An unfortunate situation in Prattsburgh

Posted with the permission of The Naples Record, originally published Wednesday July 29, 2009

Latest meeting dashes hope for honest debate over wind turbines

To the editor:

I attended the Prattsburgh Town Board meeting last Tuesday. I was approaching it with great enthusiasm as the members of the Town Board had all agreed that they were not themselves experts on sound and setbacks and the effect of the proposed wind turbines on the residents. My hopes were that the town would be able to learn a little more from the problems in Cohocton that have been so visible in the news.

I had even thanked two of the town board members after-wards, Stacy Bottoni and Harold McConnell for having located and invited an independent sound expert to come and speak about a study that would put to rest the endless disagreements that have dragged on and on in town meetings. I felt that finally the egos and perceptions of all five voting members have been put aside so that the Town Board can go ahead with adopting a comprehensive wind law that protects the citizens at the same time as it defines what sort of parameters outside companies have to follow while installing turbine projects in Prattsburgh.

My enthusiasm was sharply lowered as discussions about the cost of the study seemed to make the study something that would not come to fruition. My enthusiasm was lowered further when in discussions it was evident that maybe there was not a setting aside of the egos and beliefs and that regardless of any independent study it is possible that minds are already made up. This is unfortunate for Prattsburgh because the company that is profiting from the project is the one that is guiding the decisions about safety and setbacks, threatening to sue the town every time an opinion comes in that is not theirs.

I am guessing that the reason is that the bare minimum of setbacks and safety regulations are what is most profitable and allows the most 400-foot turbine towers to be placed in the town. I think that Pattern Energy, formerly Ecogen, has convinced some of the board that any change at all in noise regulations or setbacks that stems from things that we all have learned and studies and regulations that are being used all through the world, will doom the project.

I guess it comes down to whom the board feels is better to doom - the company that is here for the profit they will make or a few of the residents that call Prattsburgh home. This coming week the Town Board will meet on how to pay for the study. It is my belief that the money will not be available. Even if it is, Pattern Energy's coaching and the ever-present eyes of their lawyer have trained the majority of the board to vote to follow the breadcrumbs that Pattern Energy has laid out for them.

I hope, unlike in Hansel and Gretel's tale, no one gets pushed into the oven or lost, and everyone lives happily ever after. This decision lies in the vote of the Town Board. My dream is that logic, reason and compromise can overcome strong egos and long standing perceptions for all of the five voters. Three to two votes are becoming a regular thing. My vote is for the citizens of Prattsburgh and the future of the unique area that we all love.

Tom MacAIlister, Prattsburgh