Orleans council cancels wind session

Watertown Daily Times | Orleans council cancels wind session

LAFARGEVILLE — The Orleans Town Council canceled a wind power comment meeting that had been set for Oct. 21.

By NANCY MADSEN

TIMES STAFF WRITER

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009

The council had agreed to host the meeting after Horse Creek Wind Farm proponents balked at the recommendations from the town's Wind Committee for more restrictive zoning for commercial wind farms in the town.

The council and committee discussed the recommendations at a meeting Sept. 17.

During that time, the wind project proponents, led by Jay M. Burrows, submitted a petition to leave the zoning law as it is and asked for an opportunity to speak their mind. That forum, set for Oct. 21, was canceled in a divided vote at the council's regular meeting Thursday night.

"This isn't a new topic that they got blindsided with," Councilman Dean T. Morrow said. "They could've for two years come to any board meeting at any time and opened a dialog with us. It's a mistake to hold this session to have them come to us to have a bitch session about the town."

Mr. Morrow, Councilmen Thomas A. Johnston and Peter R. Davis voted to cancel the meeting. Supervisor Donna J. Chatterton and Councilman Kevin C. Rarick voted against the measure.

Ms. Chatterton wanted to stick with the plan they had agreed on Sept. 17.

"The board should've stepped in that night and said, 'No,'" she said.

She said there were restrictions, such as signing in and comments of only three minutes, to help keep civility.

But Mr. Morrow didn't think they would be enough.

"I think it will turn into a circus," Mr. Morrow said.

Members of the town's Wind Committee also distrusted the additional meeting.

"I have a real question on you turning this around," member Darryl Hyde said. "We held all these meetings and they were all open to the public. We went through numbers of references and documents and where in the hell were all these people then?"

Judy E. Tubolino, vice-chairwoman of the wind committee and a member of the Environmentally Concerned Citizens Organization, said it seemed to be a double-standard.

"When ECCO started, we did all the educational meetings," she said. "For the town to be hosting something that is for the pro-wind group, that's not being fair."

The council members agreed the wind project proponents should hold their own informational forum, if they so choose.

"The people who were anti-wind had informational sessions for the public," Mr. Morrow said. "The pro-wind people should follow the same format."

Before the meeting, the Wind Committee also turned in its second part of recommendations on health and safety issues.

"Do we have a consensus of the board to move forward?" Mr. Morrow asked.

Ms. Chatterton said, "I think we need to read through the report before we do anything else."