MET tower to test wind in Yates gets county OK

YATES – The Orleans County Planning Board supported a 196.85 foot high meteorological tower in Yates that will measure wind strength and consistency.

Apex Wind Energy wants the MET tower on a 65-acre lot at the southwest corner of Lakeshore and Marshall roads. The company would put the tower up on land owned by Donna Bane.

Apex needs final approval for the tower from the Yates Town Board. The Planning Board’s decision this evening is separate from Apex’s pursuit for a larger wind farm, a proposal for 60 to 68 turbines in Yates and Somerset.

A state siting board will have final say on that project. That seven-member board is supposed to include two representatives from the project area.

About 30 members from Save Ontario Shores, a citizen group that has formed to oppose the project, attended the County Planning Board meeting, but weren’t allowed to address the board.

Planners said they were only looking at the MET tower and the not the overall turbine project.

Apex will need a special use permit from the town for the tower, and that permit would allow the structure to stay for up to two years.

Apex said it is planning to hire Anemometry Specialists from Alta, Iowa, to put up the tower.