Honorable Jaclyn A. Brilling Secretary, NYS Board of Electric Generation Siting and the Environment 3 Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223-1350Regarding: 12-F-041 0 Cape Vincent Wind PowerDear Secretary Brilling:
Please do not override our carefully researched and well thought out Law that will protect the residents of our community. BP has made no progress in engaging in a dialog with our Town. Information has not been forthcoming on many of the aspects of this project that concern our Town. A project of this size will industrialize (the words of a wind developer) our rural community, devalue our properties, and create a divide in our Town. This has not only been addressed by this process; it has exacerbated it. Although the transmission line will divide our entire Town and Lyme will be surrounded by industrial
turbines; there has been little attempt to engage with public officials or our residents. We also suspect that the initial proposal of turbines in Cape Vincent, will soon give way to Phase 2, and those leaseholders in the Town of Lyme will also get turbines on their property. The tactic of divide and conquer is one the wind developer uses freely. The Town of Lyme will have industrial wind turbines located just off their boundaries which in turn will impact property values.
Although initially, the idea of green, clean and free energy from industrial wind turbines was acceptable, if not agreeable to most of the residents of Lyme, over the past 6 or 7 years there has been a change of attitude. This was the partially the result of the wind developers own actions, as rumors of the wind development arrived long before there was any formal contact with the Town of Lyme. There also seemed to be collusion among the developers, as the area seemed to have been divided among the various companies before anyone was informed. Secret leases were signed. There was a division in our
small community over the money that was promised. Reports of free electricity, no taxes, or promises of new fire trucks or other goodies were misleading and caused a rift between various groups. There was a deliberate effort on the part of the developers to divide waterfront and year round residents. Even now in various comments to the PSC there is often a statement, "I am a long term resident," although many of the summer cottages have been in the same family for generations, and the owners have winterized
and moved into their beloved family home year round. As we all know, the promise of money is a powerful lure. It makes me wonder how many of the vocal proponents of this project are solely concerned with the environment, or have a cash stake in the project.
We have a real dilemma in the Town of Lyme. How do we balance the needs of all our residents? Those who value the rural nature, quiet beauty, the wildlife, including bald eagles, osprey, owls and bats; the beauty of the stars at night, with those who would impose the noise, view and blinking lights of industrial wind turbines on the entire community. Towers of this size cannot be mitigated in our flat landscape, as admitted by the developers, so they offered money,. The Town commissioned two groups to research the problem and weigh the benefits with the negatives. The groups were clear in their results; the negatives outweighed the positives. Guided by these documents, as well as several different public surveys and hearings, with the assistance of the Jefferson County Land Use Planning Department, the Town of Lyme passed a Zoning Law to protect the health and welfare of its citizens.
Now BP and our own State are ignoring the Town of Lyme, our Comprehensive Plan and our Zoning Law. This is not new, as Lyme has been marginalized in the entire process. BP is behaving like a poor student as they are doing the minimum to get by and check off the various requirements of the process. Richard Chandler of BP repeatedly stated in the first meeting that they would not come where they are not wanted. After each member of Cape Vincent and Lyme's Town and Planning Boards questioned him, it was made very clear that BP did not, in fact, have the support of the community, however he stubbornly insisted that he did.
Perhaps you don't care, perhaps you and the other officials on the siting board are simply doing as BP is, the minimum that is required by law, checking off a box in the steps of a process that ignores the wishes of the residents of a small community. The wishes of people, just like you; with homes and families that live in a place they love. People that have worked tirelessly, for years, to protect their community and neighbors. People that would like to put this unhappy period of discord behind us and return to working together, in our fire departments, our school, our community groups, and our Town and Village to improve the quality of life for all of our residents.
Sincerely,
Town of Lyme, Town Board
Supervisor Scott Aubertine
Councilman Donald R. Bourquin
Councilwoman Anne Harris
Councilman Daniel Villa
Councilman David Henderson
