The following article was published in the Naples Record on March 7, 2007. Used with permission.
The Cohocton front in the raging regional windmill war has apparently claimed its first victim. Former Cohocton Code Enforcement Officer Curt Helf said during an interview last week that he was fired for refusing to obey an allegedly illegal directive issued by Cohocton Supervisor Jack Zigenfus. Helf and others said the directive will help pave the way for a controversial wind farm project that Zigenfus and other members of the Cohocton Town Board are backing.
If projects now on the drawing boards survive in Cohocton and other towns surrounding Naples, critics charge that the erection of dozens of industrial towers, each standing over 400 feet tall, would be placed on scenic hilltops throughout the area, wreaking havoc with the region's booming tourism industry and creating health and safety hazards for area residents.
In the most recent Cohocton skirmish, Helf said he was fired because he refused an order by the Cohocton supervisor to revoke building permits he had issued to property owners who want to build small cabins and cottages on properties that might interfere with the siting of massive wind towers. The towers are being proposed for the town by the Newton, Ma.-based UPC Corp., a privately-owned company that stands to reap millions of taxpayer dollars for putting up the controversial towers that critics around the world have charged are based on ineffective and unreliable technology. The projects around the country are being supported by politicians, including presidential candidate and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, and funded by federal and state legislatures under pressure to cut pollution and reduce the nation's dependence on fossil fuels.
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