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Springwater Wind Farm Meeting sheds little new data - Overwhelming majority of attendees oppose proposed project
From the Genesee Country Express, April 28, 2005
  By Rebeka Fergusson-Lutz

SPRINGWATER- -

More than 250 people filled the Springwater Fire Hall on Satur­day afternoon for the informa­tional meeting on the Bishop Wind Farm proposed for the hills of East Springwater.

But Saturday's presentation contained little in the way of new data that attendees of the Punky Hollow open house on Jan. 20 or the March 12 meet­ing sponsored by the Springwa­ter Preservation Committee hadn't already heard. Both Bill Moore, engineer and project manager with PPM Atlantic Re­newable Energy Corporation, and John Servo, a wind farm activist with Advocates for Prattsburgh and the de facto spokesperson for the Springwa­ter Preservation Committee, pre­sented very similar presentations as before.

Attendees were, for the most part, left with a "he said-she said" understanding of wind farms in particular and wind en­ergy more broadly. Moore said that decibel levels al the Bishop Wind Farm would be at most 50 dBA when operating at full load; SPC said that the noise level would be upwards of 90 dBA. PPM Atlantic Renewable said that only two to three birds would be killed per year per tower, a “biologically insignificant number,” and migratory birds like bald eagles travel at altitudes higher than the turbines and wouldn’t be affected. Servo on the other hand, cited a study done in Holland that found 78 birds were killed at each tower, and told of another wind farm in West Virginia where thousands of bats have died. Similarly, Moore touted the wind farm as an example of open space preservation, as it re­duces the development pressure on landowners to sell vacant farmland. Servo called it "open space preservation turned on its head," arguing that indeed there will be lots of open space in Springwater because no one will want to live in the proximity of the wind farm.

"Everyone thinks that wind power is clean, green and renew­able," Carolyn Tinney, co-chair of the SPC, stated. "It's all a lie." On the flip-side was Moore, who told the room that "wind power is the cleanest and safest way to generate electricity,"

After presentations by both parties was a quest ion-and-an­swer session,' moderated by Gerald Smith, Commissioner of the Livingston County Board of Elections. The session quickly devolved into a series of barbs thrown at the developer, with many loaded questions or ques­tions thinly veiled as opinions.

After the public hearing on Sunday, May 15, at which time all (own residents can voice their "yays" and "nays" on the pro­posed project, the town board will lake a look at the tally of opinions and consider taking ac­tion on a moratorium, Town Su­pervisor Mark Walker ex­plained.

He added that although rep­resentatives from PPM Atlantic Renewable have not explicitly stated as such, they will consider the town's stance on a morato­rium as a signal of the town's support: if the board fails to take action on a proposed morato­rium, the developers will likely move ahead with the final engi­neering and designing. If the moratorium passes, PPM Atlan­tic Renewable will probably look elsewhere for viable tracts of land. The company did, after all, say at the outset of its first presentation on Jan. 20 that it would not move forward with­out community support.

And Moore reiterated that the commitment still holds. SPC member Bob Conge asked who of the crowd present at the Q-and-A session supported the Bishop Wind Farm, and at most a dozen hands shot up. Hands of dissenters filled an estimated 80 percent of the room, however.

But the approximately 200 people remaining at that point represented only a fraction of the population of Springwater, which is approximately 2300 people. "Everyone deserves a chance to be heard," Walker said.

Alternative energy tax exemptions

Under Section 487 of the New York State real property tax law, property that contains a solar, wind or farm waste system built before Jan. 1, 2006, is automatically tax-ex­empt for 15 years unless a municipality or school district specifically disallows the ex­emption.

Because wind farms are proposed for both Springwa­ter and Cohocton, the Wayland-Cohocton Board of Education voted Monday evening to opt out of the au­tomatic exemption. This move may prompt payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, nego­tiations with the wind farm developers should plans be­come finalized and the respec­tive town boards approve the projects.

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