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Friday, August 4, 2006August 4 2006Windmill Vote Roils Cherry Valley  By JIM KEVLIN CHERRY VALLEY Ninety-six people spoke -- all but a dozen in favor of a moratorium that would have delayed a 24-turbine windmill farm on East Hill -- and many who did praised democracy and thanked the Cherry Valley town board for giving them a chance to speak their minds and hearts. But the heady wine that is democracy turned to gall by evening's end when, despite concerns about blight, health and what may happen longterm, town board members Fabian Bressett and James Johnson voted in favor of letting Reunion Power go forward. Only Supervisor Tom Garretson, the board chairman, voted for the moratorium. (His daughter, Bethany, had spoken against the moratorium earlier in the evening, saying "we can't live in the past.") "Some democracy," said young Heather Titus, tears welling up in her eyes, "when we express our opinions all through the night and they throw it in our faces." At issue was a 12-month moratorium on development Garretson and Planning Board Chairman Jeff Wait proposed to allow the town to complete its master plan and land-use regulations. While proponents said the measure was not specifically aimed at blocking the windmills, its practical effect would have been to do just that. The 2-1 vote at about 9:45 -- the hearing had begun at 6 -- brought cries of outrage from windmill opponents. Garretson shook his head and left the building. Bressett and Johnson stayed a few more minutes, talking with angry and disappointed constituents. Bressett said, as town board member, he has the right to vote the way he thinks he should. Johnson characterized the meeting as "a lot of pot shots" at the developer. They said they were convinced by a 250-signature petition favoring windmill development and opposing the moratorium. Andy Minnig, chairman for Advocates for Cherry Valley, said his group submitted a 200-plus-signature petition three years ago to Garretson's predecessor and father-in-law, Tom Armstrong, but he threw it into a waste-paper basket "in front of our eyes." The next step comes next Wednesday, Aug. 9, when the planning board next meets. Reunion Power, based in Manchester, Vt., is seeking to erect windmills to the south of Route 20, above where The Teepee is located. It presented an application to the town planning board two weeks ago, but it was rejected as incomplete. Now, said David Little, Reunion Power vice president, development, who sat quietly through the evening next to Steve Eisenberg, Reunion's managing director, said afterwards the company plans "to resubmit our application so the SEQR process" -- the state Environmental Quality Review -- "can begin. That's all we really wanted." After a meeting Thursday, July 14, overflowed into the street and many felt left out, so Garretson scheduled Monday's session, pledging everyone would be given a chance to speak for two minutes. That brought out perhaps as many as 200 people to the town barn on Monday, July 31. They lined up outside, signing one of three lists: Cherry Valley residents, who spoke first; people representing Cherry Valley residents, second; people from outside Cherry Valley, third. Garretson called the meeting to order at 6 sharp. One by one, audience members read tightly edited statements to meet the two-minute limit. Garretson had an extra-large gavel, but only had to slam it down a few times at the beginning of the evening. One emotional highpoint came when Cynthia Campbell said she was predisposed to wind power, until discovering Reunion Power planned to use "herbicides 400 feet from the spring my family uses for water." "I became a NIMBY that morning," she said. Another highpoint was a triple-presentation by the Titus family, Heather and her parents, Vincent, who works in the Glimmerglass Opera business office, and Pauline, who stretched their presentation to six minutes, each taking over where the other left off. The Tituses rent a home on East Hill amid several proposed turbines. They oppose the windmills but their landlord, Wolfgang Walter, spoke in support of them. At another point, Andy Minnig, chairman of Advocates for Cherry Valley, rushed out of the town barn after a former ally in the Marcy North power line fight who owns land on East Hill and supports the windmill farm. "You son of a b----," Minnig, whose house is amid eight proposed windmills, shouted in the other man's face. "You wasted my house but you protected yours." Otsego 2000 Experts Warn of Warren, Stark Dangers  VAN HORNESVILLE Otesgo 2000 volleyed back Thursday, July 27, at the final public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement regarding the 75-turbine Jordanville Wind Project, fielding three consultants who detailed impacts the project will have on sight-lines from Otsego Lake, hydrology and cultural landscapes. Hydrogeologist Nicholas C. Pressly of Pressly & Associates, Brookhaven, said turbity in area streams will be increased by runoff from roads, herbicides and chemicals used for dust suppression. He said dust-suppression measures used by the 195-turbine Maple Ridge Wind Farm on the Tug Hill Plateau caused die-off at the state Fish Hatchery at Lowville. Patricia M. O'Donnell, principal in Heritage Landscapes, based in Vermont and Connecticut, said the DEIS had significant gaps, completely ignoring the proposed Waggoner Patent Historic District and all but a small piece of the 15,000-acre Glimmerglass National Historic District. The wind farm, which will extend 7.5 miles across the towns of Warren and Stark, is "too large," she said, and she urged "careful siting on considerably smaller acreage." David Healy, vice president of Applied Information Management, said the view-shed analysis included in the DEIS was "as good as far as it went," but that it didn't go far enough. He proposed an "extended analysis," including a balloon test, a photo montage and a tower-by-tower assessment. In summing up the experts' testimony, Drayton Grant, Otsego 2000's environmental lawyer, called the DEIS "adequate" for public hearing, but not for the "FEIS," the final document. She asked that the present document be considered a "preliminary DEIS," and that a second draft EIS be prepared for comment before matters go into the final phase. The public comment period on this part of the process expires on Friday, Aug. 4. The public hearings, following the guidelines of the state Environmental Quality Review Act, are like the sound of one hand clapping. For a third time Thursday evening, members of the Warren and Stark town boards sat stoically at the front of a hall, listening to pro and con opinions on whether the 75-turbine Jordanville Wind Farm should be built. Other than Warren Town Supervisor Richard A. Jack reading the names off cards submitted by people who had registered to speaking and, after 2 1/2 hours, saying "that's it," the officials did nothing but listen. Of the people who spoke, for many it was a reprise performance. They had spoken before, some twice before, at two hearings held at the Warren Town Hall in Jordanville, at the end of June and in mid-July. Gordon Maurer and his wife, Shirley, for instance, who hope to host several windmills. Sue Brand, from Advocates for Stark, an anti-wind farm effort. More than 100 people attended. Business Off, Say Merchants By BREN MIOSEK COOPERSTOWN While officials at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum may have had their hands full during the annual induction weekend, local merchants did not. Cited reasons included inflated gas/oil prices, sweltering summer temperatures and an overall lack of modern day stars as excuses and causes for poor attendance. Several shop owners reported a drop in sales and foot traffic despite an estimated influx of 11,000 baseball enthusiasts who ventured to the grounds of the Clark Sports Center to witness the largest class, and the first female, inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday, July 30. Despite having seven baseball authors signing throughout the entire weekend employees at Augurs Corner Bookstore stated that the induction weekend crowd brought in very little business. “It was the slowest, busy weekend we've had in a long time,” said Augurs Corner Bookstore employee Brian Nielsen. “The intermittent rain didn't help. We had authors and books set up out on the sidewalk, but every time it rained, we had to break everything down and move it inside. We were busy moving everything around, but in terms of sales, we were slow. With as high as gas prices are, people just don't have the money to purchase extra things this summer.” Ian Porto, owner and operator of Tin Bin Ally, a candy/knicknack shop located a few hundred yards down the street from Augurs Corner Bookstore, reiterated Nielsen's sentiments almost exactly. “In terms of sales and the number of people we had flowing through, Saturday was better than Sunday,” said Porto. “Induction weekend traditionally draws a crowd and that always helps out. But the crowd just didn't show this year.” Porto went on to explain that his sales are down this summer and he believes it's got everything to do with the inflated gas prices, odd parking regulations and sizzling summer heat. “People vacationing in Cooperstown generally have baseball on the mind,” said Porto. “If they're coming to Cooperstown at all they're spending their money on baseball related items. We offer tasty fudge, other candy related items, and knicknacks but it's simply been too hot. Nobody wants to buy fudge only to have it melt while walking around to other shops. The other thing that hasn't really helped is the parking situation. Main Street was closed on Sunday, and the Doubleday Field parking lot was closed on Monday. That makes it a bit more difficult to attract business in off the sidewalk.” Although several area merchants labeled induction weekend as being slow and uneventful, it was business as usual for Don and Sharon Oberriter at Cooperstown Bat Company. “We had a great weekend,” said Sharon Oberriter. “Unlike a majority of the other shops, we don't deal with browsing customers. People wander into our store for a specific need, bats We also had Hall of Famers signing inside and that drew other people in off the side walk. Vida Blue walked in, volunteered to sign and had a wonderful time.” Oberriter went on to explain that while Cooperstown Bat Company relies on busy weekends to generate revenue, repeat customers and steady business patterns have been solid so far this summer. Just up the street from Cooperstown Bat Company, Johnny Grigoli of Sal's Pizzeria, stated that numbers were down for the annual induction weekend but that business was booming as usual. “It wasn't as crazy or as crowded as anticipated, but we still did well,” said Grigoli. “As far as I'm concerned everyone (baseball fans and merchants) is waiting for next summer, when Mr. Cal Ripken comes to town.” Whether or not business rebounds, recedes, or stays the same between now and then, only time will tell. Next summer, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will host it annual induction weekend ceremony on Sunday, July 27. Labels: Archives
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