Editor:

I often bite my tongue about our local Legislature. For example, they were warned in the 60’s that moving major buildings/departments out of downtown was going to hurt Albion immeasurably. Did they listen then or since? No, not once.

Now, the Legislature will come out against granting illegal immigrants driver’s licenses.  Immigration is a tremendously complicated matter but it’s common knowledge that any time a person without a license is in an car accident – even if the car is somehow insured – the insurer will deny coverage.  In Orleans there a lot of illegal immigrants and, of course they are driving our roads. When the reality sinks in our Legislature is pushing for something that’s going hurt you and me. The fact is they never considered what’s good for us, only what sound good for them.

I could go on but time and again once elected they just “dumb down” – follow the leader style.  Last year it was allowing rifle hunting within reach of our houses – Orleans is flat as can be and those bullets have incredible range.

Both license situations should have been no brainers. For the “enhanced driver’s license” in reality the Clerks are already reviewing all sorts of documents. Contrary to their excuses we have the resources.

I admit that governing is not easy but there are simply too many ill-considered decisions to not be concerned that there is a problem. Call it professionalism, foresight, politicalization, whatever. It needs watching and maybe new blood.

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

(The following is a copy of a speech presented during the last Barre Town Board meeting on April 10.)

Many times we tend to lump certain types of people into groups, by either political, sociological, or religious beliefs. It could be either who we vote for, what church we attend, or even how our homes look. Many times for good or bad people who share common interests are condemned by the actions of some in those groups.

I’m going to present a few pictures taken in our town of the willful destruction of residents of Barre’s personal property. Please pass these around the room. Now for the sake of continuity, unfortunately the supporters of wind turbines have been lumped into a group called “Turbine People” and the actions of some of those people who have stolen signs, destroyed them, or just knocked them over, are having a deleterious effect on the peaceful law-abiding persons in that group.

On the other side of the turbine issue is a law-abiding, peace loving, neighborly people, I would like to call the “silent majority.” They are the majority of the residents who live in our town. They go to work every day, they take care of their families and in most cases also their neighbors. They go to church on Sundays and actually love the community in which they live.

Most of the silent majority of Barre are now talking, they’re studying, and now they’re watching. They’ve heard the rhetoric, “If the farmers want it, they get it.” Also let’s not forget “Right to Farm.” Well I have a message for all of you tonight. Right to Farm does not mean Right to Harm!

We are not going to take it anymore. We are going to continue to report all theft and vandalism of private property. We are going to be diligent. Unlike those bad eggs who are militant oppressors of the homeowners of Barre, and as the old adage goes, “will do anything for a buck,” and unlike some who use threats and intimidation to elect change, we will use the ballot box. So get ready for change, “Turbine People.”

Respectfully submitted,

John Metzler

Barre

Editor:

This is my response to all members of the Orleans County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and those who have signed an anti-wind postcard from Citizens for a Better Barre.

Your privileges have been suspended from using our property for snowmobiling, four-wheeling, or hunting, and I encourage other leaseholders to follow suit. My property has been open for public use my entire life and this was your chance to support me and my decisions in leasing my property for renewable energy.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I feel that many people are blindly opposing this project publicly without doing their own research. Before you mindlessly sign your name on postcards opposing the wind project, think about the friends and neighbors who have always been generous to the Town of Barre and its residents who want to see this project happen.

Signed,

Mathes Farms and VanLieshout Farms

Editor:

Three months ago the Barre Town Board made a decision to make no changes to our current wind ordinance in light of the proposed Heritage Wind project. Board members indicated they had received information from the Town Planning Board, community members, Clear Skies Above Barre, Heritage Wind,  legal and engineering teams hired by the Town and from the Town attorney – information that presumably was used in making the final decision.

At the April Town Board meeting, it was revealed that Apex has proposed a “Professional Fee and Reimbursement Agreement” whereby they will offer up to $50,000 to pay for legal fees for our Town Attorney and an “Independent Consultant” to, once again, review our current wind ordinance. Whose idea was this?

The comment was made “we figured” that “we would get an independent party to take another, final look at our wind laws.” Who is “we”? Someone on the Town Board who voted in January to make no changes? Obviously Apex is not happy about this decision. Neither are some residents.

Unfortunately, we do not have $50,000 to try and bribe the Town Board into looking at this issue again. Ultimately, three Town Board members voted not to take Apex up on their offer.  Kudos to Councilmen Bennett, Hill and McCabe for their commitment to stand by a three-month old decision.

If, as we have been told on numerous occasions, our local laws mean nothing and the Siting Board will make the final decisions, what would be gained by another “final review” other than to pad the coffers of our town attorney and an “Independent Consultant” – both bought and paid for by Apex.

Let’s get on with it. Have the courage of your convictions and stand by your decisions for more than three months. Let Apex submit their application so we can all finally find out what the final project entails.

A ton of questions were asked after Apex submitted their PSS. Answers to multiple questions consisted of, “This information will be included in the application.” So let’s find out what is in the application. Is it 33 turbines? Is it 47 turbines? Or is it somewhere in between? What is the final proposed location of turbines? How large is the project – 200MW, 158 MW or 147 MW?  How tall are the turbines – 591’, 655’, 681’ or will they be up to 750’ by then?

A board member lamented the fact that if we do not take Apex up on their “reimbursement” offer, that they may not be willing to negotiate with the Town in the future. Great! Forget negotiating a PILOT that will result in only eight full-time jobs after construction is completed.  For eight jobs we leave millions on the table as a result of a PILOT? Let’s tax these industrial wind factories just as we are taxed on our property. Then maybe we really would see a decrease in our taxes

If you would like to watch this $50,000 discussion, go to Know Your Facts Facebook Page and view the April Town Board meeting online. The proposal starts at about the 25 minute mark.

Donna Rhodey

Barre

Editor:

Wind energy is going to happen sometime, somewhere. I write only about the economics of a PILOT – a payment in lieu of tax agreement which can reduce the energy producer’s taxes and costs. The check list should include full disclosure and examination of the following:

1) Is any municipality going to work its magic so it can perform infrastructure work on the property? What will be the cost and how will it be recaptured?

2) Has the assessor been involved to determine the full assessment value and any offsets that the state may impose on school tax?

3) If the producer does not generate the projected local jobs under what circumstances and formulas will it be penalized? Will it have a local energy storage farm? How will job production be audited and accomplished in accordance with due process (state action doctrine)? Is there any requirement that local contractors be used when possible?

4) Has any municipality or agency incurred any costs that it cannot pay out of current revenue so it is dependent on the PILOT being consummated? This effects the trustworthiness of the process.

5) Has the environmental lead agency hired its own environmental consultants to assist it at the applicants sole cost and expense as provided by law? Will the lead environmental review agency at time be paid for that or any other services? (The ECL says the lead agency can take no fee.  Clearly it is cannot negotiate a PILOT fee or other fee at the same time as it is lead agency. Also if it does so behind the scenes or trades one for the other it is criminal extortion. That needs to be known or there can be no trust in the PILOT process!)

6) Does the PILOT payment propose to be tied to revenue or profit? If you remember Enron, its tax returns showed profits but the accounting assumptions actually covered up huge losses; the opposite can hold true too! This can trap the unwary municipality into getting nothing or close to nothing due to the way the books are compiled. Expert consultation is required.

7) Are the proposed payments in line with the PILOT charges across the state? Is wind energy locating here because they can make more profit?

8) How much energy generation is going into the local grid as a way to hold down county residents’ electric costs?

9) How much of the project cost and costs are being paid or offset by other governmental programs? Both set annual subsidies and subsidies based on production, sales, and losses need to be disclosed in full and evaluated by forensic accountants familiar with wind energy production.

10) What is the projected wind production for each proposed wind mill? Will it justify its costs without long term and continued subsidization?

11) Do the public experts (again by law paid at Apex’s cost) indicate the planned units are the best and least intrusive alternative? How long before they will be obsolescent and will the cost of replacement be justified without more local contribution? If there a commitment to rebuild?

I hope this list proves useful.

Very truly yours,

Conrad F. Cropsey

Albion

Editor:

Gorgeous harmonies, exquisite flute and the haunting melody of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” hushed the packed Holy Family Church on Palm Sunday.

The choir of eight women and seven men, and fine organist-veteran leader Harriette Greaser absolutely filled this nearly acoustically perfect local church. On the “Sanctus” (Holy, Holy, Holy) from Franz Schubert’s Mass these 15 sounded like 30, with great dynamics, thrilling power and delicate control.

Margaret and I drive as far as 55 miles to hear fine music in Rochester and Buffalo, but only 9 miles to hear this Holy Family music every Sunday.

This Easter week, the music and services will again be beautiful, both selections and execution.  Gerald Golden will again sing the wide-ranging, 12 minute Exodus on Saturday night. Those who’ve heard him before will tell you it’s worth the effort to come. The acapella chanting is haunting.

The services, Holy Thursday at 7 p.m., Good Friday at noon, Holy Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Easter Masses on Sunday, 8 and 10:30 a.m., will feature moving, reverential music and Father Dick Csizmar and the many others on the altar will make it again, for those who attend all of these services every year, a deep religious experience and for those, who attend for the first or occasional time, a revelation.

Margaret and Bob Golden

Kent

Editor:

As promised the campaign for better town governance continues. I turned in petitions for the Republican and Independence Primary Elections on June 25^th for Murray Town Supervisor.

It has become increasingly obvious our town needs help. Poor management decisions by our Supervisor have led to a Confidential Employee Separation Agreement costing Murray residents tens of thousands of dollars. Imagine how those funds could have been used if re-invested in our community.

The recent attempts to adopt an overly restrictive zoning regulation while ignoring opinions of State, County and Murray residents is further evidence. Why and at what cost did we copy a restrictive downstate zoning ordinance from Orange County? This proposed law follows on the heels of Murray adopting the Town of Greece’s Enhanced Property Maintenance Law. Those chain of events suggest Murray is not headed in the right direction. While I understand the need for regulation, Murray should not promote itself as an overly restrictive suburban community.

We are a Right to Farm community and government should not run our lives!

So, what’s our plan? Where are we headed? The sudden resignation of our Planning Board Chairwoman and representative to the County Planning Board indicate more problems at the town hall. Our planning department is now adrift at sea without a rudder and attempts by our Supervisor to steer it are clearly not working.

I will continue to build on the positive community achievements our campaign accomplished. There are many opportunities to be had if we would only reach for them. As a Marine Corps Veteran, college educated business owner with 12 years of planning and zoning experience, I can help plot a more stable course forward. My wife Amy a member of the NYS Agricultural Advisory Committee keeps me abreast of the challenges facing our farmers.

By being fiscally responsible, community minded, inclusive and respectful of others we can build a better community that is sustainable for generations to come.

My agenda is clear: I work for you.

Joe Sidonio

Murray

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Editor:

Gary Kent was right about one thing, our republic is under assault, but not by who he thinks it is. The real culprit is progressivism which began the day of Teddy Roosevelt’s inauguration.

The assault continued under Woodrow Wilson, who hated the Constitution and during whose administration we saw the creation of the Federal Reserve and the Sixteenth, the Seventeenth, the Eighteenth and the Nineteenth Amendments ratified. He was also considered a messiah by some with his Fourteen Points. He used our entry into the Great War to shape the world to his liking after it.

Independent judiciary? FDR tried to pack the Supreme Court in 1937 because they found his New Deal programs to be unconstitutional. He cozied up to Josef Stalin to reshape the post war world at the expense of Winston Churchill.

You can follow the Progressive bouncing ball through LBJ, Nixon, both Bush 41 and Bush 43 and lastly Obama. Central planning, massive government, diminishing rights.

And whose platform was abolishing the Electoral College, packing the Supreme Court, the Green New Deal, socialism and open borders to name just a few things that threaten our republican form of government?

Gary, as in a poker game, I see your William Barr and raise with Eric Holder AND Loretta Lynch.

James Tuk

Lyndonville

Editor:

My mother (God rest her soul!) was a seasoned corrections officer at the Albion Correctional Facility in 1971, when the women’s prison was abruptly closed, supposedly due to a state financial crisis.

She endured reassignment to Bedford Hills, making the long commute to near New York City twice a week and bunking with fellow officers during the week. With no little thanks to the Senate Majority Leader Earl Brydges, a Republican, the prison was eventually re-opened and has remained so for almost 50 years.

In spite of national prosperity, New York State now finds itself in another financial bind, and combined with a significant reduction in the number of inmates/clients, at least three prisons are slated to be shuttered under terms of the current state budget. Albion has been on the short list before, but the Republican-controlled Senate has always nixed any upstate closures. With Democrats now exclusively in control of Albany, Albion is virtually defenseless as it faces the likelihood of closure. This time, the men’s unit, Orleans Correctional Facility, is a prime target.

The Governor says he will rely on the recommendation of the corrections department to determine the closures, but in reality, the decision is strictly his. He has said more than once that he doesn’t view prisons as a jobs creation program for upstate. Factors such as distance from the home residence of inmates/clients (i.e.: New York City) to the prisons will be given prime consideration when shut down decisions are made.

But, this is New York, and politics as well as economics and social calculus will surely factor in the Governor’s decision. With its strident opposition to the Governor’s alternative energy program (i.e.: wind power), Orleans County has not favored itself in the Governor’s eyes. Local pols have piled on in their vocal and unceasing disdain for the two wind energy projects in progress in Orleans County. Certainly the Governor and his political advisors are aware of this opposition.

Will S.O.S. and its political minions be the deciding factor in closing down the Orleans Correctional Facility? Stay tuned.

Ralph E. Smith

Lyndonville

Editor:

Subtly, or not so subtly, a system that has served us relatively well for 230 years—despite its many flaws and ongoing need for improvement—has been under assault lately. Those who undermine the Constitution’s efforts to protect us from authoritarianism by usurping the power of the courts and the legislative branch should be scrutinized carefully.

Features essential to the very existence of a republican form of government are being relentlessly chipped away at. These include an independent judiciary, free and fair elections whose outcomes can be trusted and—perhaps most importantly in Thomas Jefferson’s view—the credibility and freedom of the press.

While we had better wake up and smell the coffee before a system a great many people have given their lives to defend—and improve—is lost, it is not too late. But the clock is ticking, and Russian disinformation and foolhardy complicity on the part of ostensibly patriotic Americans continue despite what the Constitution says about impeachable offenses.

In my view, Speaker Pelosi is right to rule out impeachment of President Trump. As a member of the Cabinet, William Barr is another matter altogether.

Finally, your readers who really care should reflect on the likelihood that there is a great deal of truth to the proposition that there is a high probability that a person can often be accurately judged by the company he/she keeps.

Sincerely yours,

Gary Kent

Albion