I know you are new to the party, but the American principles should be familiar to you.

Hope this helps you to understand how the party works.

Ron Vendetti

Holley

Editor:

On July 10th at 6 p.m. in the Large Conference room at The Villages of Orleans Nursing Home there will be a Family Council meeting. I am strongly encouraging all family or representatives of a resident to attend.

Under regulation 10NYCRR 415.5, a resident’s family has the right to meet in the facility with the families of other residents. The Villages of Orleans may in no way prohibit the formation of a Family Council.  As the Family Council, we shall be allowed to meet in a common meeting room within the facility, in private, without facility staff at least once per month upon a mutually agreed time.

It has been quite a period of time since the families have gathered and it is time we re-establish the council. Join me on Tuesday, July 10^th, at 6 p.m. in the Large Conference room. Looking forward to seeing and hearing from you all.

Sincerely,

Kelly M. Bentley

Albion

Return to top

Editor:

There is a new arrival in town. I am referring to the recent appointment by Apex of Mr. Paul Williamson as Development Manager for Lighthouse Wind. The story, however, remains the same. Apex, ignoring the overwhelming local opposition to Lighthouse Wind, has doubled down and recommitted to completing this project in the towns of Somerset and Yates.

Clearly, Apex is relying on Article 10 and the “burdensome clause” contained in it to ram Lighthouse Wind through the Siting Board dominated by Albany Bureaucrats, and thus obtain the authority to industrialize our quiet rural community with up to 70, 600-foot-high wind turbines.

Being ignored are the surveys showing overwhelming public opposition, the hundreds of unanswered comments on the Public Service Commission site, the dozens of organizations with issues relating to Lighthouse Wind, the Power Coalition opposition, the Save Ontario Shores activities, the town’s restrictive industrial wind turbine laws and the numerous negative environmental and physical impacts that will plague our community for generations. The list is practically endless!

The economic and environmental benefits are continually extolled by Ms. Mosley of Apex, yet after more than 4 years of activity in our community we know little more than when Apex first arrived. The inescapable conclusion is, there are no benefits, but very many negatives to Lighthouse Wind.

One thing is sure, over the last 4 years the communities of Yates and Somerset have paid a heavy economic and social price as we attempt to regain the home rule stolen from us under Article 10. Consider the human and capital costs associated with revision of Comprehensive Plans, revision of local laws associated with the siting of Industrial Wind Turbines, the endless series of public meetings and hearings, the met tower applications and their associated activity and subsequent intimidating lawsuit. This list is also practically endless!

We know Apex wants a PILOT as has been stated several times. A PILOT is a tax break, so from the outset Lighthouse Wind wants to get by “on the cheap.” Complete honesty would dictate what is never mentioned, that the PILOT monies will be distributed among 6 taxing jurisdictions thus substantially watering down any benefit. Taxes should be based on the full assessed valuation of the project.

Apex has recommitted itself to Project Lighthouse Wind and likewise we in Somerset and Yates will recommit to what one of our opposition signs so aptly states, “Apex Go Home.” Project Lighthouse Wind is the wrong project in the wrong place being proposed by the wrong company.

Perhaps Mr. Williamson will assist us in sending this message to the home office in Charlottesville, Virginia.

James C. Hoffman

Somerset

Editor:

Make no mistake.  Whether it is—as the president has insisted—the “worst immigration” approach in the world, or not, America’s generous approach to immigration is likely the single most important ingredient in our greatness.  The result is a population that is—without doubt—exceptional by definition.

Those who have come here “willingly” have typically possessed extraordinary confidence, drive, intelligence, talent, and a willingness to do what others often have not. My grandparents’ Austrian neighbors stayed in their comfort zone after WW I, unsure that they could make it in a far off land which benefitted enormously from immigration but was nonetheless persistently hostile to it.

After all these years and personal experience, what has history taught us?  Might we actually benefit from an approach to the stranger that is arguably more welcoming than that of other nations? It has apparently always worked for us.

What if France demanded that we return the Statue of Liberty because it appears we no longer welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled, persecuted and downtrodden who feel they deserve dignity?  What if?

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

July 2018 marks the three-and-a-half-year anniversary of the formation of Save Ontario Shores, Inc., in opposition to Apex’s Lighthouse Wind project. We are grateful to Somerset Town Supervisor Dan Engert and Yates Town Supervisor Jim Simon, as well as both town boards, for their ongoing efforts to protect the health, safety and welfare of their constituents.

Since SOS was formed, the opposition to Apex’s Lighthouse Wind project has continued to grow.

Opposition is not just from local people who would be directly impacted on a daily basis by the alteration of our community into an industrial wind factory. The opposition to this project also comes from people who are concerned about tourism, hunting and fishing opportunities, bat populations, raptors and song birds which use this internationally known migratory pathway along the shore of Lake Ontario and inland, as well as the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

SOS’s partners in the POWER Coalition (Protecting {Lake} Ontario’s Waterfront, Environment and Resources) have looked at the specifics of this industrial wind project and have decided to oppose it. They include the American Bird Conservancy, NYS Ornithological Association, Hawk Migration Association of North America, Niagara USA Chamber, Great Lakes Seaway Trail, Federation of Monroe Co. Environmentalists, Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, Burroughs Audubon Nature Club, Genesee Valley Audubon, Rochester Birding Association, and Orleans Co. Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs. These are national, statewide and regional groups representing thousands of members.

Apex claims its project has support with over 100 landowners who have signed leases or easements. At last check with the Niagara and Orleans County Clerks’ offices, these landowners represent around 60 families who will receive direct payments from Apex should the project go forward. Census data from 2010 for Somerset and Yates show a total combined population of 5,221. These 100 landowners, who stand to personally gain from the project, represent less than 2% of the towns’ population. (A list of all the leaseholders is on our website.)

Our question remains – Why is Apex still here? The opposition is educated, engaged and growing. Our message to this Virginia corporation could not be clearer from multiple fronts.  Lighthouse Wind does not belong in our towns, along our lakeshore, in our migratory flyway, or near our air base, and we will keep fighting for as long as we have to.

Our surveys say: Apex – go home!!

By Pam Atwater

President

Save Ontario Shores, Inc.