We congratulate the Town of Italy Board on their recent decision to establish a fair and reasonable set of zoning regulations. This decision effectively ends the debate about industrial windfarms in Italy. However several proposals continue to be evaluated by residents and leaders in Prattsburgh and Cohocton. In our efforts to objectively evaluate the Ecogen project we have learned a great deal about the pros and cons of windfarms, and offer the following suggestions to our neighbors who are still considering these developments.
1. Wind Turbine Size. If you limit the overall height of turbines to 60 feet rather than the 400 feet that is proposed, many of the legitimate objections to the windfarms will go away. 60-foot turbines do not require lighting. They do not produce low frequency noise. There would be no blade flicker, no concerns with ice throw, and only minimal damage to scenic viewsheds. The risks to tourism revenue and property values are similarly reduced. The developers will tell you that smaller turbines are not financially viable. That is just not true. Smaller units are financially viable, given government subsidies; but they are a little less profitable. A little less profit, a little less greed, seems to be a reasonable alternative to safeguard the 200 million dollars that tourism brings to the central Finger Lakes every year.
2. Lease versus Buy. The current proposals call for the developers to lease the land for the turbines. This approach effectively shields the developers from any legal liabilities. If there are health or safety issues, it is the landowner who will be sued. Neighbors suing neighbors would not be productive. Let’s just require the developers to purchase the land so that they can be held legally accountable. The purchase offer can easily be structured to provide the same revenue stream to the landowner, allow the landowner to continue to use the land, and return the parcel to the landowner when the project is decommissioned.
3. PILOT’s versus Real Estate Taxes. Another advantage of requiring the developers to own the land is that you can tax them fairly. The proposed PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) for Windfarm Prattsburgh would pay only $255,000 a year to Prattsburgh, Italy, and the two school districts. If the turbines were on the tax rolls, Windfarm Prattsburgh would pay six million dollars a year in real estate taxes. That is 24 times what the PILOT would provide, and would make a huge difference for every taxpayer. Just tax them what they are worth, just like everyone else. It is not right that all of the taxpayers of Prattsburgh and Cohocton should have to subsidize commercial developments that benefit only a few. It is pretty clear that Steuben County Industrial Development Authority, which negotiated the PILOT payment schedule, has a vested interest in these projects.
4. Costs of Decommissioning. The Windfarm Prattsburgh Environmental Impact Statement describes the establishment of a Decommissioning Reserve Account, which is intended to pay for the removal of the windfarm at the end of its useful life. However the developers do not have to put any money into the account until year fifteen of the project. This scheme would leave local taxpayers with a decommissioning bill of over 70 million dollars. Windfarms are very expensive to shut down and remediate. To avoid bankrupting town and county governments, be sure to demand a minimum of 1.5 million dollars for each and every turbine in an interest-bearing escrow account, in your name, at your bank, before the start of construction. A windfarm with 50 industrial wind turbines would require a deposit of 75 million dollars. This “reserve account” is no better than an IOU. Ask for real cash, upfront.
With these simple and straightforward changes to the windfarm proposals you can still reap the benefits of renewable energy while protecting the best interests of all of the residents of our region.
Libby and Lottie Jones
Donley Road
Town of Italy
No comments:
Post a Comment