June 19, 2006
Cohocton Town Board
15 South Main Street
Cohocton, NY 14826
Supervisor Zigenfus, Deputy Supervisor Wise, Councilmen Dyckman, LeVesque and Hunt:
The Town Board of Cohocton has announced that Windmill Local Law #2 will be on the agenda for the June 20, 2006 regular meeting. Your board has already been notified that any action to approve this ordinance would be unlawful. This law was formulated to specifically accommodate know deficiencies in the DEIS impact study for the UPC project. Windmill Local Law #2 has included into the legislation several aspects that are far more regressive from Windmill Local Law #1. Anyone who had doubts about the motivation of the Cohocton Town Board before now has clear and demonstrated proof that what UPC wants UPC gets.
It is obvious that the Town Board has never conducted a serious inquiry into the operations, financial background, solvency position and business practices of UPC. The abdication of any due diligence on the part of the Board is undeniable. Projects listed on the UPC site http://www.upcwind.com/projects.php include: Prattsburgh, Mars Hill, Sutton, Sheffield and Kaheawa. Kaheawa has not yet been commissioned and UPC’s actual role in that project is less than definitive. Proton has no information as to status of development. Extensive details on Mars Hill and Sutton indicate that those projects have gone nowhere. Huge opposition against both ventures illustrates that UPC actually has no real experience in building and operating industrial wind turbines. As for Prattsburgh it seems ironic that the UPC involvement let slips their legal segmentation problem with the Cohocton Power Project.
The Cohocton Town Board is hereby presented the enclosed documents on a sordid record of UPC on the Mars Hill and Sheffield projects. Before you vote for approval on Windmill Local Law #2, you must exercise your fiduciary obligation to confirm and verify that UPC is a legitimate company capable of undertaking such a massive industrial project. The Board is so warned that in the event of UPC financial insolvency, the Town of Cohocton stands to bear the damaging consequences because of your rush to approval of a destructive project by a suspect company.
The following outline of UPC inconsistencies and questionable business practices should be considered:
1 Multitude of shell companies and overlapping corporate structure that seeks to circumvent segmentation.
2 Factual bad faith violation in lessor agreement that voids the contract for wind turbines.
3 Failure to disclosure the full nature of future phases that will alter their own impact study.
4 Failure to include in their plan full indemnity and bonding insurance to cover all risks to the Town of Cohocton and all residents.
5 Failure to guarantee full property protection to each property owner within a 2 mile distance of any turbine at full replacement cost value.
6 Failure to ensure medically safe setback distance in their plan and fencing for each turbine.
7 Failure to fund ongoing road maintenance for fire protection for each turbine.
8 Failure to place high tension power line underground as proposed an stated to residences.
9 Disregard of the negative impact in site location on surrounding communities and the entire region, especially regarding adverse effect on area tourism.
10 Lack of full disclosure of conflict of interests regarding SCIDA and their input into the UPC proposal.
11 Incorporation of outside area data into their DEIS report as a substitute for original studies within Cohocton.
12 Lack of full disclosure as to UPC parent Italian company, Spanish company affiliation with the power grid and relationship of all these foreign firms with NYS utility companies.
The Town of Cohocton Board is urged to vote against Windmill Local Law #2 when all legal conditions are fulfilled in order to lawfully act upon this ordinance. Also the Town Board has a duty to take up a moratorium resolution that has already been presented at the unlawful public hearing on June 14, 2006. Once again the demand for a moratorium on any industrial windmill project in the Town of Cohocton is placed before the Town Board.
The refusal of the Town Board to answer questions, or respond in any manner to written correspondence reveals the extent and depth of your malfeasance regarding all aspects of the UPC project.
The fact that UPC offers the lowest scale of remuneration to Cohocton as compared to their other non functioning projects confirms the lack of financial skills and judgment of the Cohocton Town Supervisor and Board. For this reason alone the public deserves a total and complete renegotiation of any agreement that the Town of Cohocton has with UPC.
Since it has been repeatedly represented (during Freedom of Information Act filings) that no such contract exists between the Town of Cohocton and UPC, it would certainly present a most unfortunate legal exposure for Board members if such an agreement oral or written became know during a deposition. Surely the Town of Cohocton and anyone in their employ would want to avoid any charges of perjury by acting upon full and unaltered compliance of Freedom of Information Act filings.
The entire record of UPC and Town of Cohocton negotiations, arrangements and agreements is a public matter and must be disclosed in full. All direct and indirect interests in the UPC project between and among Town Board and Cohocton officials, employers and their respected families and extended relatives will be the subject of investigative and public scrutiny.
In order to conform to your own code of ethics (copy enclosed) each Town Councilman should reflect upon their own circumstance before casting a vote to approve Windmill Local Law #2. Any manifestation or even a perceived appearance of a conflict of interest or benefit from the UPC project will subject that official to appropriate disciplinary actions.
A written reply to this notice from the Cohocton Town Board is your professional responsibility. When will you confront the duties of your office and response to the public outrage over the profound risks inherent in the UPC project? It is your job to take the time to do the research on UPC and verify that the Town of Cohocton is fully protected from a company that makes promises, but has no track record of performance. The Mars Hill and Sheffield projects are two examples of a quagmire that will also engulf Cohocton.
You have the ability to stop the deception and commit the Town of Cohocton to a rational and balanced rebuilding of public trust. A moratorium resolution, two examples already provided to the Town Board for review, is the prudent course. Cohocton should not be condemned to the mercantile greed of an unstable and dubious company. UPC has anti-trust exposure, why put the Town of Cohocton into the same jury dock when you can avoid and protect our township by rejecting the “Pharisee” Ruzow inspired Windmill Local law #2.
Your actions will establish if Cohocton is really the colony of UPC or will it remain the hometown community for all our citizens. A YES vote on Windmill Local Law #2 will show the world that Cohocton really has a “NO BRAINS” Government. The voice of the people says NO to UPC.
Cordially,
James Hall
cc: David Miller – ESQ
Glenn Pezzulo - ESQ
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