Town of Malone
The 15 or so people in attendance applauded Wednesday night when the Malone Town Council adopted a local law that severely restricts the construction of wind towers.Language in the unanimously passed law limits tower heights to 85 feet on non-agricultural land and 100 feet for property within an ag district as long as the power generated is used for on-site consumption.
Person after person stood to praise the members for their courage in adopting the measure that takes effect as soon as it is on file with the Secretary of State's Office in Albany.
No wind-energy companies have proposed a project in the Town of Malone, but there are plans under way in several sites in Clinton County and a formal plan could be presented to the Town of Brandon in the coming months from Noble Environmental Power.
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Beth Moshier offered appreciation for "your high level of integrity" and "for not selling out." John McCarthy, who is a member of the town's Planning Board, said he was opposed to wind-farm operations because there are no clear benefits to the town or its people, adding that the country's reliance on foreign oil needs to be addressed.The lone audience member who spoke in favor of future wind projects was Tom Schultz, a Malone artist, who said the Maple Ridge Wind Project he sees in the Lewis County Town of Lowville "is very beautiful" and that the people who live near them have no complaints.
I imagine the people of Lewis County think the annual $8,000,000 PILOT payment from the Maple Ridge project is a clear benefit.
Comments
Please provide data to support your claim that Maple Ridge windfarm is paying $8 Million dollars per year to the people of Lewis County?
Posted by: Jim Lince | June 2, 2006 09:29 PM
Mr. Lince, I reviewed the PILOT for this project back when it was known as Flat Rock and, as memory serves, it provided that the annual payment was to be $46,000 per turbine, with around 180 turbines planned to be constructed. That works out to an annual payment of over $8,000,000 once the project is fully constructed. I believe the annual amount was to increase if a transmission line was constructed. It's possible that the PILOT terms have changed and I'd appreciate if you could provide any information in this regard. But even if the payment were halved, my original point stands: it simply is not the case that wind turbine projects have "no clear benefits" to the municipality they are located in. They have both benefits and drawbacks.
UPDATE: I should add that the $46,000 per turbine far exceeds the usual $5,000 per megawatt payment because Lewis County, ingeniously, was able to establish a small Empire Zone for each turbine. This allowed the developer to recoup from the state- i.e. from taxpayers spread across the entire state- most of the funds it paid to the project municipalities. In that case, it was able and willing to pay a much higher amount per turbine than usual. This, to me, seems like the ideal arrangement: the project municipalities have to put up with all the drawbacks of a wind turbine project, but realize significant cash infusions in recompense, and the financial burden is shared across the entire state. Folks in Westchester County benefit to some degree by being able to use the energy from these turbines; this arrangement requires them to reimburse Lewis County for the troubles the project causes.
Posted by: Joel Seachrist | June 2, 2006 10:19 PM
Ironically there was a clause in that PILOT...if NYS did not extend the Empire Zone to the 55 new towers, those towers would only bring in PILOT monies of $8200 each per year. Guess what happened, they did not declare that section an EMPIRE ZONE. The Town of Martinsburg has proposed using money to decrease town portion of the taxes by 10%...this could spell out a $10 savings per year for many taxpayers....is $10 really worth your quality of life and your heritage?????
Posted by: Anne B | March 22, 2007 04:49 PM
Anne B., the latest figure I can find for the Town of Martinsburg tax rate is $7.89/$1,000.00 of assessment. Using that number, if a 10% reduction in the town tax bill equals savings of only $10.00 per year, that means the starting tax bill was $100.00, which means an assessment of only $12,674. Do "many" taxpayers in Martinsburg have assessments that low, or just some?
Also, the size of the tax cut isn't the only measure of whether the project is worthwhile, since the Town can apply some of the new revenue stream to other quality of life improvements- parks, infrastructure, utilities, etc.- that couldn't have been addressed without the project.
You likely also realize some benefit in your county tax bill because of the new large revenue stream that Lewis County will realize from those parts of the project not in the Town of Martinburg that are in the Empire Zone.
In short, your spin is just a bit misleading. That's fine, but it should be noted.
Posted by: Joel Seachrist | March 22, 2007 09:15 PM