It was standing room only at the Wayne County courthouse in Lyons, NY on March 31st. Approx. 30+ people spoke on the New York Power Authority (NYPA) offshore turbine issue with the vast majority highly opposed. Several people wanted more info. When it came to a vote at the end of the meeting - the Board of Supervisors were unanimous - 15 to 0 against NYPA and the offshore project. The Board was not happy that NYPA reps didn't attend the meeting but this is NYPA CEO & President Richie Kessel's style not to get his hands dirty mingling with the unwashed common public. Some Wayne Co. supervisors wanted to look into offshore turbine issues more thoroughly but the aggressive NYPA timeline made them feel there wasn't enough time hence the safest thing to do was vote against the offshore issue rejecting the entire scheme.
One point brought out by a speaker was that offshore turbines would be the site of graffiti - we never heard that point before but its got to be true.
Now we'll have to see what Monroe County will do about the NYPA offshore turbine issue - with time running out. Wait till the folks in Irondequoit and Greece and other lake shore towns affected - begin to understand what offshore turbines are all about. This writer contacted the town of Webster supervisor's office in mid-December wishing to speak with him about offshore turbines but he never had the courtesy to return the call! The Irondequoit supervisor was very interested in our words and the Greece supervisor's office did have a rep. return our call.
One point brought out by a speaker was that offshore turbines would be the site of graffiti - we never heard that point before but its got to be true.
Now we'll have to see what Monroe County will do about the NYPA offshore turbine issue - with time running out. Wait till the folks in Irondequoit and Greece and other lake shore towns affected - begin to understand what offshore turbines are all about. This writer contacted the town of Webster supervisor's office in mid-December wishing to speak with him about offshore turbines but he never had the courtesy to return the call! The Irondequoit supervisor was very interested in our words and the Greece supervisor's office did have a rep. return our call.
This writer sees the next major hurdle as attempting to convince the Monroe County Legislature to also reject NYPA and the offshore wind effort but it will not be easy as Richie Kessel will be dangling the job and money carrot before their eyes and this greed symbol is hard to ignore. The goal is to get the Monroe County Legislature to vote NO on this issue as soon as possible because of the timeline involved. And we also need to get working in the Lake Erie area due to the timeline - Lake Erie property owners probably know less about offshore wind than those along Lake Ontario.
Its clear to this writer that NYPA is their own worst enemy & Kessel hasn't learned from his prior mistakes. Kessel himself is a major part of the problem. Let's hope Kessel continues his evil ways and causing people and elected officials to say NO. He's being driven closer to the Niagara River but then he actually does have a few friends in Niagara County despite the fact that Niagara County is suing NYPA and NY for over a half billion dollars NYPA raided from ratepayer monies to "donate" to Gov. Paterson's general fund last year to help Paterson balance the NYS budget. Niagara County has spent over $171k so far in this lawsuit against NYPA and the state - money that could be better spent on Niagara County roads and bridges.
Here's the offshore turbine NYPA scorecard:
March 9 - Jefferson County votes 14 to 0 against NYPA & offshore turbines
March 11 - Oswego County votes 20 to 4 against NYPA & offshore turbines
March 31 - Wayne County votes 15 to 0 against NYPA & offshore turbines
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