Provided photo – Some members of the Orleans County Town Clerk’s Association include, from left: Susan Colby, Clarendon; Darlene Rich, Shelby; Cindy Oliver, Murray; Jean Klatt, Gaines; Brenda Donald, Yates; Amy Richardson, Kendall; Barb Klatt, Ridgeway; and Donna Goodrich, deputy clerk for Clarendon.

YATES – Members of the Orleans County Town Clerk’s Association made a surprise presentation last week to retiring Yates Town Clerk Brenda Donald.

The presentation was made during the regular meeting of the Yates Town Board on Dec. 10. The clerks wanted to recognize Donald for her many years of service. She will retire Dec. 31.

Donald was presented with gifts and a declaration that stated in part: “Being the closest level of government to the people, the Clerk can’t help but care for the Community almost like extended family, as residents put their trust in that office for not only honest, efficient service, but in caring for the Clerk they elect, as in Brenda’s case, many times over.”

Donald was appointed as deputy to Town Clerk Larry Brown on Aug. 1, 1987. She served in that position until 2001 when she was appointed to the position of Town Clerk, following Brown’s death, and has served as Town Clerk for the past 14 years.

She has been a member of the Orleans County Town Clerk’s Association throughout her years of service. Members of the Town Clerk’s Association expressed gratitude to Donald for her decades of service to the Yates community.

“We thank you for the respect you’ve given to the position of Town Clerk and your attention to matters of importance to your community,” they said.

Photos by Tom Rivers – County Legislator Don Allport speaks against a plan for wind turbines that would peak at about 600 feet high in Yates and Somerset.

ALBION – Orleans County legislators today stated their opposition to a proposed Lighthouse Wind project that could include as many as 71 industrial-sized wind turbines in Yates and Somerset.

County legislators have avoided taking a public stand on the issue, saying previously they wanted to wait on a survey of town residents and also not appear to be meddling in a town issue.

But the Public Service Commission has set a Jan. 6 deadline for comments on a preliminary scoping document from Apex Clean Energy. (The PSC today announced the deadline has been extended until Jan. 12.)

Legislators said they have heard “the voice of the people” and want to state the county’s opposition to the project to the Public Service Commission.

“Keep in mind we still have an uphill battle,” Legislature Chairman David Callard said at today’s meeting that was attended by several Yates residents who have opposed the project.

A siting board will decide if the project is approved. The seven-member board has five members from state agencies and will include two local residents. That gives the state the majority of the say in voting on the project.

Legislators opposed the project that they said would “place commercial wind turbines within this quaint, beautiful Town of Yates.”

The Legislature also opposed the state’s Article 10 law, which gives the state the power to site the turbines, not the local government leaders.

In a separate resolution, legislators stated their support for “Constitutional Home Rule.”

Legislator Don Allport said he worries the state could force landfills and other unwanted projects on communities with the Article 10 Law. Allport said Albion was able to prevent a new landfill in the community since the mid-1990s because it has local laws against additional landfills. He said the proposed turbines are “monsters.”

By passing Article 10, the state led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo has stripped local municipalities of their powers to use zoning and land use in their communities, legislators said in the resolution.

Photos by Tom Rivers – Richard Pucher, a member of the Save Ontario Shores citizen group opposed to turbines in Yates and Somerset, addresses the Orleans County Legislature this afternoon.

Paul Pettit, Orleans County public health director, said the Genesee-Orleans Board of Health also has concerns about the project because the state and Apex haven’t done baseline studies measuring the health of residents and environmental conditions in the community before the project.

Pettit said the Article 10 process skirts some important environmental studies for such a large project.

“We’ve been very concerned with the health impacts,” Pettit said at today’s Legislature meeting. “We feel strongly that studies should be done.”

Russ Martino, a former Yates town supervisor, spoke at today’s meeting. He said the Town of Yates is working on the results of a 10-question survey of residents. More than 1,000 have been returned to the town, Martino said, and results should be presented at the Dec. 28 Town Board meeting.

Martino is a retired Lyndonville principal who has lived in Yates for 48 years.

“I’ve never seen the commotion that the siting of the wind turbines has caused,” Martino told county legislators. “It pits neighbor versus neighbor.”

Richard Pucher, a retired Lyndonville superintendent, has been active with Save Ontario Shores. Pucher said many school administrators head to Florida in retirement, but he has opted to stay in the community.

“I stayed here because I love my community and I don’t want to see it destroyed,” Pucher said.

He urged the Legislature to follow the Somerset Town Board, Niagara County Legislature and State Sen. Robert Ortt in opposing the project.

Jim Simon was elected Yates town supervisor in November on a write-in campaign. Simon was endorsed by Save Ontario Shores and has been against the turbine project.

He was pleased with the Orleans County Legislature resolutions opposing Lighthouse Wind and Article 10.

“I am very encouraged by the Orleans County Legislature resolutions for Home Rule and against the Apex proposal,” Simon said.

He said he expects the town survey will show strong opposition to Lighthouse Wind. He expects the new Yates Town Board will officially oppose the project early next year.

Press Release, Congressman Chris Collins

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement after writing a letter to Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration officials expressing concern over a proposed wind turbine project along the Lake Ontario shoreline.

“Protecting the military missions and jobs supported by the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (NFARS) is my main priority,” said Congressman Collins. “The proposed wind turbine project along the Lake Ontario shoreline has the potential to jeopardize the base’s operations and viability. Any project that puts the base’s future at risk is unacceptable. NFARS has survived a number of closure attempts, and I will continue to do everything in my power to guarantee its doors remain open.”

Full text of the letter is below.

December 8, 2015

Mr. John Conger Ms. Elizabeth Ray
Deputy Under Secretary Vice President
Department of Defense Mission Support Services
Installations and Environment Federal Aviation Administration
3400 Defense Pentagon 800 Independence Ave SW
Washington, D.C. 20303 Washington, D.C. 20591

Dear Mr. Conger & Ms. Ray,

I am writing you to share my concerns with a proposed project in my district. I recently received a letter from the Niagara Military Affairs Council (NIMAC) regarding a proposal by APEX Clean Energy to construct wind turbines along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. I have included the letter for your reference. This letter raises serious concerns with the potential project and its proximity to the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station (NFARS) military operating area.

NFARS was established in 1955 and is home to the Air Force Reserve Command’s 914th Airlift wing, the 328th Airlift Squadron, and the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Airlift Wing. Currently, the Air Force Reserves flies the C-130 mission and the Air National Guard has taken on the Remotely Piloted Aircraft mission. NFARS employs nearly 3,000 service members and civilians and provides economic growth and stability to the Niagara County and its surrounding communities.

If approved, the APEX Clean Energy proposal would put 70 wind turbines that stand 600 feet tall along the shores of Lake Ontario, in close proximity to the base. Encroachment is one of many key factors the military uses when determining the future of a base. Currently, NFARS is ranked favorably in that area and we cannot afford to allow any project to move forward that would jeopardize its future.

We have serious concerns that these wind turbines will impede the current airspace, making the base less viable for future missions. In 1995, the base was reviewed for closure during a Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). It was again reviewed for closure in a 2005 BRAC, and again in 2012 during the US Air Force Structure Adjustment. With an ever-present BRAC threat to the base and talks of another round in the next few years, we cannot risk these wind turbines jeopardizing the future of the Base and all those who are supported by it.

We must ensure that the future of the base remains viable and that any proposed projects do not interfere with its radar and flight operations. I am asking that before any decision is made, both the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense complete a thorough study of any potential impacts these structures would have on current and future operations at NFARS.

Sincerely,

CHRIS COLLINS
Member of Congress

Cc: The Honorable Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York

Photo by Tom Rivers  – This house at the corner of South Main and Eagle streets is one of many decorated for the holiday season in Lyndonville.

The Lyndonville Lions Club will do its annual judging of houses decorated with lights on Dec. 15. Judges will canvass the community on Dec. 15 from 6 to 9 p.m. to look at the displays.

“Lyndonville has some of the best Christmas-decorated homes around during this wonderful time of the year,” said Lynne Johnson, the Lions Club president.

The Lions Club is also doing its annual toy drive for children. That started today and people are welcome to drop off toys at the M & T Bank and Yates Community Free Library, both on Main Street.

Last year, the toy drive resulted in 125 children receiving five toys each and a new pair of pajamas. The toys will be collected until about a week before Christmas.

“We hope we can exceed last year’s total and make each child happy and reflective on the Season of Giving,” Johnson said.

‘My focus will be to kill the project.’ – State Sen. Robert Ortt

Photos by Tom Rivers – State Sen. Robert Ortt told a crowd of about 200 people on Tuesday night that he opposes the Lighthouse Wind Project and will work to defeat it. He thanked the volunteers in Save Ontario Shores for their efforts to educate the community about the project.

BARKER – Residents in Yates and Somerset, where as many as 71 towering wind turbines are proposed by Apex Clean Energy, shouldn’t expect the two towns and local state officials to quietly step aside and allow the controversial project, 200 residents were told during a public meeting on Tuesday at the Barker Fire Hall.

“My focus will be to kill the project,” said State Sen. Robert Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, “and that’s because I represent you.”

Ortt said residents have overwhelmingly shown opposition to the project, from survey results to their attendance at public meetings.

Dan Engert is the Somerset town supervisor who has come out strongly against the proposed Lighthouse Wind.

“We will defeat this project, there is no question about it in my mind,” Engert told the crowd in Barker.

Somerset Town Supervisor Dan Engert, right, tells residents Somerset will keep up the fight against Lighthouse Wind.

Engert said residents have been “very clear” in opposition to the project.

“I have received very few comments from the community in support of the project,” he said.

Ortt said he worries the project, with about 70 turbines within 3 to 4 miles of the lakeshore, would jeopardize the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station. The turbines, at about 600 feet, could interfere with flights and radar for the Reserve Station, Ortt said.

“This is about an energy agenda that is being forced on all of us,” Ortt said.

Apex Clean Energy on Nov. 23 submitted the Preliminary Scoping Document that presents Apex studies and responses for environmental issues with noise and vibration; geology, seismology and soils; terrestrial ecology and wetlands; visual impacts; socioeconomic effects; and other issues.

About 200 residents, some wearing T-shirts opposing the wind turbine project, attended the meeting at Barker Fire Hall.

Town officials and residents were initially given until mid-December to respond to document, but that deadline was moved back to Jan. 6.

Dennis Vacco, the former state attorney general, has been hired to the Town of Somerset to fight the turbine plan. Vacco is a partner in the Buffalo law firm of Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman.

Vacco said he sees the project as a threat to Air Reserve Station in Niagara Falls, a site that the community has twice rallied to save from being closed.

Vacco told residents on Tuesday he has internal records from state officials expressing concern about Lighthouse Wind on birds because the project is targeted for a major migratory bird path, a critical corridor for raptors and eagles.

Dennis Vacco, a former state attorney general hired by Somerset to fight Lighthouse Wind, holds internal emails from state officials, where he said they express concerns about the turbines on the bird population.

Vacco said he wants to avoid litigation in the fight against the project. However, he said litigation is a “tool” that can be used. Right now, he is “developing ammunition to hold them accountable.” He already has thousands of records from the state using the Freedom of Information Act.

He urged residents to post comments on the Public Service Commission website about the proposal (click here). Vacco said some residents should consider stepping forward in a lawsuit, filing a “nuisance claim” about the turbines, which would be about 600 feet high from the top tip of the blade.

“We’re going to do everything we can to bring this to a halt as cost effective as possible,” Vacco said.

He and Somerset Town Supervisor Dan Engert were critical of Apex for not detailing the turbine locations and how many are planned for the two towns. In its PSC filing, Apex says Lighthouse Wind will be a 201 megawatt project. It will have up to 71 turbines if they are 2.85 MW each or 61 turbines if they are 3.3 MWs, the company said.

Engert said the lack of specifics makes it difficult for the town to prepare a response and rebuttal to the Apex preliminary scoping document. Somerset has asked for 90 days to submit comments and requests for more information about the project, rather than the 45-day window provided by the PSC.

“This is a very significant document that takes time, that takes a coordination of consultants,” Engert said.

Jim Simon, newly elected Yates town supervisor, said the state Siting Board for reviewing the Lighthouse Wind project is stacked with too many state officials and not enough local residents.

Engert said a committee reviewing the Somerset law for wind turbines, enacted in 2006, could make recommendations as soon as Wednesday (Dec. 9) for the town to adopt. The revised Somerset law is the ordinance Apex will need to comply with for the turbine proposal, Engert said.

Save Ontario Shores President John Riggi also addressed the group. He announced he is no longer going to be president of SOS because he is joining the Yates Town Board on Jan. 1. Pamela Atwater will be the new Save Ontario Shores president.

“She will do a fantastic job shepherding us through a successful conclusion,” Riggi said.

Jim Simon was elected the new Yates town supervisor following a write-in campaign. He thanked the supporters and voters in the community.

He praised Engert and the Somerset officials for being aggressive in fighting the turbine plan, through a survey, resolutions, updated laws and hiring Vacco’s law firm.

“We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Town of Somerset,” Simon said.

John Riggi, the president of Save Ontario Shores in the gorup’s first year, addresses the crowd in the Barker Fire Hall.

The state is changing the process for siting large-scale wind turbines, projects with 25-plus megawatts. The state will have a Siting Board with five state officials and two representatives from the local community where a project is planned.

That change, giving the state the majority of the say in the project over local officials, irked all of the speakers during Tuesday’s meeting. Ortt said he will work with local State Assembly members Jane Corwin, R-Clarence, and Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, to have the Siting Board be expanded to at least four local representatives. The state legislators will take up the issue in Albany in January, Ortt said.

The state changed the process for reviewing the projects in legislation known as Article 10.

“It will result in more projects like this being shoved down communities’ throats,” Ortt said.

Simon said the Article 10 changes run against the country’s principles.

“We ought to have a say as residents of the two towns for our future,” Simon said.

Photos by Tom Rivers

LYNDONVILLE – The third annual holiday celebration in Lyndonville has grown to 54 trees decorated by the community at Veterans Park.

Santa Claus arrived in a sleigh and flipped a switch to turn on the lights for the trees at about 5 p.m. today.

Santa waves to the crowd gathered along Main Street as he makes his way to the park.

There were activities throughout the day to celebrate the Christmas season.

Santa arrives and is met by many happy children. After turning on the lights by flipping a switch at the “North Pole,” Santa met with children and their families until 7 p.m. at the Village Hall.

Santa is the center of attention at the park.

This is the third year Lyndonville has organized the holiday celebration.

The number of decorated trees has grown from 26 in 2013 to 43 last year and now 54 for 2015.

The trees are expected to stay at Veterans Park until early January.

YATES – Four residents of Yates have the town and county support to serve on a committee to determine whether a large-scale wind energy project will be approved for Yates and Somerset.

Yates Town Supervisor John Belson and David Callard, County Legislature chairman, were asked by the state Public Service Commission to nominate four residents to be considered for an ad hoc siting committee.

Somerset and Niagara County also backed four residents for the committee. The state PSC will allow two local residents to be on the seven-member committee. The state will consider the eight people – four from both Yates and Somerset – nominated for the committee and whittle that to two. Ideally, Callard said this afternoon, there would be a local representative for both Yates and Somerset.

Yates and the county were united in submitting the following names for the PSC to consider: Russ Martino (former town supervisor), Cynthia Hellert, Jeffrey Oakes and Glenn Maid (a critic of the wind energy project who was endorsed for the Town Board by the Conservative Party and Save Ontario Shores. Maid didn’t win the election last month.)

“The four are a good balance representing different points of view,” Callard said.

He isn’t sure how the state will determine who is chosen to serve on the siting committee.

Besides the two local representatives on the siting committee, the seven-member group is chaired by the state Department of Public Service and includes the leaders of four other state departments: Department of Environmental Conservation, NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), Empire State Development and the Department of Health.

YATES – The Town of Yates sent 2,608 surveys to residents last week, asking 10 questions about issues related to a proposed wind turbine project in Yates and Somerset.

Yates residents have been asked to send in the self-addressed, stamped envelopes with surveys, postmarked by Dec. 11.

“We wanted something we can submit to the Siting Board that is legitimate, that can be taken seriously,” said Town Supervisor John Belson.

The town formed a three-person committee to compile the questions on the survey and also give residents two pages of background on the “Lighthouse Wind” project. Town Councilman Wes Bradley was on the committee along with Save Ontario Shores member Richard Pucher and Taylor Quarles, the project manager for Apex Clean Energy.

Apex has submitted a scoping document to the Public Service Commission. The company may build up to 71 wind turbines in the two towns, generating 200 megawatts of electricity.

In a letter to residents that went out with the survey, the Yates Town Board says the town doesn’t have an official vote on the project, but town officials can influence the decision-making with the project through its laws and regulations as well as with a presentation to the Siting Board.

The state passed a law in 2011 giving a Siting Board authority to approve electric generating projects 25 megawatts or bigger, according to the letter from the town to residents.

The letter also says a host community agreement with Apex could be part of the process with Apex paying annual payments to the town, the company agreeing to repair roads as part of the construction, and also to have a plan for decommissioning the turbines in the future.

The letter also outlines the state’s plan for 50 percent of the power to come from renewable sources by 2030. State leaders want to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions, according to the letter.

Bradley said the data from the survey could be part of the town’s presentation to the Siting Board if Apex can move the application past the preliminary scoping document.

“If there is a final application, there will be a comment period and I would expect that the Town Board would make a presentation to the Siting Board,” Bradley said. “The survey will give us information we can use in the presentation.”

The town has committee in place to tabulate the data and do a final report for the Town Board.

Here are the 10 questions residents are asked to answer on the survey:

1) Many topics are currently being studied regarding Lighthouse Wind. These proposed wind turbines would change the appearance of the landscape within the town. Do you have a concern about this?

Yes, No, No Opinion

2) As currently proposed, the electricity from this project would be delivered into the New York State electrical grid. Should the Town of Yates attempt to negotiate a separate agreement with electric suppliers for more favorable rates?

Yes, No, No Opinion

3) If Apex eventually seeks a PILOT (Payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) from COIDA (County of Orleans Industrial Development Agency), should this be granted?

Yes, No, No Opinion

4) In 2015, the Town of Yates tax levy was $852,205. What percentage of decrease in the Town of Yates tax levy would you like to see come from this project? Circle one answer.
0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%, No Opinion

5) What effect do you feel wind turbines would have on property values in the Town of Yates?

Increase, Decrease, No Change

6) Taking into consideration requirements of the Article 10 review process, do you feel the study of health issues is important?

Yes, No, No Opinion

7) Taking into consideration requirements of the Article 10 review process, do you feel the study of wildlife issues is important?

Yes, No, No Opinion

8) Taking into consideration requirements of the Article 10 review process, do you feel the study of possible effects on the operations at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station is important?

Yes, No, No Opinion

9) Do you feel New York State’s “Reforming Energy Vision” is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Yes, No, No Opinion

10) Based on your knowledge of Lighthouse Wind, are you in favor or opposed to this project at this time?
Favor, Oppose, No Opinion