Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Outraged by Town Board's deception by Carl M. Wahlstrom, Prattsburgh

Posted with the permission of The Naples Record, originally published Wednesday May 27, 2009

Prattsburgh officials continue to cloak wind project in veil of secrecy and deceit

At the Prattsburgh Town Board meeting on May 19, it was revealed that some Town Board members are actively negotiating on behalf of the Prattsburgh Fire District by requesting that EcoGen provide the district with a new ambulance.

Councilman Steve Kula asked Councilwoman Stacey Bottom why it is that the town has not also negotiated for similar compensation for the town residents protected by Naples Fire and Ambulance District.

It appears that the negotiations did not involve the entire Town Board and consequently did not represent the entire community. The benefits - including new sidewalks for downtown Prattsburgh - do nothing for the residents living outside of town who are in the Naples fire district, who pay a considerable amount of property taxes, and will be most directly impacted by the proposed industrial wind project.

Stacey^ response? "They didn't ask."

Evidently Stacey is a member of Prattsburgh Ambulance and her uncle is a member of the Prattsburgh Fire District's Board of Commissioners. The negotiations have taken place behind closed doors, and unless you are Stacey, you are not aware that there is anything to "ask" for.

This whole wind project has been cloaked in a veil of secrecy and deceit. Conflict of interests don't seem to matter at all in Prattsburgh. David Hall, an ex-board member who was not re-elected in the last election, was then appointed the deputy town supervisor by Town Supervisor Harold McConnell. It has been reported that Mr. Hall's father has signed a contract for over $450.000 for turbines on his property.

At the Town board meeting, members of the board discussed hiring a sound engineer to do sound studies regarding the decibel levels generated by the turbines. This is quite interesting since it comes after John Servo hired an independent sound engineer to conduct sound studies. His report to the board was most informative. He warned the board that if the project was done correctly there would be no problems, but if done incorrectly you would have problems for the life of the project.

Evidently a decibel is not a decibel for certain members of the Town Board since at the May 19th meeting EcoGen was asked if they would hire a sound engineer to do studies. We all know how objective EcoGen is regarding this issue. I guess that for some board members a pound of bricks is heavier than a pound of feathers.

When I tried to ask about the sound expert hired by Mr. Servo Mr. Hall basically imposed gag order and stated that no topics relating to the industrial wind project would be discussed at the meeting when, in fact, the board had previously done so.

Stacey Bottoni, an ardent supporter of the wind project, is related by marriage to James Sherron, the executive director of the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency, which has a vested interests in the proposed industrial wind farm and is the lead agent on the Prattsburgh projects.

As a Town of Prattsburgh resident who pays fire and ambulance taxes, I am outraged that our Town Board has forced these turbines on us who live in the Naples fire and ambulance and school districts, and is actively excluding us from the negotiated financial benefits in favor of residents not affected by the turbines, including citizens of the town of Wheeler!

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