Galloo Island Wind Farm won't get OKs before 2010

Despite the touted Dec. 31 deadline, several approvals for the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm won't be given until after 2010 begins.

Jefferson County's Board of Legislators will hold off on the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement and the Hounsfield Planning Board will wait on the site plan.

Developer Upstate NY Power Corp. had asked the entities to approve those items before Dec. 31. That deadline put it in a timeline to get investors and complete 5 percent of the project in 2010. The partial completion of the project would qualify it for a stimulus program that offers a 30 percent rebate from the U.S. Treasury Department.

"Every week they delay makes the challenge a little more difficult against already tight deadlines," Upstate NY Power attorney Robert W. Burgdorf of Nixon Peabody, Rochester, said.

But the local entities are not the only source of delay. The Planning Board must wait for the state Department of Environmental Conservation to release the final environmental impact statement, which is expected this week. It also must allow for a 10-day public comment period.

The Planning Board is proceeding with a public hearing Monday. In the public notice, the board left the written comment period open until Jan. 4.

The Planning Board wants to have DEC's comments on the final statement before it makes any comments or approves the site plan.

"That's why we extended the comment period, even though it's not required," town attorney Dennis G. Whelpley said.

The Planning Board's regular meeting would be Jan. 4, but Mr. Whelpley said it likely will hold a special meeting on the project during the first week of January.

The county legislators likely will consider the PILOT at their Jan. 5 meeting. The board's Planning and Development Committee first had a resolution for the PILOT considered Nov. 17. A three-and-a-half-hour meeting, with nearly 40 public comments, followed Nov. 24.

The PILOT, which was approved by the Hounsfield Town Council on Nov. 12 and Sackets Harbor Central School District on Nov. 17, would divide annual payments starting at $2.14 million with 15 percent to the town, 50 percent to the school district and 35 percent to the county.

Board members asked the developer for clarification on many issues, including the possibility of eminent domain for securing the proposed transmission line corridor, a decommissioning agreement, the number of jobs created and the use of federal, state and local subsidies for the project.

"The legislators are going over the PILOT again," Chairman Kenneth D. Blankenbush, R-Black River, said. "I made the decision I'm not going to call a special meeting between now and our January meeting."

The time should be used to clear up any more questions board members have on the project and PILOT.

The vote will be at the Jan. 5 meeting "unless something happens between now and then," Mr. Blankenbush said.

If county legislators approve the PILOT, the board of the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency would vote on it Jan. 7, JCIDA Chief Executive Officer Donald C. Alexander said.

The county legislators will vote on the PILOT as a full board, bypassing the two committees that originally were scheduled to see the resolution, Mr. Blankenbush said.

"Hopefully, we will get everything answered and the PILOT voted on one way or the other," he said.