Cracked blades lead to likely showdown between town, First Wind

Atlanta, N.Y.

With construction ramping up again unexpectedly in Cohocton, town officials are looking at their legal options in keeping the work by developer First Wind in line with agreements signed between the parties — even if it means a court date.

Town Supervisor Jack Zigenfus announced at Monday night’s town board meeting major work is being performed on the 50-turbine wind-powered electricity generation project on Pine, Lent and Dutch hills. The turbines, he said, need to be overhauled, leading to traffic, road damage and late nights of work — which may be in violation of the agreements between the town and First Wind.

“It’s my belief every blade has to come off,” he said. “It requires another round of construction and heavy traffic.”

Some of the problems come from cracking or the potential of cracking on the turbines where the blades attach to the nacelles in the center — the same basic problem that required the dismantling of the Steel Winds project in Lackawanna, which was a First Wind project using the same Clipper turbines used in Cohocton.

Code Enforcement Officer Joseph Bob said he believes 17 of the turbines were shut down because of the problems, and some of the gearbox problems might have been a cause for some of the noise complaints lodged with the town and First Wind.

The problem is that the town needs to give special permission for the weight limit to be lifted for certain traffic, which has not happened because it was not until recently the town knew of the problems.

“I don’t believe we were given the proper heads-up,” Zigenfus said.

Resident Jim Hall, a petitioner in three Article 78 lawsuits against the town and developer to halt the project, said his vehicles have been damaged from the poor road conditions caused by construction traffic on Moore Road.

“What provisions will there be to enforce the agreements? How are we ever going to get usable roads back in our town?” Hall said.

Other residents at the meeting complained of late-night truck traffic and lights on at the sites around the clock, which Zigenfus said is a violation of agreements made before construction began.

That construction is also a violation of the permits and agreements signed in 2007, Zigenfus said.

“They still have to go under the permits. They didn’t just go away,” he said.

To stem the construction work, the town board approved a series of 4-ton weight limits on town roads, including Lent Hill Road, Pine Hill Road and Dutch Hill Road — the main routes to the turbine locations.

“This is the beginning of our ability to control it,” Zigenfus said, adding Cohocton police, as well as Steuben County Sheriff’s deputies and state police, will be asked to patrol for violators.

The town also passed a resolution informing Fisher Associates, a subcontractor for the project, that the firm cannot inspect or inventory the town’s roads without the approval of the town board or Cohocton Highway Superintendent Tom Simons.

The final resolution approved was for the Albany-based law firm Whiteman Osterman and Hanna — the firm paid by First Wind to draw up the town’s wind law and agreements — to investigate legal recourse up to and including lawsuits.

“We will be paying for that,” Zigenfus said, adding if the town spends $10,000 in legal fees to get $200,000 for road rehabilitation, the town will have saved plenty of money in the process.

Zigenfus said the town will consider all of its options to get a settlement, but he is not afraid to take First Wind into court over the agreements.

“If it includes court actions, so be it,” he said.

John Lamontagne, director of communications for First Wind, said he will look into the reports and respond when he has answers.