Yates tells Apex current MET tower needs to be removed
Board is expected to vote on second MET tower next month
YATES – The Town of Yates notified Apex Clean Energy on Thursday that it needs to remove a meteorological tower because it is no longer in compliance.
Apex in the summer of 2015 erected a 197-foot-high MET tower on land owned by Donna Bane. The tower is on part of a 65-acre lot at the southwest corner of Lakeshore and Marshall roads.
The permit was good for two years and that time frame has expired, Town Supervisor Jim Simon said.
Apex was notified at 6:29 p.m. on Thursday that the tower was out of compliance.
Taylor Quarles, Apex project manager, hadn’t seen the letter last evening when he attended the Town Board meeting.
“If there is a problem, we’ll correct it,” he said when asked by a reporter.
Apex is trying to have a second MET tower constructed in Yates.
The town held a public hearing on Thursday for that application, with speakers for and against the tower at the northeast corner of West Yates Center Road and Route 269.
Yates has had a moratorium on new MET towers for a year. Simon said the Town Board will vote on the application during its September board meeting.
Apex has proposed the Lighthouse Wind project with 50-60 turbines about 600 feet high in Yates and Somerset.
The MET towers provide data on wind strength and consistency. Apex has three MET towers in Somerset.
