Resident disputes councilman’s claims of Apex expansion

Editor:

This letter is in response to the letter written by Mr. Riggi. It reads more like a letter written by the President of SOS than by my Town Councilman. If it was written by my Town Councilman, I would think that he would check the facts before writing a Letter to the Editor.

It is true, Apex Clean Energy has proposed the Lighthouse Wind Project in the Towns of Somerset and Yates and has also proposed another wind project called “Heritage Wind” in the Town of Barre.

Fact: The only expansion of the originally proposed Lighthouse Wind Farm project’s siting plan is as follows: If a land owner that had land in the project area signed up for the project and he had land across the road, that land may be included in the project. This in no way significantly modifies the project area.  It is not a significant expansion of the project south as stated by Mr. Riggi.

Apex signs in Ridgeway: The last time I checked, Mr. Riggi, a landowner could place any signs of his choice in his yard.  At this time there are no plans by Apex to site any Industrial Wind Turbines in Ridgeway.

“Connecting the dots” – Both the Lighthouse Wind Project in Somerset/Yates and the Heritage Wind Project in Barre stand on their own two feet. There are transmission lines connected to the New York grid system available in both project areas so there is no need to connect the two wind farms. Besides, the two farms are approximately 18 miles apart.

Additional Apex projects in Niagara and Orleans Counties? None at the present time.

As my Town Councilman, I would hope that before you write your next letter to the Editor, you would check the facts.  It’s not that hard to do, John. Taylor Quarles, Project Engineer on the Lighthouse Wind Project, has invited you to the project office and informational meetings several times.

As my Councilman, I feel the more you learn about both wind projects, the more qualified you would be to write these letters.

For reasons stated in my letter, John, I give you four “Pinocchios” for your last letter.

Sincerely,

Howard Pierce
Lyndonville