Prattsburgh Town Board member Staci Bottoni arrested for theft

Prattsburgh, (NY) – A Prattsburgh Town board member is accused of shoplifting. On Tuesday, Hornell police say 41 year old Staci Bottoni was arrested at the Wegmans in Hornell.

They they're not saying what she's accused of stealing.

The town supervisor says he doesn't know if she will be reprimanded by the town board.

He says this action is out of Bottoni's character.

Bottoni is a school bus driver in the Prattsburgh school district.
She was on the clock when the arrest happened.

Eric Massa on WLEA Radio Town Hall September 18, 2009

QUESTION%20ON%20WIND%20ON%20MASSA%27S%20WLEA%20TOWN%20HALL%20.mp3

Wind Lobby All Spun Up About Danish Case Study

Energy is critical for our economy and our future and the real issues deserve to be debated. That is why we appreciated the initial response on the American Wind Energy Association’s website to the recent study, Wind Energy: The Case of Denmark. It appears that AWEA actually read the study and raised some questions related to energy.

The same cannot be said of other responses, such as this blog post from NRDC. But then, of course, AWEA’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy couldn’t help himself and resorted to the same innuendo and ad hominem attacks against any effort that gets the facts out about the true costs of wind energy production.

Windenergy-thecaseofDenmark-final11-09-09.pdf

Tributes pour in for man who died high inside turbine

Further tributes were paid yesterday to the Caithness man who died while working high inside a 200ft wind turbine as an investigation into the accident continued.

Maintenance worker Colin Sinclair, 27, from Thurso, a member of a prominent family in the local farming scene, was found unconscious near the top of one of the turbine towers on Wednesday morning at Causewaymire windfarm.

Rescuers fought in vain to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Sinclair, who was well known in the far north ploughing circuit, lived by himself at 14 Calder Drive, Thurso.

He was part of a team from contractors Siemens working at the RWE npower Renewables’ site, just south of Spittal.

It is understood an aspect of the inquiry will centre on the safety harness Mr Sinclair was wearing when the accident happened.

The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) was informed and one of its officers arrived yesterday.

Mr Sinclair, whose family come from Castletown, moved into the house at Thurso in October 2007.

Before starting work with Siemens, he worked for a year at the pig-rearing business at Greystones, near Watten.

Mr Sinclair is the son of Iain and Vivien Sinclair, who live in Thurso.

Mr Sinclair is president of Caithness Agricultural Society and presided over this summer’s county show, and his son Colin inherited his father’s passion for ploughing and vintage tractors.

He was a regular competitor in events in Caithness and Easter Ross.

Like his father, he also took an active part in the arrangements for the annual county show.

Family friend Jim MacMillan, vice-president of Caithness Agricultural Society, said the death had come as a major shock to the far north farming community.

Mr MacMillan, East Durran, Castletown, said: “For the past few years, Colin has been a willing worker for the week before the show, setting it up and afterwards helping clear up.

“He was a huge help on the show side and will be a big miss.”

Mr MacMillan added: “In giving his time without thought, he was following on from his father.

“I’m sure he would have gone on to become heavily involved with the show for many years.”

The Sinclairs used to farm at Lochquoy, which adjoins Mr MacMillan’s holding.

Sandy Mackay, who chairs Caithness Vintage Tractor and Machinery Club, said yesterday: “Colin was an avid ploughman – I think that was his main hobby.

“As well as competing, he put a lot of work in helping organise the new event for novices we ran in February.”

Mr Mackay, of Buldoo, Dounreay, added: “He was the type of man who was always willing to give you a hand – nothing was too much trouble for him.”

Orleans Council discusses wind

LAFARGEVILLE — The Orleans Town Council seemed most concerned with whether the Wind Committee's recommendations would still allow the proposed Horse Creek Wind Farm.

The council, committee, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals talked about the recommendations at a meeting Wednesday night.

Councilman Thomas A. Johnston said he looked at every parcel in the current wind overlay district, where project development is allowed. None of them had enough space to comply with the recommended setbacks and have room for turbines.

"We have to allow them to fit somewheres," he said.

"It may hamper the Horse Creek project," committee co-chairman Stephen Bingeman said. "It does not end wind development in Orleans — there are areas in the township where wind development can take place."

The committee suggested in its recommendations that the town open up the district to the entire town.

"There are areas in our town where we can put them," said Councilman Peter R. Davis.

"With 3,000-foot setbacks from the road and 4,000 feet for 30 decibels, how many actual sites could there be in the town?" asked ZBA Chairman Larry Waldroff. "I can't think of too many places where we can follow these setbacks."

Committee co-chairwoman Judy E. Tubolino said, "There's a lot more open land up towards Theresa."

Mr. Bingeman asked if turbine placement should be the concern of the committee and council over the health and safety of residents.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't think so."

Members of the council did ask whether setting 30 decibels as an absolute limit for sound would be better than using the relative standard of five decibels above ambient noise, which is what the committee recommended.

The recommendations included a chart that showed the distance needed to move away from a turbine with sound production at 102 decibels at the hub, a common level.

"By the chart you have included, 30 decibels would be about 4,000 feet," Mr. Davis said. But a larger, louder turbine would require a greater setback.

The relative standard would be fairer across the board, committee facilitator Charles E. Ebbing said.

The council liked the idea of a compliance committee to help residents with any complaints about an established wind farm.

The recommendations had suggested a $100,000 escrow account for the compliance committee to investigate complaints.

"That seems like a very, very modest figure," Mr. Johnston said. "A quarter of a million would probably be better."

Committee member Darryl Hyde said, "We put that in there just to get you to think about it. We're not attached to any figure."

At the end of the meeting, Jay M. Burrows, a LaFargeville farmer and landowner, turned in a petition with about 100 signatures, asking the council to "take advantage of the abundant wind resource" and keep a zoning law that would allow development.

Supervisor Donna J. Chatterton said the council would host a meeting for public comments on the recommendations, possibly Oct. 21.

Unshackle Upstate is a bi-partisan coalition

Carolyn Morehouse September 17, 2009 Letter to Town of Italy Clerk

Dear Ms. Trischler:

Please share this with the members of the Town Board, and please confirm receipt of this email.

My husband and I are in escrow for the purchase of 5100 Sunnyside Rd in Italy. We also have owned, for 15 years, 110 acres of wild land on Lent Hill in Cohocton. We dearly love the Finger Lakes region, and hope some day to retire there. At present, due to jobs, we must live elsewhere, and so cannot attend the September 19 meeting in person to express our concerns about the wind projects proposed for Italy township.

My husband works for an environmental consulting company that is world-renowned (see www.esri.com). We are both very eager to support sustainable, renewable resource management and energy production. We were initially supportive of the wind project planned for Cohocton, but as we researched it, and got more informed about it, we became very concerned that it would turn out to be a disaster--both for the town and also for us personally.

It is turning out to be exactly that. The turbines are badly engineered and break down constantly. The crews ruined the roads putting them in, and the town has had a terrible job and has generated a lot of pollution rebuilding them. The town inhabitants have divided along pro and con lines and many don't speak to each other any more. The people who live within earshot of the turbines hate them with a passion, and that includes many people who were very supportive at first. The wind isn't consistently, and the turbines are usually not producing at "capacity" although they are still very noisy. I could go on and on.

We have a small cabin and we spend many weeks there each year, contributing to wildlife management and also to the local economy with our groceries and other purchases. We also pay taxes! So even though we don't live there year-round, we are not just absentee vacationers who don't care about the community.

The turbines often keep us awake at night. The blades make the sound of a jet engine, and the gears and machinery (that turns the turbine into the wind) are very loud, making loud crashing booms and creaking and grinding noises. You can't just learn to tune the noise out, because it changes all the time. The red night lights and the flicker caused by the sun through the blades are annoying, but the noise is just torture.

Ecogen does not care about the citizens or the quality of life in Italy. They are just using you, counting on your naïveté and ignorance. PLEASE don't make the same mistake that Cohocton made!

Sincerely,
Carolyn Morehouse

US Department of Energy September 17, 2009 Response to Mr. Bowers

Dear Mr. Bowers:

Thank you for writing to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) regarding your concerns about wind power development in New York State. Your letter was forwarded to DOE's Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program for response.

The Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program works to foster the responsible development of wind power so that local communities can enjoy its benefits. We provide local policymakers with objective information on the benefits and costs of wind power development to help them make informed decisions on wind power in their communities. For example, the program provides model ordinances for local officials to consider when evaluating the siting requirements of commercial wind energy projects. The program also collects case studies evaluating the economic impacts of wind power development in specific states and counties, and provides communities with financial analysis tools to help them evaluate local economic impacts of wind power development. Finally, in response to feedback from local communities, the program funds research on the effects of wind power development on property values and wildlife populations, and will commence a study of the impacts on scenic viewsheds in the upcoming fiscal year.

The Wind and Hydropower Technologies has undertaken considerable analysis of wind power's role in the nation's energy supply and determined that wind power can meet a substantial part of the nation's electricity needs. Last year DOE released a major report, 20% Wind Energy by 2030, which finds that wind power could feasibly supply 20% of the nation's electricity without requiring any major technological breakthroughs. Many nations already rely on wind energy to supply a large part of their electricity. Roughly 20% of Denmark's electricity is generated from wind, while Spain, Ireland and Germany respectively generate 12%, 9% and 7% of their electricity from wind. The 20% Wind Energy by 2030 report finds that wind would supply enough energy to displace roughly 50% of electric utility natural gas consumption and 18% of coal consumption by 2030, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 825 million metric tons annually.

As you point out, wind power's variability and intermittency present challenges to grid operators. However, variations in wind plant output should be considered in the context of an electrical grid designed to cope with both rapid changes in electricity demand and unplanned losses of output from major thermal generators. Flexible, quickly-dispatched generators allow grid operators to maintain grid stability by matching electricity production, including the varying output of wind power plants, with varying demand. Wind power generators do not need to be fully backed up by gas turbines because grid operators must match electricity output and demand across the entire grid, not for each individual power plant. Furthermore, as wind turbines are installed across larger geographic areas, the aggregated wind power output becomes more predicable and less variable. Finally, the Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program is developing tools and strategies, such as improved wind forecasting techniques, to improve the integration of wind energy into the electrical grid. The program has participated in several studies of wind energy integration that demonstrate that significant wind energy generation can be integrated cost-effectively into electric grid systems, with wind power's variability and uncertainty imposing ancillary costs of less than $5/MWh.

Thank you for your interest in renewable energy.

Sincerely,

Patrick Gilman
Environmental Specialist
Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
US Department of Energy
patrick.gilman@ee.doe.gov
202.586.3449

Albert H. Bowers September 17, 2009 Letter to US Department of Energy

September 17, 2009

Mr. Patrick Gilman
Environmental Specialist
Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
US Department of Energy

Dear Mr. Gilman:

Thank you for your response to my letter to Secretary Chu. I am dismayed to find that your letter simply parrots many of the falsehoods promoted by the wind turbine industry and the AWEA. You state that the “Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program works to foster the responsible development of windpower so that local communities can enjoy its benefits.”

I am a member of the planning board in the town of Lyme, New York and I can tell you we, and other nearby communities, are currently under siege by wind developers. I can tell you that these organizations have not acted responsibly. The construction of wind turbines has been so over-incentivized by the federal and New York State governments that they are in the process of trying to steamroll our local governments into allowing them to put up turbines wherever they please. They arrive like thieves in the night, making secret agreements with the large landowners. When the towns finally are advised of their intention to put up turbines, we are faced with a group of citizens who have contracts, have been given money and are organized by professional PR firms hired by the developers into a potent political force favoring the developer’s plan. This group also includes some of the town’s officials.

It is extremely difficult, under these prejudicial circumstances to develop a fair local zoning regulation to control the siting of these turbines to protect citizens from effects such as noise, shadow flicker, diversion of groundwater, destruction of the view, the night sky destroyed by strobe lights and the resulting loss of property values. Where are the benefits of which you speak?

You cite the report published last year by DOE, setting a goal of 20% of the nation’s electricity supplied by windpower. This is a preposterous idea and I and other technically qualified people who have reviewed this report, find no support for its conclusions and it appears to be yet another piece of propaganda generated by the AWEA. You claim that 20% of Denmark’s power is generated by wind. Please review the article attached below explaining that figure and note that Denmark pays $0.38 per kW-hr compared to $0.08 in the US.

The installation of these large industrial wind turbines is one of the most environmentally destructive activities I have seen. Large tracts of land are ruined during construction of these facilities. They should certainly not be placed in or near areas of human habitation and certainly should not be permitted in the nation’s scenic areas. We happen to live in such an area known as the Thousand Islands. It is about to be ruined as a scenic area by the installation of hundreds of giant wind turbines. This will result in the destruction of many local jobs in the local vacationer/cottager based economy as well as significant loss of property values. I was hopeful that Secretary Chu, being a scientist, would put an end to this madness. I am both disappointed and outraged.

Sincerely,
Albert H. Bowers III

Wind tower project on hold

ARKWRIGHT - A bombshell was dropped at the Arkwright Town Board meeting with an announcement by Tom Stebbins, project manager for the Arkwright Summit Wind Project.

He said that Horizon Wind Energy will not begin building turbines in Arkwright next April, as he had earlier indicated.

"We will continue the permitting process and our commitment to the town with regard to this project," he told the town council.

Stebbins said he hopes the building portion of the project can get under way sometime in 2010. The problem with the April start is the historically low wholesale power prices that currently exist in New York state, he explained.

"The economy and the power market in New York is not as attractive as it is in the mid-west and that is where Horizon is committing its turbines," Stebbins said.

He went on to say he is ready to move full-force on the project.

"That is certainly my goal," he said.

Supervisor Fred Norton asked about the PILOT and host agreements that provide revenue to taxing entities and Arkwright.

Stebbins said Horizon is currently negotiating with the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency on the PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes.

In other business, the town board approved a mitigation proposal the Arkwright Summit Wind Project wants to present to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). Stebbins said he consulted Norton and town historian Ruth Nichols to arrive at mitigation actions that serve a public historical purpose.

To that end, these actions should benefit the community as a whole and should provide tangible results, Stebbins said.

His proposal includes:

Replicate degraded sections of the historic Christian Cemetery fence project not to exceed $60,000;

Stabilize or restore selected grave markers at the town-owned Christian Cemetery with up to 70 stones to be included with the project not to exceed $20,000;

Stabilize or restore selected grave markers at the town-owned Cowden's Corners Cemetery with up to 35 stones to be included at a cost not to exceed $10,500;

Create a Cemetery Preservation Maintenance Fund to be $10,000.

These mitigation actions will be incorporated if Arkwright ultimately issues the approvals necessary for the project to be constructed and operated.

The agreement will be forwarded to SHPO for approval.

'Clean' Energy - VERY IMPORTANT ARTICLE (2 PARTS)

Part I (Click to read part I)

Part II (Click to read part II)

Author Ira Stoll wrote this report published on Future of Capitalism

The treasurer of Cohocton Wind Watch, a group that opposes one of the First Wind wind farms that received stimulus money, Judi Hall, said she has spent tens of thousands of her own dollars fighting against the placement of a 427-foot tall wind turbine 1567 feet from the front door of her home. "I feel like I was kicked in the stomach," she said. "I am so angry….It's just crazy."

A spokesman for First Wind, John Lamontagne, said that although the wind farms in Maine and New York for which his company received stimulus funds had already been completed, the money "will serve as a sort of stimulus for other, future projects."

Turbine strobe lights dominate landscape

I am writing about the visual impact of nighttime lighting of the existing and proposed wind turbine parks on the Thousand Islands area. I have been a seasonal resident of the area, Chippewa Bay, for nearly 70 years, and as a retired geologist give talks locally about the landscapes and geology of the area. I think that the high quality of the landscape of the Thousand Islands area is very important part of its uniqueness.

In the last year I have been to some of the local hearings and information meetings about wind turbine parks and have visited several operating turbine sites, but I have not heard a lot of discussion about the impacts of nighttime lighting. I spent an evening in Cape Vincent looking at the nighttime lighting of the Wolfe Island wind turbine park. Before visiting Cape Vincent, I had considered that the night lighting was a rather small part of the many important concerns about impacts of the wind turbines.

Benign, the night lighting is not. Standing on the shore in Cape Vincent, in the dark, looking across three miles to the nearest turbine light (five to seven miles to the farthest), more than 20 red strobes blitz simultaneously every two-and-a-half seconds. From side to side the red strobes occupy most of your full field of vision. Each cycle is a jolt to the entire landscape and to your mind, and like a jab in the ribs. I could not ignore it. It dominated the scene and my mind.

Some say you can get used to it. Yes, you can get used to the continual crying of a baby at night, but it never goes to the background. You can get used to a long term in the county lockup, but each day you face it again. These strobes are there every hour of the night across the full spread of the affected landscape. I don't think they will dissolve into the background. Living with these lights seems to me like choosing to live inside an operating pinball machine or a disco bar.

The nighttime lighting of the wind turbine parks is a major impact, and its effect extends for miles from the actual sites.

Sidney Quarrier

Hammond

Cattaraugus IDA should nix industrial wind development

Thanks to The News for its coverage in the Sept. 12 edition on the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency hearings regarding the payment-in-lieu-of- taxes proposal for wind developers.

The unethical behavior of industrial wind developers is evident throughout New York State. In Wyoming County, Horizon Wind Energy hired a former Perry town supervisor after she carefully crafted a pro-wind law. More disturbing, Machias recently appointed a Horizon lease holder as its code enforcement officer and constable. Such political hubris was after the board was informed he was a leaseholder, and yet the draft wind law relies on him to issue the turbine permits.

Despite the IDA’s attempts to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the negative consequences of industrial wind, the stench from conflicts of interest will linger in its nose.

The IDA should ignore political pressure from its handlers in the Cattaraugus County Legislature and not endorse industrial wind development in the county, since the IDA was created to stimulate economic development for industries that create permanent jobs and financially benefit the area. Industrial wind will do neither, and is actually contrary to the IDA mission.

Bradley L. Parker

Machias

Stretch of Route 3 closed after turbine base detaches from rig

ELLISBURG — State police closed a portion of Route 3, from Bolton Road to Benton Road, for about three hours Wednesday after the base of a wind turbine and the trailer it was attached to became unlatched from the rig hauling the oversized load. Both the trailer and turbine overturned and rolled into a nearby cornfield, state police said.

The southbound rig was being escorted by state police at the time of the accident. The road was closed until state Department of Transportation workers could repair damage caused by the accident. State police reopened the road at 4:38 p.m.

The turbine will remain in the field until Friday. State police will close the same stretch of road while crews retrieve the turbine.

A trooper at the scene said the incident happened because of a malfunction on the truck, which is owned by Equipment Express Inc., Ontario, Canada.

Attend energy forum

As was recently pointed out by U.S. Rep. Eric Massa in a Hornell town hall meeting, wind energy has the potential to affect the lives of all who live in Western New York.

For instance, it has been estimated by some that more than 20,000 400-foot turbines could eventually be sited in New York state, likely exceeding the number of turbines in any country in the world. With New York in the center of wind energy development, it makes sense that New York citizens should have access to all of the facts regarding our governments' energy policies and not have to rely on corporate marketing or political rhetoric for such critical information.

To provide easy-to-understand scientific facts regarding our energy policies, there will be a free presentation on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. at the Bath Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. John Droz Jr., physicist (and energy expert) with degrees from Boston College and Syracuse University will discuss our electrical energy policies from a scientific perspective.

I invite everyone interested in wind energy and its effects to attend.

JIM ARTHUR

Bath