Howard, N.Y.
With EverPower Renewables taking another step toward building wind turbines in Howard, town residents will sound off tonight at a public hearing hosted by the town Planning Board.
The Howard Planning Board will start the public hearing at 7 p.m. at the Howard Fire Hall to get town residents’ feedback on EverPower’s siting application.
The board accepted the application at its Feb. 21 meeting, according to town Clerk Loreen Karr. According to the town’s wind law, town Attorney Karl Anderson said, the Howard Planning Board must host a public hearing after a siting application is filed.
“It gives the public a chance to get an update on everything that’s going on,” Anderson said earlier this month.
EverPower has been planning a wind project in Howard for several years, according to Project Manager Kevin Sheen. He previously said the company is planning on erecting 25 Nordex 2.5-megawatt turbines along County Route 27 and Turnpike Road.
According to Sheen, White Construction is expected to be the contractor on the project. EverPower has tapped White Construction to build a Nordex-powered wind turbine project in Cambria County, Pa., this summer.
If all goes well, Sheen said in February, the project could begin by the end of the year, with the bulk of construction finishing up in 2009.
Town residents also will be able to sound off at a Steuben County Industrial Development Agency public hearing at 5 p.m. April 10 to discuss a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement for the project.
Under the proposal, the ownership of the project would pass to SCIDA and the project would be leased back to EverPower to make it exempt from property taxes. EverPower would then pay SCIDA a fee based on power production that would be divided between Steuben County, the Town of Howard and the local school districts.
The SCIDA hearing also will be held at the Howard Fire Hall.
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