Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Backroom politics in Cape Vincent~ Opinion

Watertown Daily Times | Backroom politics in Cape Vincent
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010


The Cape Vincent village board placed an ad in the paper for resumes to replace Robert Doud, who has resigned. I was told Joe Gould was their choice before the ad went in based on his experience.

Why the ruse? Was it because they were questioned at a village board meeting? I understand it took less then five minutes in executive session to make the decision. Was it already decided? Was the fix in? Imagine that.

The other people who turned in resumes didn't even get the courtesy of an interview, not even a phone call. And yet, the board has the audacity to say, quote, "No one wants to be involved."

Michele Carlton, a Democratic candidate, received 183 votes from the people last election. Joe Gould gets the job with the majority of four votes. Imagine that.


I would like to list a few decisions made by this board with Joe Gould on it:

1) Joe Gould was on the board when they spent $37,000 for a study on a visitor center. They changed their minds, and now the village is being sued.

2) Joe was there when they voted to put the new water tower in the town, but the village has to pay $50,000 a year for 30 years.

3) He was on the board when we got our new U.S. Customs building without a roof.

4) Wasn't it Joe Gould who adamantly refused to run for office last November, but he was the only one qualified in the village for the Zoning Board of Appeals?

5) One has to ask, is Joe Gould a Republican in name only? He is on the town Republican Committee. This is the same committee being looked into by county GOP Chairman Donald Coon for flatly refusing to endorse or help our Republican candidates last election.

6) The board says they need his experience on issues facing the village. Rumor has it that the new sewer plant is being designed to handle sewage from other places to make a few bucks. Picture this in your minds. A beautiful little village acting like a cesspool for the county, surrounded by windmills or giant fans. This doesn't sound like a good way to build a tax base.

Folks, if this isn't a perfect example of small-town, good-ole-boy, backroom politics, I don't know what is.

Not to worry. They have one answer they always give. "If you don't like it, move." This is real professional. Don't you think?

Harry Landers

Cape Vincent

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Attorneys paid big bucks for PILOT

By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010

By October, the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency had paid its consultants about $38,000 to develop a model property tax exemption policy for wind power developments.

But the big money paid to JCIDA attorneys came after Oct. 6, and that number will remain secret because it has been paid by the company bringing Galloo Island Wind Farm to Jefferson County.

Continue reading at this link

Cape Vincent~ Property Sales

Watertown Daily Times Property Sales

March 14 2010

Town of Cape Vincent:Seven parcels, 1) 20.86 acres, 2) 50 acres, 3) 50 acres, 4) 9.56 acres, 5) 50 acres, 6) 20.47 acres, 7) 19.23 acres, Cape Vincent Road, Virginia F. Worner, Cape Vincent, sold to Richard J. Edsall and Virginia W. Edsall, Cape Vincent $43,000

Friday, March 12, 2010

Cape officials discuss wind-related issues

By Nancy Madsen Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.

Date: Friday, March 12 2010

Mar. 12--CAPE VINCENT -- A decision on a wind zoning law was not directly addressed by the Town Council on Thursday night, but several issues that could affect two proposed wind projects were discussed.

Some waterfront landowners want to be rezoned to limit commercial and industrial development.

Noel P. Bonvouloir, Fox View Lane, presented a petition from about 100 property owners asking that a section of land between County Route 6 and Lake Ontario be rezoned as lakefront.

Continue...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Hirschey is wasting taxpayers' money ~ Letter

Watertown Daily Times Hirschey is wasting taxpayers' money
THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010


I was shocked when I saw the recent ad by the anti-wind coalition. In this ad, the coalition compares windmills placed in the windiest sections of New York to the attack on Pearl Harbor, in which more than 2,400 American soldiers lost their lives. Coalition members are comparing their disappointment that cocktails on their summer home patios won't be the same anymore to the murder of 2,400-plus Americans on Dec. 7, 1941. This ad is incredibly disrespectful and Cape Vincent Town Council member Brooks Bragdon should be ashamed to be a member of this coalition.

Cape town Supervisor Urban Hirschey recently had an audit done for the town's finances because he and the Cape anti-wind group had themselves convinced that former Supervisor Tom Rienbeck and others on the town board were corrupt.

What did Urban's auditor find? Nothing. Urban assumed the audit would take two weeks, but because Supervisor Rienbeck's accounting was so accurate and thorough, the auditor was done in a day. Will Urban make taxpayers pay for this frivolous audit?

Urban's anti-wind group already wasted thousands of our tax money in their 2007 frivolous lawsuit against the town. Of course, they lost that lawsuit.


Just recently, Urban's anti-wind group almost dragged us into another frivolous lawsuit against town board members, but they realized they'd lose this lawsuit too, so they withdrew it last week. The chairman of Urban's anti-wind group, John Byrne, said they withdrew the lawsuit because after the November '09 election "the make-up of the board had changed."

If this is the real, reason, why did the anti-wind group file the lawsuit in January 2010 and schedule a court appearance in February 2010?

Urban has also already squandered the allotted money for the supervisor's cell phone by buying an expensive phone with all the bells and whistles. He still has 10 months of expensive monthly payments for coverage. Will Urban make taxpayers pay for this wasteful spending?

Last month, Urban was expected to compete an annual financial report to the state comptroller, but Urban didn't want to do the report and didn't even want to learn how to do it. So he hired Mr. Rienbeck and paid him $2,000 to do it for him. Is this $2,000 coming out of the town budget?

So how does the minority that elected Urban feel about his leadership now?

Cory White

Cape Vincent

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Aubertine tells Kessel~ NYPA ~ he will oppose any wind developments that communities do not want!

Senator Darrel Aubertine wrote to Richard Kessel President of the New York Power Authority stating that he will oppose any wind developments if the communities don't want them.


Thursday, March 4, 2010

Crowds oppose offshore wind

Watertown Daily Times | Crowds oppose offshore wind

PULASKI MEETING: Dozens turn out to object to project in eastern Lake Ontario
By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010


PULASKI — Opponents of a proposal for offshore wind power projects raised a rallying cry at a meeting Wednesday night at the H. Douglas Barclay Courthouse.

About 80 people from Oswego, Jefferson and Wayne counties attended the meeting organized by the Joint Commission for the Preservation of Lake Ontario Communities, a coalition blessed by the boards of legislators in Jefferson and Oswego counties.

DEC releases Galloo findings

TWO TURBINES CUT: Agency says layout would threaten bird species

By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010

The conclusion of the state environmental quality review process has led developers to cut two turbines from the plan for Galloo Island Wind Farm.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which has been the lead agency on the review, released its findings Wednesday. Those findings included the elimination of two turbines to preserve habitat for the upland sandpiper, a state-listed threatened species.

Acciona releases Conflicted Offical's payment figures

Watertown Daily Times | Acciona releases payment figures

WIND ETHICS CODE: Town of Cape Vincent land contracts of officials, relatives disclosed
By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010

CAPE VINCENT — The developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm has released a revised list of town officials who have land contracts with the developer.

Acciona Wind Energy USA LLC, which has proposed the 53-turbine, 79.5-megawatt project, included the amount town officials or their relatives with contracts had been paid through Aug. 19.

The disclosure fulfills the requirements of the Wind Industry Ethics Code, which was introduced by state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo in July.

"What's important to us is that the level of disclosure we've done as far as any potential conflict of interest is far beyond what other industries have done in New York state," project manager Peter E. Zedick said. "There are competing interests on every issue and we're taking the high road in the level of disclosure we've given."
Town Councilman Marty T. Mason has leases and power line easements from 2005 on three parcels that brought between $5,000 and $20,000. Councilman Donald J. Mason has a lease for a parcel that accrued $5,000 to $20,000 in payments for him.

The two also have or have relatives with leases for Cape Vincent Wind Farm, as reported by developer BP Alternative Energy. BP's report gives the annual estimated value of the lease as opposed to what has been paid through mid-2009. The Times reported on the BP disclosure Feb. 24.

BP estimated that the lease with Marty Mason is worth $24,400 annually. His parents also have a lease, with a possible value of $1,500 per year, and his sister is Town Clerk Jeri Ann Mason.

Councilman Donald Mason's brother has a lease with BP, valued at $1,500 annually.

Code Enforcement Officer Alan N. Wood owns multiple parcels with leases with Acciona that have totaled between $5,000 and $20,000 for him and other owners. Planning Board member Karen Bourcy is related to Mr. Wood and the other owners of Wood Farm.

In Lyme, new Councilman Donald R. Bourquin has a brother with a transmission line easement, which has brought in less than $5,000. His two brothers also have leases with BP, with values of $8,133 and $2,633 annually.

Two members of the Thousand Islands Central School District Board of Education also are listed with relatives with leases with Acciona.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Energy efficiency grants announced

$465,283 IN STIMULUS FUNDS: Thousand Islands school, town of Alexandria, SUNY Potsdam to benefit
Link -->here<-- to the Watertown Daily Times article

By JAEGUN LEE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010

Three entities in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties have received $465,283 in stimulus funding to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings, Gov. David A. Paterson announced Monday.

In Jefferson County, the Thousand Islands Central School District was given $163,760 to install a 20-kilowatt wind turbine, which is expected to reduce the district's electric bill by $7,474 a year. The location of the turbine has not yet been decided.

St. Lawrence Wind to Wait for Zoning Law

NANCY MADSEN / STAFF WRITER
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010
Link to the Watertown Times article -->here<--

CAPE VINCENT - The developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm will wait to proceed with the next step on the project until the town has passed a zoning law.

Peter E. Zedick, project developer for Acciona Wind Energy USA, told the Times earlier this week, “We’re waiting to see what happens with the town and their ordinance.”

The developer must next submit a final environmental impact statement to the Planning Board, a step near the end of the environmental review process. Acciona’s project would construct 53 turbines with a rated capacity of 79.5 megawatts in the town’s northern agricultural district.

GALLOO ISLAND

STATE OF NEW YORK ~PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

RULING CANCELING SCHEDULE

March 30, 2010
Article VII proceeding- Hon. Kevin J. Casutto, Administrative Law Judge for the Public Service Commission, granted Upstate's recent motion seeking a suspension of the litigation schedule in order to provide Upstate additional time to supplement the alternatives analysis in Upstate's Article VII application. The next scheduled status conference between the parties and the Judge is scheduled for September 15, 2010
~~~~~~
RULING

STATE OF NEW YORK
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
CASE 09-T-0049 - Application of Upstate NY Power Corp. for a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need for a 50.6 mile 230kV Transmission Facility From Galloo Island in the Town of Hounsfield, Jefferson County, to the Fitzpatrick-Edic Substation in the Town of Mexico, Oswego County.
RULING CANCELING SCHEDULE
(Issued March 31, 2010)
KEVIN J. CASUTTO, Administrative Law Judge:
On December 17, 2009, a Ruling on Schedule was issued, providing for evidentiary hearings from April 8, 2010 through April 22, 2010. On February 17, 2010, the Applicant filed a letter-motion seeking to supplement its application regarding alternatives analysis and its community involvement and outreach plan. Consequently, the Applicant is also seeking cancelation of the hearing schedule. On February 26, 2010, Staff filed a reply and cross-motion for suspension and postponement of litigation schedule. Staff does not object to cancelation of the hearing schedule, but does object to the Applicant’s proposals for supplemental alternatives analysis and community involvement and outreach. Additionally, on March 2, 2010, Roberta French, representative for citizen intervenor Margate Gavin, provided comments in reply to the motion and cross-motion.
On March 3, 2010, I convened a telephone conference with the active parties to discuss the motions and further scheduling. During the telephone conference, I urged the Applicant and Staff to develop a joint proposal on alternatives and community involvement and outreach.
During a telephone conference on March 26, 2010 with the Applicant, Staff, and Ms. French, the Applicant and Staff advised that they reached general agreement on a suspension, but

CASE 09-T-0049
-2-
no agreement on the details and no agreement on procedures for a public participation process.
Because no party objects to the Applicant’s request to cancel the current hearing schedule, I hereby cancel the schedule previously established with the December 17, 2009 Ruling on Schedule. The remaining relief sought in the motion and cross-motion regarding alternatives and community involvement and outreach remains under review and subject to a decision at a future date. A procedural conference will be convened on the morning of September 15, 2010 to consider further scheduling proposals, the location and time of the conference to be announced at a later date.
(SIGNED) KEVIN J. CASUTTO