Bookkeeping change addresses wind controversy

CAPE VINCENT — To provide more public oversight on how wind developers are spending money on town attorneys and engineers, Supervisor Urban C. Hirschey has opened the books on two escrow accounts.

Those accounts — which total more than $160,000 — were set up by wind-power developers to help the town pay legal fees related to their projects' development. By opening the books, transactions from those accounts would be disclosed to the public.

"We need more oversight and more public oversight," Mr. Hirschey said.

The accounts are win-win, he said, in that the town benefits from not having to pay legal fees from its own pockets, and the developers benefit because having that money available to the town helps ease the state environmental quality review process.

"The developers want them," Mr. Hirschey said. "They have to go through the SEQR process and we should not have to spend town money to protect ourselves."

How money in those accounts would be handled was the source of considerable controversy at the Town Council meeting June 10. At the meeting, Mr. Hirschey declared that the accounts would be handled in the trust and agency fund, the same as other escrow accounts. That followed recommendations from an accountant. But former Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck said the move would endanger the two accounts' existence by taking some control away from the developers.

All transactions now will be approved as part of the standard invoice and monthly statement process, as well as balances recorded in annual reports sent to the state comptroller's office.

Acciona Wind Energy USA, developer of St. Lawrence Wind Farm, has contributed $135,000 to one account, according to ledgers obtained through a Freedom of Information request. BP Alternative Energy, developer of Cape Vincent Wind Farm, placed $25,042.95 in one account.

BP's project manager, James H. Madden, said in an e-mail Friday that he didn't think the supervisor's decision would jeopardize the account.

"We deposited funds in an escrow account for the town to pay their consultants who were reviewing our SEQR studies and reports," he said.

Acciona's project manager, Tim Conboy, said in an e-mail that he asked Planning Board Chairman Richard J. Edsall to approve the expenses to ensure the town's attorneys and engineer are working on the project's environmental review. Those charges then would be recognized by the Town Council, which the developers also must approve.

Acciona has had more activity in its escrow account than BP, which hasn't paid anything since 2008.

"All of the recent charges have been for SEQR," Mr. Conboy said.

Acciona's expenses on town consultants from Jan. 12, 2007, through June 4 totaled $133,536.20.

The developer spent $49,237.45 on Bernier, Carr and Associates, the Watertown engineering firm. It also spent $75,181.89 on Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna, an Albany law firm, and $1,493.83 on Hrabchak, Gebo & Langone, a Watertown law firm. But it also paid $605.70 to Virginia W. Edsall, wife of the planning board chairman, and $44 to "miscellaneous."

In BP's account, fees for attorneys and engineers accounted for almost all of the $23,550.30 spent from the account, beginning Jan. 20, 2007, and ending Dec. 15, 2008. Nothing has been spent since. But $149.82 went to Mrs. Edsall and $280.86 to Karen Bourcy.

Mrs. Bourcy is a Planning Board member and she has relatives who have leases with Acciona.

Mr. Hirschey said the payments to Mrs. Edsall and Mrs. Bourcy were for office goods, such as mailing envelopes and postage.

BP paid $14,656.46 to Bernier, Carr and Associates, $4,367.70 to Hrabchak, Gebo & Langone and $5,804.70 to Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna.

Both paid bills from Professional Reporting Services Inc., Syracuse; BP's was $1,867.56 and Acciona's was $4,950.53. The company provides court reporters, who were used at public hearings.