HAMMOND - Concerned Residents of Hammond (CROH) has announced that the Article 78 lawsuit brought by the grassroots group in answer to the passage of the local wind ordinance last December has been dropped.
"We believe things are beginning to move in a better direction," said CROH President Mary D. Hamilton on Saturday. "We have faith in what this board has accomplished."
According to a press release provided to the Advance News by Mrs. Hamilton, "The Concerned Residents of Hammond will petition the St. Lawrence County Court to discontinue their Article 78 proceeding that was filed last December 8th, 2009 challenging the legality of the Hammond Town Wind Law Ordinance.
"This action was originally filed the day after the lame duck board, including the then Town Supervisor (Janie G. Hollister) and a sitting Councilman (Ronald Tully II) who had been soundly defeated in last November's election, chose to enact the law without adhering to proper procedure or good judgment," the release says.
"This was the only thing we could do at that time to protect the best interests of all of Hammond's citizens," Mrs. Hamilton. "The law was critically flawed and without our action, it could have permitted nearly unrestricted construction of fifty-story tall wind turbines in Hammond.
"Our efforts prevented any permits from being issued by the town before the new board took office in January."
On Jan. 4, 2010, Supervisor Ron W. Bertram, along with Councilmen Douglas E. Delosh and Dr. James R. Tague, took office and set in motion several initiatives, including the appointment of a 10-member wind committee, directed at better analyzing and improving the wind power law.
Along with remaining board members, James Langtry and James Pitcher, the lone member who has a signed wind lease with Iberdrola Renewables Inc., the new board originally instituted a six-month moratorium, clarified the town approval process and created the wind committee.
Ten volunteer Hammond citizens, including Leonard Bickelhaupt, Allan P. Newell, Frederick A. Proven, Dr. Stephen D. Sarfaty, Michele McQueer, Richard Champney, Donald A. Ceresoli Jr., Merritt V. Young, Ronald Papke, and Rudolph Schneider, with David B. Duff as facilitator, were appointed in March and have been meeting regularly over the past few months in publicly scheduled meetings where the law has been discussed and professional presentations have been made.
"The wind committee is looking at both sides and collecting information from the right sources," Mrs. Hamilton said. "People's eyes are being opened now. As CROH, we did this a long time ago. Others are having an opportunity to do the same.
"Getting these issues out in the open and in public is good for the entire community," she said, adding, "Instead of just from an 'anti-wind' perspective - though, as we've said along, CROH is not anti-wind."
Coupled with the upcoming public hearing - Tuesday at Hammond Central School at 7 p.m. - to discuss the town-board approved, one-year moratorium on the law regulating wind turbine development, the nullification of the CROH lawsuit would seem to leave the town at least moving in a better direction.
"The Concerned Residents were very disappointed to have been placed in the position by the ill conceived actions of the old board requiring the initiation of the Article 78 proceeding," the press release states. "The cost to both the town and the Concerned Residents in time and legal expenses could have been better used in other ways.
"While the wind issue has a long way to go before it is settled to everyone's satisfaction and the Concerned Residents continue to believe that the law passed in December was not properly formulated, we now believe that based on the actions of the new board, we can safely back away from the confrontational circumstance we find ourselves in and save the town any additional legal expense. That is in everyone's best interest," concluded the press release.
No comments:
Post a Comment