Moratorium Extended In Hammond

HAMMOND - Councilman James Langtry accused his fellow board members of being "gutless" and told Supervisor Ron W. Bertram that he had "no more backbone than a snake on the ground," before the Hammond Town Board voted 3-0 to extend the wind energy facilities law moratorium for a year.

"Do you have to ask?" Mr. Langtry snapped when it was his turn to vote, to which Mr. Bertram said, "We'll leave that blank then."

Councilman James Pitcher, who has signed a lease with Iberdrola Renewables Inc., recused himself.

Prior to the vote, Mr. Langtry had moved to extend the moratorium until Dec. 31, 2010, but his motion was never seconded.
"CROH (Concerned Residents of Hammond) is running this town, that's plain to see," he said, adding to the remainder of the board, "You're getting paid off."

Councilman Dr. James R. Tague then moved to extend the moratorium for a year and was seconded by Councilman Douglas E. Delosh.

The extension of the moratorium follows immediately on the heels of a six-month moratorium that was established by the new town board after it took office in January. That town board created a wind committee to take a look at concerns about the Wind Energy Facilities Law that was passed in Dec. of 2009 by the outgoing board.

Nine of the 10 current wind committee members recommended that the moratorium be extended for an additional year.

Joining Mr. Langtry in his criticism of the board was Sonja Kocan, during citizen's participation.

Mrs. Kocan dominated the public comment period, also accusing several board members of being in cahoots with CROH, questioning the revenues that would have been brought in had Iberdrola been allowed to continue the permitting process, as well as raising her concerns about CROH Vice-President Allan Newell's role on the wind committee.

"Your wind committee meetings are a joke," she said.

Mr. Langtry, after venting his frustrations with the board and its decision to extend the moratorium, didn't last until the meeting's end.

Upon Mr. Bertram's reading of the supervisor's report, Mr. Langtry asked, "Anyone take a look at the lawyer's fees?"

"He's asking a question!" Mrs. Kocan shouted from the public. When he felt he was ignored by the remainder of the board, Mr. Langtry stood up and said, "That's right, I don't count," and left the meeting. The Hammond Wind Committee meets next on July 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Hammond Central School. According to committee facilitator, David B. Duff, representatives from Iberdrola will be in attendance for a presentation on subjects ranging from the development process and permitting, to engineering, potential sound issues, and issues related to real property taxes.

A "roundtable" discussion is to follow Iberdrola's presentation, Mr. Duff said, with several local agencies and groups participating, including representatives from the St. Lawrence County Planning Office, St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, St. Lawrence County Real Property Tax Office, Hammond Central School and Concerned Residents of Hammond, as well as from the Hammond town and planning boards.

"The intent of such a forum will be to develop a clear understanding of the developer's plans, as well as to further determine the role and interaction of the town, county, and school district and/or others involved in this process," Mr. Duff said.