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Wind energy issue arrives in Nunda: Proposed project depends on erection of meteorological tower
"You do control the fate of your town and the your development through zoning," Sigurdson said.
by Andy Thompson in The Evening Tribune
January 25, 2006
NUNDA - It may not get past the first step.
More than 100 Nunda-area residents gathered at Nunda Junior-Senior High School Tuesday night for a meeting organized by history teacher Tom Cook and Nunda Concerned Citizens to learn more about a possible wind farm project in Nunda, Ossian and West Sparta. And while the questions were many and the answers nearly equal, thanks to the attendance of a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority regional manager, the project by Community Energy, Inc., may not advance past the study phase.
Phil Brooks, Nunda town supervisor, said trustees and planning board members reviewed an application by the Wayne, Pa., firm for erection of an approximately 200-foot meteorological tower on the Wilbur Gibson farm on Scipio Road and sent it back to Community Energy with the request that any information gleaned from its instruments be shared with the town. The structure, he said, would resemble "an overgrown flag pole with instrumentation on top."
The tower would help determine the feasibility of developing a wind project, and may be in place from anywhere from two to five years, depending on the final ruling by Nunda zoning officials.
To date, Brooks said, the town has not heard from Community Energy, and may not.
"They're making some decisions on whether they're going to complete the application,” Brooks said. "As of today we have no active applicant."
The company could decide to approach adjacent Ossian to erect the tower, Brooks said. He added that a tower erected in Mt. Morris by a different wind energy company produced inferior results, meaning the Nunda-area project may see the same fate.
Despite the possibility the wind project may not fly, Peter Sigurdson, Buffalo regional manager of NYSERDA, said "wind power has arrived."
Sigurdson said his agency was created in 1975 to create new energy opportunities in the state following the oil embargoes in the early 1970s and has a dual mission in working to protect the environment. NYSERDA is largely funded through a tax on electric bills, which has raised about $750 million in the past five years alone.
"We try to create a marketplace," said Sigurdson, who maintained NYSERDA is neither for nor against wind farms. "A lot of what we do is reduce the risk of private enterprise to enter the market."
Yet the problem, as one man shouted from the crowd, is that "you can't hide ugly, and they're ugly."
The towers above Nunda could approach 330 feet from the tip of the blade to the ground. Those towers, produced in the United States by General Electric and by other companies worldwide, typically produce 1.5 megawatts of power each annually - enough to supply electricity to 740 homes.
NYSERDA is involved in functioning wind projects in Wethersfield in Wyoming County and Madison County, and also with a huge project on the Tug Hill Plateau in Lewis County. That project, named Maple Ridge, saw the installation of 120 turbines in 2005 and an expected addition of 60 more in 2006. Sigurdson said 300 people are employed in its construction, and 25 will be hired for its operation.
For municipalities involved, Maple Ridge will mean $8 million annually in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) revenue.
Sigurdson said that can prove an attraction for rural communities faced with spiraling tax rate increases. While wind projects are tax exempt for 15 years, communities are allowed to disallow this exemption and work out PILOTS with developers. That action can result in an average of $5,000 for each megawatt of power produced annually.
The question, Sigurdson said, comes down to this: "Do you want your rural character preserved or can turbines be worked into your community in such a way you can live with?"
For Nunda, part of the issue has been decided. A zoned community, the Nunda planning board and its zoning board of appeals has the power to regulate the scope of any project and work to ensure it does not negatively impact residents living near turbines. The codes include a setback requirement for a turbine from a property line and roads that is one and a half times the height of the structure, and the need to bury any connecting electric cables between turbines underground to reduce visual clutter from power lines. Also, Brooks said this morning, Community Energy will have to create a plan and present it to the board for approval; a key part will be the requirement of projected views of the project from various angles three miles away. The meteorological tower also must be bonded to protect the town in the event Community Energy dissolves and leaves the tower.
"It will be a challenge to get the units located," Brooks said this morning.
Home rule, Sigurdson said the night before, will be the key to approaching any wind project.
"It presents very unique challenges to all communities. It's very new, especially for small communities that have dealt with this before."
"You do control the fate of your town and the your development through zoning," Sigurdson said.
Another meeting on the issue is planned, Cook said.
