Press Release, State Sen. Robert Ortt

YATES – State Sen. Rob Ortt (R – North Tonawanda) thanked Gov. Andrew Cuomo for responding to a pressing request to appoint a representative from Orleans County to the Lighthouse Wind LLC Siting Board.

The Governor’s Appointments Office has announced the appointment of Russell Martino, a Town of Yates resident and former Yates town supervisor.

The seven-member Siting Board will review the final application by Apex Clean Energy in its project proposal to construct up to 70 wind turbines in the towns of Yates and Somerset. The turbines would be as tall as 600 feet.

“I commend Governor Como for fulfilling the role that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie failed to follow through on,” said Sen. Ortt. “Russ was a wise decision for this appointment. When Russ was the town supervisor, he was instrumental in drawing up the wind ordinance laws in 2008. He is well-versed in this issue. I have no doubt he will honorably voice the serious concerns raised by property owners, businesses, farmers and local representatives.”

Russ Martino said, “I’ve lived in the Town of Yates for 50 years now and am very invested and involved in my community. I’ve seen what this issue is doing to our community; residents don’t feel they’re being heard. I hope to be the voice of my community members who don’t want this project to move forward in our town.”

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R – Batavia) said, “I would like to congratulate Russell Martino on his appointment as an ad hoc member of the board of the Yates Wind Project. I am pleased to see that Orleans County will be fairly represented in this process and that the board is allowing ordinary citizens to voice concerns about local projects. As I’ve said before, this is a local project that would greatly impact the Yates community and I fully support the decision to oppose the APEX Clean Energy Lighthouse, LLC. Local citizens know what is best for their community and this appointment is a great example of transparent and inclusive government.”

State Senate Majority leader John Flanagan and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie were required to appoint a siting board member from nominations approved by host municipalities of where the project is being proposed. Senator Flanagan chose his representative from the Town of Somerset in Niagara County.

Assemblyman Heastie, however, failed to meet his obligation, and the responsibility to select a board member fell on the governor.

Sen. Ortt wrote a letter to Governor Cuomo, immediately following Assemblyman Heastie’s shortcomings. In the letter sent in January, Senator Ortt advocated for greater local involvement by moving siting decisions away from politicians and bureaucrats in Albany and giving back to local officials.

Apex Clean Energy has not formally submitted an application for the project.

Governor names Yates resident to board that will review ‘Lighthouse Wind’

File photo by Tom Rivers – Russ Martino, pictured here on Feb. 13, 2015 during the final meeting of the Orleans County Health Facilities Corporation, has been named to a siting board for the proposed Lighthouse Wind project. Martino served as chairman of the Health Facilities Corporation, which was created to facilitate the sale of the former county-owned nursing home.

YATES – Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stepped in to appoint a Yates resident to fill a spot on a siting board for the proposed Lighthouse Wind project.

The seven-member board includes leaders from five state agencies. It also has two spots for local residents. Cuomo on Tuesday named Russ Martino, a former Yates town supervisor and retired Lyndonville elementary principal, to the board.

That follows a couple months of pressure from local and state officials for Yates to have a voice on the board. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie didn’t appoint someone to the board.

John Flanagan, the State Senate majority leader, appointed Cathi Orr of Somerset to the board. Orr has been a vocal critic of the project, which could include up to 71 turbines in Somerset and Yates.

Apex Clean Energy is working on the application. Many of the documents for the project are available on the state Public Service Commission website. Click here to see the PSC website.

The Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment hasn’t convened. It is part of the new Article 10 process that has been criticized for shifting the final say on the project from local control to a board where the majority of the votes are state officials.

The five state representatives include the chairman of the Department of Public Service, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, commissioner of the Department of Health, chairman of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the commissioner of Economic Development.

After Heastie didn’t act on a local appointment, State Assemblyman Steve Hawley and county officials both appealed to the governor’s office to fill the spot with a Yates resident.

“I am pleased to see that Orleans County will be fairly represented in this process and that the board is allowing ordinary citizens to voice concerns about local projects,” Hawley said. “As I’ve said before, this is a local project that would greatly impact the Yates community and I fully support the decision to oppose the APEX Clean Energy Lighthouse, LLC. Local citizens know what is best for their community and this appointment is a great example of transparent and inclusive government.”

Former Yates Town Supervisor John Belson and Orleans County Legislature Chairman David Callard nominated four Yates residents for the board, including Martino, Cynthia Hellert, Glenn Maid and Jeffrey Oakes.

“I am gratified you have accepted this appointment and I am confident you will serve the people of New York State with dedication and distinction,” Cuomo said in a letter to Martino on March 1.

The Siting Board wouldn’t be officially convened until Apex submits a final application for the project in Yates and Somerset. Company officials say they are working to submit that application this summer.

Press Release, Lyndonville Central School

LYNDONVILLE – Mental health issues are gaining national attention and Lyndonville Central School District is teaming up with Orleans County Mental Health to provide services to the students.

“Our district works to assure resources are available to our students and this satellite mental health office helps to achieve that,” said Superintendent Jason Smith. “Allowing our students to have appropriate support provides them an opportunity for further success in the classroom.”

Services are available to Lyndonville students on a referral basis two days a week. Students are referred to the county mental health counselor by the district and parent/guardian permission is then obtained. The student then goes through an initial assessment with the counselor and regular appointments are planned thereafter.

This satellite office provides county mental health services in Lyndonville, in addition to the services offered at the county location in Albion.

“We are excited by the opportunity to bring community-based services to youth in their natural environment,” said Mark O’Brien, director of mental health and community services at Orleans County Department of Mental Health.

YATES – The Town Board has formed a task force to review and amend the local law for wind energy facilities, which was passed in 2008.

The Town Board named the task force last Thursday. Town Supervisor Jim Simon said the task force will look at setbacks, noise, property value guarantees and other issues with wind turbines.

The town approved its local law for wind energy facilities in 2008, after about two years of work from the town on the local law. Simon expects the update of the local law could be complete in six weeks to two months. The town will review how Somerset has proposed to change its local law for turbines.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said today.

Simon set March 7 as a deadline for the task force to propose changes in the local law to the Town Board.

The updated law will be subject to review by the Orleans County Planning Board and residents in a hearing.

John Riggi, a newly elected Yates Town Board member, was part of Somerset’s committee to update its wind energy law. Riggi served in the role as president of Save Ontario Shores, a citizens group opposed to the turbine. He and Simon will both serve on the Yates task force for the turbine law.

Other members include Paul Chatfield, Town Engineer; Gary Daum, Zoning Board chairman and County Planning Board member; Keith McKinney, Zoning Board member; Russ Martino, former town supervisor who oversaw 2008 Wind Law development; and at-large resident members, Carol Neal, Cindy Hellert and Andrew Cousins.

“Let’s look at it with a fresh set of eyes,” Simon said about the local law.

Hodgson Russ LLP of Buffalo will act as legal adviser to the task force. Dan Spitzer, an attorney from Hodgson Russ, advised the town a decade ago in developing its wind turbine law and will continue as an advisor, Simon said.

Apex Clean Energy has proposed up to 71 wind turbines in Yates and Somerset, with about two-thirds of the structures, peaking at 620 feet high, expected in Somerset. The company hasn’t submitted a formal application for the project.

In November, it submitted a preliminary scoping statement. More than 300 respondents with 1,000 comments were submitted to the NY Public Service Commission. Apex had a Feb. 11 deadline to respond to the comments but sought an extension until Feb. 29. The PSC agreed to the additional time.

James Muscato, Apex attorney, told the PSC in a letter that the company will give responses that are “meaningful and robust, and will demonstrate to the parties that their comments have been heard and considered.”

A seven-member Siting Board will review the final application by Apex. That board include five agency leaders for the state, and two residents from the project area. State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie were both to appoint a member from the local project area based on nominations from local elected officials.

Randy Atwater was previously reported to be Flanagan’s choice. But Atwater, as president of the Barker Board of Education, is an elected official, and elected representatives are now viewed as ineligible to serve on the committee.

Flanagan instead on Feb. 4 appointed Cathi Orr, a vocal critic of the project, to serve on the Siting Board. She used to live in Orangeville in Wyoming County but moved to Somerset after wind turbines were constructed in Orangeville.

“She is well-read on this issue,” Simon said. “She knows her stuff.”

Heastie didn’t name a local representative for the Siting Board. The issue has been left with Gov. Cuomo, and Simon said the governor is expected to name a resident from Yates soon.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley and State Sen. Robert Ortt sent joint letter on Feb. 3 asking Audrey Zibelman, commissioner of the New York State Public Service Commission, to work on the appointment of a Yates resident to the board.

The two state legislators noted Somerset had a representative from that town and Yates should also have a voice in the process.

“We firmly believe that equal representation from both Counties as enumerated in Article 10 should be appointed from Orleans County,” they said in a Feb. 3 letter.

Yates and Orleans County officials have submitted the names of four people to be considered for the board: Russ Martino, Jeff Oakes, Cindy Hellert and Glenn Maid.

LYNDONVILLE – “Need to Know,” a public affairs program produced by WXXI in Rochester, aired a segment on Lyndonville’s character education program on Feb. 4.

Jason Smith, the district superintendent, is pleased with the attention for the program, We R 3C. The segment on Need to Know includes interviews with teachers and students at Lyndonville.

The core of the We R 3C curriculum promotes values, respect, kindness and compassion and recognizes the definitive responsibility of the individual to the well-being of the community and reciprocally, the community’s responsibility to the well-being of the individual.

To see the feature on Lyndonville, click here for a link to the show. Lyndonville starts at the 23:50 mark.

YATES – The president of the citizens group opposed to the wind turbine project proposed in Yates and Somerset has written Gov. Cuomo a letter, asking him to fill the seat on a Siting Board for the “Lighthouse Wind” project.

There are supposed to be two local representatives and five leaders of state agencies on the “New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment.” That board will review the proposed project that includes up to 71 turbines that could peak at 620-feet high in the two towns.

One local representative has been named to the board. Randy Atwater, president of the Barker Board of Education, was appointed by John Flanagan, majority leader of the State Senate.

Carl Heastie, speaker of the State Assembly, also could have named a local representative but he didn’t act on the matter.

Now Pamela Atwater, president of Save Ontario Shores and wife of Randy Atwater, is pressing Gov. Cuomo to fill the other local seat.

“The Article 10 Board, even with two local appointees, is already heavily skewed against local government and community Home Rule,” Atwater wrote to Cuomo. “To enter the next phase of the siting process with one local representative position unfilled would be unfair, a further insult to the concept of Home Rule and would send a signal that the entire Article 10 process is preconfigured to ignore legitimate local and regional concerns.”

The board includes five leaders of state agencies – chairman of the Department of Public Service, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, commissioner of the Department of Health, chairman of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the commissioner of Economic Development.

The loss of “home rule” for the project has been denounced by many local municipal boards and elected officials, including the town boards in Yates and Somerset; the Erie, Niagara and Orleans county legislatures; and Congressman Chris Collins, State Sen. Robert Ortt and State Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

Surveys in Yates and Somerset have also showed strong opposition by residents to the project.

Apex Clean Energy has submitted a preliminary scoping statement and has until Feb. 11 to respond to “several hundred” comments on the PSS. After those responses, Apex officials said they look forward to more formal conversations about the project with the community and state agencies, said Taylor Quarles, development manager for Apex’s proposed Lighthouse Wind project.

LYNDONVILLE – The Lyndonville School District and the We R 3C character education program will be featured on WXXI television at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

The “Need to Know” program, hosted by Helene Biandudi Hofer, will present We R 3C’s approach to character education. Teachers and students from the Lyndonville were interviewed in November. The piece will include segments of a We R 3C lesson.

We R 3C, Inc. presents a holistic approach to character education and development as it relates to “pro-social behavior” and bullying. The foundation of organization’s work mirrors Jean Piaget’s stages of Cognitive Development and Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development.

Specifically, the focus is on the movement from the Egocentric Stage, whereby individuals place a higher value on their own wants and needs then they do on the wants and needs of others, to the Concrete Operational Development Stage, which includes the elimination of egocentrism and allows an individual to understand another person’s perspective whether they are in agreement or not.

The core of the We R 3C curriculum promotes values, respect, kindness and compassion and recognizes the definitive responsibility of the individual to the well-being of the community and reciprocally, the community’s responsibility to the well-being of the individual.

“We R 3C is a groundbreaking way to help our students develop good habits and reinforce the strong character traits that the Lyndonville community is known for,” said Lyndonville Superintendent Jason Smith.

For more information about We R 3C, click here. For more on WXXI, click here.

Senate leader picks Randy Atwater, president of Barker Central School, for board reviewing Lighthouse Wind

YATES – One of the two local residents who will serve on siting board for the wind turbine project in Yates and Somerset has been named.

Randy Atwater, president of the Barker Board of Education, was appointed by John Flanagan, majority leader of the State Senate.

However, the other local resident was to be named by Carl Heastie, speaker of the State Assembly. But Heastie didn’t act on the matter, an “abdication of his duties,” said State Sen. Robert Ortt.

It will now fall on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pick someone for the New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment. That board will review the proposed Lighthouse Wind project, which includes up to 71 wind turbines in Yates and Somerset.

“The speaker of the Assembly chose not to do his job,” Ortt said today following a Legislative Luncheon at Tillman’s Village Inn.

Flanagan was charged with picking one of the members, based on four submitted names from Ortt. The local state senator passed along four names of people nominated by Niagara County officials and Somerset Town Supervisor Dan Englert.

Besides Atwater, Cathie Orr, Thomas Staples and Robert Damon were nominated. Orr has been one of the proposed wind project’s loudest critics.

The Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment includes five state officials and two people from the local project area. State Assemblyman Steve Hawley passed along to Heastie four names of people from Yates who were submitted by Orleans County Legislature Chairman David Callard, and John Belson, the Yates town supervisor until Jan. 1.

The four nominated from Yates include Russell Martino, Cynthia Hellert, Glenn Maid and Jeffrey Oakes.

Hawley said he called Heastie’s office several times to press him to name one of the board’s members, but Heastie didn’t act before the deadline.

Hawley and Ortt have been critical of the loss of “home rule” on the project, with the final decision on land use made by the state instead of a local board. As part of a new Article 10 process, the decision for siting large-scale energy projects in New York rests with the Siting Board.

The five state representatives include the chairman of the Department of Public Service, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, commissioner of the Department of Health, chairman of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and the commissioner of Economic Development.

“I’m against this process,” Ortt said today.

The Siting Board wouldn’t be officially convened until Apex Clean Energy submits a final application for the project in Yates and Somerset. Company officials say they are working to submit that application this summer.

Judges say Lighthouse Wind PSS not deficient

Photos by Tom Rivers – Three administrative law judges met at the Barker Fire Hall today to decide some issues with the proposed Lighthouse Wind project. The judges include, from left: David R. Van Ort and Sean Mullany of the Department of Public Service, and Richard A. Sherman from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

BARKER Three judges decided today that Apex Clean Energy wasn’t deficient in its preliminary scoping statement filed Nov. 23 and subject to hundreds of comments.

Somerset, Yates and Save Ontario Shores leaders have been among the critics of the PSS from Apex, saying the company didn’t provide specifics on the size of wind turbines, the exact locations and the turbine manufacturer.

The judges said the PSS wasn’t intended to have “precise” information, but instead to begin the public engagement process. The sizes, locations and other issues can be addressed if the application moves forward, the judges said.

Dan Spitzer, an attorney for the Town of Yates, said the town and residents are hampered in offering a meaningful critique and assessment of the PSS with so many unanswered questions.

Apex wants to build up to 71 wind turbines in Somerset and Yates that could be up to 620 feet high.

Yates and Somerset are among the parties that asked the PSS start over with Apex being forced to provide more details. But the judges denied that request today during a meeting in the Barker Fire Hall. The judges include David R. Van Ort and Sean Mullany of the Department of Public Service, and Richard A. Sherman from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

James Muscato, attorney for Apex Clean Energy, said the company is working to provide “robust” answers to questions about the project.

The trio of judges also made a decision on how to divvy up $70,350 in intervenor funds. That is money provided by Apex for municipalities and citizens groups to review the PSS. State law requires the company to provide $350 in funds for every proposed megawatt. Apex is proposing a 201-megawatt project.

The judges asked attorneys for Somerset, Yates and Save Ontario Shores to explain their estimates for expenses. The three entities identified about $140,000 in expenses, however there was only $70,350 from Apex for the review.

The judges met behind closed doors for about 20 minutes to determine how to split up the funds.

“There is just not enough money to go around, so obviously we’re going to have to make adjustments,” said David Van Ort, one of the judges.

Somerset will get the most: $40,350, followed by $20,500 for Yates, and $9,500 for Save Ontario Shores.

Van Ort told the three groups to work together to get the “biggest bang for the buck.” He also said attorneys could reduce some of their costs for postage and printing by using electronic mail.

Somerset officials identified up to $95,550 for reviewing the initial Preliminary Scoping Statement. That includes the expense of attorneys, engineers, an ornithologist to study the impact on wildlife, an expert on raptor migration to study the impact on wildlife, a real estate valuation advisor to study the potential impact on real estate values, and an audiologist to study the potential adverse health effects caused by the proposed project.

Attorneys and representatives for Yates, Somerset and Save Ontario Shores meet in the Barker Fire Hall after today’s meeting. Dan Spitzer, an attorney for Yates, is in center facing camera.

Yates identified $26,381.25 in costs for legal and engineering services, and Save Ontario Shores sought $19,430 to focus on acoustics, electrical issues, viable alternatives, water resources, biodiversity, and wildlife impacts. SOS has hired environmental attorney Gary Abraham.

Even though the judges approved the intervenor funding today, Van Ort said the two towns and SOS will need to submit bills with an explanation of the services provided. Each disbursement will be subject to review and approval by the judges.

Apex has until Feb. 11 to respond to “several hundred” comments on the PSS. After those responses, Apex officials said they look forward to more formal conversations about the project with the community and state agencies, said Taylor Quarles, development manager for Lighthouse Wind.

Jim Muscato, an attorney for Apex, told the judges and about 100 people at today’s meeting that the company is working to address the comments on the PSS.

“We want to provide full and robust and meaningful responses,” he said.