Wind tower proposal could become law next month

After about two years of work, the Dunkirk Town Board may vote on a wind energy conversion system, or WECS, law at their June board meeting.

Once the proposal becomes law, town of Dunkirk residents will be permitted to build small, residential-use wind towers that have a total generation capacity of 100 kilowatts or less.

"Unless we have something come up that we didn't expect, yes, (we'll vote on the proposal after the public hearing)," said Town Supervisor Richard Purol. "I think we're that close that we should be able to do it."

Purol has distributed to the town board what may be the final draft of the WECS law.

"We went through it all, looked for typos and added everything in there that we've been putting together for a while, so that I had something to give to the board," Purol said. "Now, they've got something to look at."

The town board will hold a workshop and special meeting May 26 to discuss the proposed legislation and to take the next step toward making it town law.

"The reason we're going to have a workshop and special meeting is because if the board finds that there's nothing wrong with it (the law), I can't declare a public hearing unless it's at a meeting."

With board approval, the town will schedule a public hearing for June 8, prior to their regular monthly meeting. It will be the public's final opportunity to voice their concerns on the WECS law.

It's likely the board will vote on the legislation at that meeting, barring the unexpected.

Purol reflected on the law-drafting work, as the town approaches a vote.

"Once you start something, you want to finish it. It's unfortunate that it had to take as long as it did. But we're only going for the small WECS. We're not going for anything as far as commercial goes, or any big wind farms - nothing like that. So it should have been pretty much cut-and-dried, but when you start looking at it, we want to make sure everything is OK."

A resident interested in building a wind tower on his property will need town board approval to do so, according to the way the law is written.

Rather than going through a zoning process - and in order to avoid requests for variances - the town board will have a simple up-or-down vote.

If the resident asks to construct a tower that meets the law's requirements, he will be allowed to build it. If not, then the resident will not be given board approval.

"You either meet the criteria, or you don't," Purol said.

When the law-drafting process first started, the board passed a moratorium on the construction of wind towers within the town. It prevented residents from building a WECS before a law was passed.

Last year, at least one resident expressed interest in installing a tower on his property, Purol said.

"But that was last year," he said. "I really don't know if he's still interested or not. I haven't heard from him."