Town of Cherry Valley

CV BOARD TO VOTE ON WIND-TURBINE LAW:

A proposed ordinance to regulate how wind farms in Cherry Valley will operate is on the agenda for Thursday night’s Cherry Valley Town Board meeting, town Supervisor Tom Garretson said Monday.
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At issue in the proposed law are setbacks and maximum allowed noise levels. The law stipulates that turbines would have to be at least 2,000 feet from the nearest off-site residence, school or church, and 1,200 feet from the nearest lot line. It also calls for noise levels to be less than six decibels higher than ambient levels at lot lines.

At a public hearing earlier this year, the proposed law, with its restrictions, was strongly supported by most speakers, and the town has received many letters of support for the proposed ordinance.

However, a petition calling for the contentious items in the law to be amended, signed by more than 150 town residents, also was delivered to the three-member town board.

Reunion Power, based in Manchester, Vt., estimates its project will cost $100 million to build and has proposed paying at least $300,000 a year in lieu of taxes if it goes forward.

The proposed payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement has provisions for increasing that amount if the wind farm is highly productive, and the company estimates it will contribute about $350,000 per year to the town, county and possibly to Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School.