Editor:

I, too, attended the tour of the High Sheldon Wind Farm on March 29. I drove myself, paid for my own lunch, and listened intently to the various speakers through the entire presentation. I am not a leaseholder. My goal was to better understand accurate and first-hand information for myself and to be able to relay this information to concerned Barre residents who genuinely wish to understand the implications of having an industrial wind project in our township.

Driving home, I felt cautiously optimistic about the Heritage Wind Project. Having lived in Barre for 33 years, I have a serious concern for our economy. In light of other options that have been previously proposed (race track, dump), I believe the proposed Heritage Wind Project is superior in both environmental and economic aspects.

The following points support this:

• Much ground work was done ahead of time, including a long SEQR process and painting grid lines on the ground where windmills would be located.

• Pictures of roads in Sheldon were taken before and after from which the wind company repaved many miles of roads to repair damage and restore them to better than previous conditions.

• The wind company put $90,000 into a historical town building.

• Money to the town from the wind company went up at a rate of the consumer price index (2-3 1/2%) per year. They started at $11,000 per windmill per year to the landowner.

• The town has received over 10 million dollars in over 10 years. Sheldon has zero town debt and it has helped everyone have zero town taxes.

• During the building phase, the town benefitted with housing rentals and the supervisor said, the “bars and restaurants were packed,” helping the local economy.

• Their population of 2,200 is very similar to Barre. Their budget is $1.1 million.

• Windmills were approximately 400 feet tall with an 800 foot setback.

• They negotiated a Host Community Agreement so that the town received the majority of the money.

• Their fire tax went from .96/$1,000 to .26/$1,000.

• Reassessed home values have increased and house/farm values have gone up by as much as 5%.

• Permanent, high-paying jobs were added and wind turbine techs were hired locally. One woman (a local that had been hired by the wind company) told us that she had been able to put $100,000 into a 401K in ten years by working for the wind company.

• Technology is used to turn the turbines off at sunset when bats come out to avoid harming them. It also exists to turn them off during times of migration.

• We did get to talk to a leaseholder for quite a while and could ask him questions. He was a local farmer. He explained that with no town taxes, people had more money to fix up their property and increase its value. He was very proud of his operation and saw no ill effects of the windmills.

• We stood directly under a windmill, just a few feet from the base, which confirmed for me that the sound was very significantly less than my lawnmower or the trucks that go by my house. It was easy to converse at the base of the windmills without noise interference.

Barre definitely needs to do its homework and from the information I gathered on the tour, it points to many ways to get the most out of an agreement with Apex if that is the path they choose. Currently, the Town of Barre does not have high speed internet to most of the town, the entire town does not have public water, and we are very much in need of a new fire house.  While most of us love the rural nature of our town, it is also necessary to look to improving the economy and our tax base for the people living here. I am interested to know how most of the people of the town feel, not just the most vocal. This project is an opportunity. If it is not the right one for Barre, then what is your suggestion?

I am hopeful that Barre can come together on the best solution for the majority of the people.  Establishing your point of view and doing all the research to support that view is easy. Let’s try to be a little more objective on both sides and consider each other’s point of view.

Sincerely,

LuAnn Tierney

Barre

Editor:

Kerri Richardson, president of Clear Skies Above Barre, recently wrote a letter about her version of the High Sheldon Wind Farm tour, sponsored by Apex. To say that she has misrepresented the information presented is an understatement.

As she was very open in saying, she missed a major part of the tour which was the bus ride, because the second part of the bus ride was an actual tour of the operating wind farm, guided by an actual lease holder. This portion also included a stop at the base of an operating turbine.  Exactly the type that she has specified in her smoke screen of publicly available facts that have no bearing on the actual intent of the letter, which is to twist the limited information that she did get into some sort of attempt at showing what was a quite positive presentation in the most negative light possible.

Ms. Richardson’s organization would better be named, “Keep our taxes High in Barre” as one of the better benefits of the placement of wind turbines in Sheldon has been the abatement of property taxes for the entire area. Not just the lease holders, but the entire town. The PILOT payments from Invenergy have given the town operating capital that is more than enough to do improvement projects as well as general upkeep on all town properties. The local schools and fire departments have benefited as well, since they are also taxing entities and get PILOT money too.

Ms. Richardson is very good at citing the smallest downside of anything as the biggest worry possible.  A decline in population (not directly attributable to the wind turbines) is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when it is opening land for farming. The tax abatement provided by the development of the wind farm has given many local farmers the relief that they have needed to hold onto their farms and continue the family business. And no matter what she classifies as “business,” I would like to assure Ms. Richardson that farms are indeed serious business.

Having heard only a small portion of the conversation about migratory birds, Ms. Richardson seems to believe that there is no sort of protections being implemented to protect the waterfowl that traverse our skies every spring and fall. She seems to imply that the birds will be decimated as if they were flying directly into a food processor. This is simply not the case. First and foremost there will most certainly be a review of the application by the DEC, and they will have to sign off on the application. Without their approval this project won’t be done.

The Town of Barre and any other taxing entities could benefit greatly from the placement of wind turbines. We currently “make” milk, some vegetables and cow manure. The tax benefits of these are quite small, and the farmers bear the greatest burden. If we want Barre to survive, and even thrive, then we need to let this process take place.

We need to do our work on making the best possible deal. Supervisor Pogue and the Zoning board have to step up and do their part as well.  The variance needs to be granted for the height exception to the current zoning ordinance, during consideration of a permanent change.

One of the biggest fears that I hear is that the development may be abandoned if it is not profitable enough, and the town will be left with unmaintained turbines standing in the town. There is a mandated bond contingency to cover that possibility but it is highly unlikely, as the development wouldn’t even be this far along if they thought that this was going to be an unprofitable location. No profitable business is abandoned. Even if it is sold, once the infrastructure is in place, the worst thing that is likely to happen is that it will eventually be improved and made more efficient.

Karl White

Elba

(Mr. White is also a Barre landowner)

Editor:

The Villages of Orleans Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center received deficiencies from the New York State Department of Health on April 2, 2019 due to poor staffing levels and inadequate supervision.

According to the laws passed by New York State, the facility must have sufficient nursing staff with the appropriate competencies and skill sets to provide nursing and related services to assure resident safety and attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and physchosocial well-being of each resident.

Facility direct care staff admitted to the Department of Health that they are short staffed, unable to provide showers as scheduled and to provide toileting needs as required. This is not a new onset for this facility.

Since the formation of the family council, we have directly written letters to the  administration regarding the poor staffing levels. It is not fair for the residents who are paying for services that are not being rendered to them as promised. On May 6 at 6 p.m., come meet with The Villages of Orleans Nursing Home  Family Council at the Hoag Library. We will go over the most recent summary statement of deficiencies this facility has received and how this affects your loved one.

Kelly Bentley

Family Council Chairperson

Editor:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi remains—to me—on solid ground. “The Donald” should not be impeached.

The same is not the case with his latest loser appointee, William “I’m Your Puppet” Barr. Barr should be impeached for contempt of Congress, obstruction of justice, and more. If Barr isn’t giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States (a significant part of the Constitutional definition of treason) by covering up executive branch obstruction of justice, Barr is undermining the Republic and covering for an elected leader whom the Founding Fathers intended to be accountable to Congress, the branch covered in Article One.

When Barr—the Attorney General of the United States of America—said Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary committee that the President is “Constitutionally allowed” to stop an investigation if he determines it is based on false information, the only thing he didn’t tell us was what constitution he was referring to. Perhaps it was the constitution of a so-called “banana republic.”

Various political hacks are clearly in contempt of Congress. The public may not think contempt of Congress rises to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” but I suspect that is due largely to a lack of familiarity with what was/is included in the Constitution.

And, oh, by the way, in my opinion the Senate Judiciary Committee’s interrogatory of Attorney General William Barr makes it clear that Cory Booker is in over his head running for President in 2020, just as  “Lyin Ted” Cruz was in over his head when he ran for the Republican nomination in 2016. He does look slick on television—for what that may be worth.

Please indulge one more outrageous viewpoint. South Carolina Senator, Lindsay Graham, is a credit to his intellectual mentor, secessionist Senator John C. Calhoun. Calhoun may have missed Article Six in the United States Constitution. Not only was Lindsay instrumental in getting us into the Iraq War (see his disgracefully misinformed interview with Tim Russert on “Meet the Press”), but he now spends much of his time trying to squelch legislative scrutiny of those arguably committing obstruction of justice and contempt of Congress, even though The Founders clearly intended for Congress to be first among “equals” and play that role.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion

Editor:

On Monday April 29, 2019, Heritage Wind LLC. hosted a tour of the High Sheldon Wind Farm to expose the community of the proposed Heritage Wind Project to the supposed benefits of an industrial wind project. There were about 42 people in attendance: 6 employed by Apex (and a relative), 2 friends of Apex employees, 8 lease signers from the proposed project area, others from the Yates area, and Sierra Club members.  My estimate is that, including myself, there were only 5 residents of Barre who were not lease signers.

I was not able to actively participate in the entire process, as I had my children with me and drove separately.  I missed the presentations that occurred on the bus. I also went to the address given to me for the second location and due to a “miscommunication” missed the actual tour of the 389’ tall industrial wind turbine located at a different address. During the lunch presentation we heard from the Invenergy Administrative Assistant, and Town of Sheldon Supervisor Brian Becker, who stated that he has family members who have signed leases. I was told by Cat Mosley, Apex Public Affairs Manager, that we would have the opportunity to speak with a leaseholder or residents of the community, but that was not the case.

Here is a comparison of the 2 projects as presented on February 28, 2019:

Sean Pogue, Barre town supervisor, made a comment to Spectrum News recently that he does not want to live in a “ghost town,” implying that he believes the turbines will increase our population, or at a minimum maintain.

After Sheldon Supervisor Becker shared his thoughts on how much the High Sheldon project has benefited his community, I asked if the population in the Town of Sheldon has grown since the project began. His response was that it was decreasing prior to the project, it has continued to decrease and that the age of the population has increased steadily.

He operates a bus garage, and the number of students he transports has decreased from over 600 students to now about 300 students. I asked him if business in the community has grown since the project began. His response was that it has not. In addition, Supervisor Becker said there are community members/families who after ten years are still adamantly opposed to the project.

When asked about the impact of turbines on birds and bats, an Invenergy administrative assistant explained that a study performed in the area didn’t show high mortality rates.  However, she stated that developers have learned not to site projects in known migratory pathways after seeing heavy bird mortality at California industrial wind project located within such an area. According to a radar study performed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the spring of 2013 (Great Lakes Avian Radar Technical Report Niagara, Genesee, Wayne and Jefferson Counties, New York), Barre is located in a large migratory bird pathway. This should be cause for concern.

Why Apex feels that touring people around the High Sheldon Wind Farm would make anyone a supporter of the Heritage Wind project is beyond me. If Sheldon is experiencing declining student and general population numbers and no business growth with turbines that are substantially smaller than those proposed in Barre, what does the future hold for us?

Kerri Richardson

President of Clear Skies Above Barre

Editor:

The Mueller Report states, “The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.”Furthermore, stating that this was done principally through two ways both involving cyber operations  – a social media campaign and a “computer-intrusive operation.”

President Trump eliminated the position of cyber security coordinator on the National Security Council in June 2018. Last Friday, Christopher A. Wary, President Trump’s FBI director, warned that Russia is still interfering in our elections, as a “significant counterintelligence threat.” However, there is a lack of high level coordination to thwart that threat.

Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the constitution. I believe that Mr. Trump’s actions  – elimination of cyber security coordinator  – and his inability to confront or condemn the Russian attack on the foundation of our republic, elections, is a threat to our republic.

Therefore, Mr. Trump is in violation of the solemn oath to defend the United States and protect the constitution.

William Fine
Brockport

Editor:

I attended the High Sheldon wind farm tour on April 29 courtesy of Apex. Many thanks to them for sponsoring this event.

The tour was highly informative. What I came away with is the pride this town has that they made the good decision to build the turbines.In High Sheldon, they pay no property taxes, have improved roads and new access roads, help for the town and schools, and many other perks that have improved lives since 2009.

Representatives of the town said a few anti’s remain staunchly against them, but most of the residents are OK with the turbines now, even thanking the town council for bringing them in. We asked if there were any reports of health concerns and were told “no.” We asked about property values and were told they have gone up, not down.

For several years they kept a count of bird deaths and the number was low, and no raptors had died. And some said they hardly notice the turbines anymore.

Groups like Clear Skies have been spreading a lot of misinformation about turbines, but when you see the truth for yourself, it’s pretty clear that the towns wise enough to let them in have not been sorry. Every town works out a different deal, but Barre residents could see some great benefits and it would be foolish to let this opportunity pass us by. It’s time to see the truth and stop fearing the wind!

Chris Loss
Barre

Editor:

After the positive responses I received from my letter outlining things to look for in a PILOT agreement in Barre with wind turbines, I received immediate personal responses from people in several townships expressing dissatisfaction.

The problems expressed were surprisingly insightful. In the previous letter I outlined ways that taxpayers’ money has been given away for almost 20 years without adequate safeguards or study. I would clearly like to help the town with the money end, even though I will probably see the towers from my back window.

I do not know what the environmental aspects are or how it will affect my or other Barre property owners property values. But everyone should know this. The impact should be known and it is extremely important that everything gets looked at. The law is clear that the lead agency can choose its experts and Apex must pay for them. Barre must insist on this.

The town needs to be fully informed. No matter what is officially done the Barre assessor should be involved with the review. Barry Flansburg, the town assessor, may not be popular because of his thankless job as assessor but he has valuable experience with tax reduction agreements gained from participation with them in more progressive taxing jurisdictions – other counties where money is not given away as freely.

The underfunding of our county’s economic development resources exacts a toll and we have seen the results for too long. With Apex, not only should the proper resources be brought to bear, but the local way of doing things needs to be funded and perhaps reorganized. We have to be sure that Apex will be more than a flashy announcement or a photo op for politicians.

Apex should be a money-maker for Barre, or it shouldn’t be done there. Guesswork is not sufficient.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Where is the outrage? The village of Medina raising taxes 5.54 %, Village of Holley raising taxes 6.6%, Village of Albion raising taxes 3.72, Holley School raising taxes 2.5 %, Lyndonville School 1%, Medina School 0% for 8 years in a row (applause, applause and to all who hold the line or cut).

Staying under or going over the tax cap is no deal for the public and nothing to be proud of by our leaders. It’s still a year after year tax increase. We can always guarantee a tax increase every year by the Republican-led County Legislature but what the heck the political class will have the brand new taxpayer-funded ten million dollar county building hopefully with a functioning intercom system.

I guarantee there will be more tax increases coming to our wallets as more municipal budgets are developed. I see in these budgets pay raises, new equipment, new hires and fantasies because government can never do without. Can never be basic. I see these tax raisers doing photo ops on the Hub showing what do-gooders they are.

I would be fearful and ashamed to show my face in public let alone in print. They don’t shame and they are not fearful because you JQ public don’t hold them accountable. I guess we’re all rich in this county ha, ha. Well I am calling them out, they are failing at their jobs.

If you raise taxes you failed – a big time Buffalo Bills Super Bowl moment. I try hold my town accountable, just ask my town supervisor. Will you hold your Town or Village accountable? It’s your duty. Get off the couch. It’s not wrong to demand responsible spending. It’s your money that you yearly have less of. It’s theft. Our locals are just as responsible for people leaving the area as out misguided Governor.

Paul Lauricella

Lyndonville

Editor:

On April 11, 2019, Apex Clean Energy officially informed the Towns of Yates and Somerset that:  “…Apex Clean Energy has decided not to advance the Lighthouse Wind permit application for a 2019 submittal at this time.”

This is good news for our towns, but not great news. Interestingly we’ve discovered that, a week earlier, this same Apex firm informed leaseholders that: The Lighthouse Wind Project is “no longer being pursued at this time” although “leases will remain in place for two (2) years” unless “the state (NYS) will allow the overrule of local laws” otherwise “Apex will pull out of…Lighthouse Wind.”

This methodology of sending different messages to different recipients is disappointing at the least; unprofessional and misleading at its worst. Which is the correct message? As Apex has historically been less than straightforward in its official communications with governmental agencies such as town boards, county legislatures and state agencies, it is clear that the message delivered to leaseholders during the first week of April is the true message.

Given that we will not reduce the protections of our constituency via town law changes, as well as clear statements from the state that local laws will not be overridden, it’s time for Apex Clean Energy to face the music.

The Lighthouse Wind Project is dead.

Apex Clean Energy needs to own up to the fact that they chose a poor project site. They now need to take the bitter pill and tell the public what they’ve told their leaseholders in private:

The Lighthouse Wind Project will not move forward.

Apex Clean Energy should do the right thing:

1. Immediately and officially withdraw the Lighthouse Wind Project (NYSDPS Matter: 14-F-0485) from the Article 10 process.

2. Immediately withdraw the Lighthouse Wind Project from the New York Independent System Operator Project Connection Queue.

3. Immediately remove all meteorological (MET) towers from the Lighthouse Wind project area.

4. Immediately cancel all leases and pay the leaseholders what they are owed through the end of their lease contracts. The majority of our town’s constituencies may have been on different sides of this issue with the leaseholders, but we are all neighbors. We have all suffered through this Apex era together and they deserve the lease payments they are owed.

These actions by Apex will begin to heal the wounds they have so deftly opened in our community and allow us to aggressively prepare our towns for suitable economic investment.

It would be Apex’s appropriate farewell.

Thank you,

John Riggi

Councilman, Town of Yates