The Informational Meeting was organized by the Alliance for Bovina to bring residents up to date on the issue of wind turbines in Bovina. About 200 people attended. Refreshments were graciously provided by Heaven and Russell’s Store, both on Main Street. A panel of local volunteers presented the basics on several topics and a lively Q&A followed with those in the audience

Hall Willkie, co-director of the Alliance for Bovina, welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for coming. He also thanked the Bovina Town Board and Bovina Planning Board for their hard volunteer work in considering the wind turbine issue and for their openness to public involvement in the process.

Michael Kaufman, a resident of Yankee Road, said that he, like most of the people in the room, came to Bovina because of its beauty. "But all that is threatened," he said, by the prospect of enormous industrial wind turbines being sited on Bovina's scenic mountain ridges. "These wind turbines will probably be 400 feet tall, almost three times the height of the Statue of Liberty, roughly the height of a forty story building." Kaufman then demonstrated the size of a modern turbine blade--about 125 feet--by having a volunteer roll a brightly colored tape across the room and out into the street.

Kaufman noted that in 2002 Bovina developed a comprehensive plan after surveying community residents. "The survey found that the number one reason that people came to live here and continue to stay is because of the 'rural atmosphere/farmland.'" Bovina's comprehensive plan and its zoning emphasize the importance of preserving the community's pristine beauty.

Kaufman explained that the Alliance for Bovina and others had convinced the Bovina Town Board to enact a 6-month moratorium on wind turbine construction to give them time to study the issue and draft regulating amendments to the zoning laws. Since then the Board and the Planning Board have been holding biweekly meetings to consider these issues and hear public comment. The moratorium will end--or be extended--in late October. Kaufman added that "some members of our Town Board and our Planning Board have hinted in their joint meetings that if they get the sense that a large majority of local property owners are opposed to corporate wind towers, they might end up prohibiting them. It is up to us to make that majority heard."

Bovina resident Heidi Goggins spoke next. She said she had been approached by Scott Baltazar of Pesot Renewable Energy LLC about a year ago about the possibility of building turbines on a ridge near her small farm. She was initially very positive about the idea. But when she saw the proposed contract, it raised many questions for her. She paid a visit to the Pesot offices in Manhattan--which had no listing in the phone book or in the building directory. The office, she said, was staffed by "thirty or forty young guys sitting in front of computer screens with headsets." When she informed them that she had come from Bovina to talk about wind turbines, they directed her to Jeff Pesot. "He was nervous in talking to me and said that he had no previous experience with wind turbines," said Goggins. "My instincts about him were not good." She described Pesot's company as a start-up energy trading venture.
Goggins concluded by noting that it was "painful to see this town torn apart by this issue. This is not about farmers--it's about a lot of money being made by people who don't live here."

Speaker Ken Jaffe, a physician based in Meredith, spoke next about the health effects of industrial-scale wind turbines. He noted that at their source, the turbines generate 100 decibels of noise--similar to a jackhammer. The noise created by the turbine machinery and by the aerodynamics of the turbines is heard by nearby residents. He noted the World Health Organization's statement that "noise has health effects," including disruption of sleep and resulting loss of productivity. He said that turbine noise can best be measured in relation to the ambient noise, and that it is recommended that turbines be set far enough away from residences that it generates no more than 6 decibels above the ambient noise level. He noted that in Europe, which has many more turbines than the U.S., there are "stricter regulations against turbines that restrict setbacks and the level of noise."

Jaffe then discussed other potential health effects of turbines: shadow flicker, or the strobe effect, created by the sunlight passing through moving turbine blades. "Flicker has known medical effects, including migraines," he said. He recommended ordinances that protect people from the "entirely predictable" path of shadow flicker.

Lastly, Jaffe discussed the issue of ice thrown from the moving turbine blades. He said it was undisputed that up to 100 pounds of ice can form on turbine blades, and that this ice can be thrown from the blades, at high speeds, endangering those nearby. The reach of this ice throw is disputed, but the laws of physics dictate that ice traveling at turbine blade speeds could potentially travel as far as half a mile. In Vermont, a piece of turbine blade that broke off the turbine was thrown 1000 feet.

Eric Wedemeyer of Coldwell Banker of Delhi and Margaretville then spoke about the effect a wind turbine plant in Bovina might have on property values. He noted that compared to an area such as western New York, Delaware County's property values "have done better because we've been protecting the area. Our land is worth something and the value is going up because it's pristine."

He noted that agriculture has dramatically declined in the area: at one time, there were 2500 farms and now there are only 200. Because of watershed restrictions, large-scale industry is not an option. Real estate is what can sustain the area economically, he said. Wedemeyer noted that one of the big reasons people buy property in our area is the views.

To get a sense of the effect turbines might have on property values, Wedemeyer says his company "sent out 20 questionnaires to customers who had bought property through us" asking if they would have bought property if it had been located within view of wind turbines. "Seventeen of the surveys were returned and of those, 16 of the 17 said no," said Wedemeyer.

Wedemeyer said that properties overlooking power lines (which are much smaller and less visible than wind turbines) typically go for 25-30% less than similar properties not near powerlines. "We know why people are buying here," he concluded.

He said that some time ago a CEO of one of the turbine companies had asked to meet with him. Wedemeyer said he asked the executive to give one reason why wind turbines should be sited in our pristine area. "He could not answer the question." Wedemeyer noted that as head of the local Chamber of Commerce, he had opposed gambling in Delaware County. "We protected ourselves against big corporations."

Wedemeyer talked to several assessors about whether turbines would lower assessments. All said they would. One replied "What a nightmare!" He said that even those people owning property with no view of the turbines would be affected, because when one resident's assessment is lowered, other property owners will see their tax rates increased to cover the loss. He estimated that assessments would drop 25-30% due to turbines.

The next speaker was Tim Bray, a professional engineer whose business is based in Bovina. Bray is also proprietor of Bovina's historic Russell's General Store. He explained that Bovina was among those towns in Delaware County with zoning and a comprehensive plan. "Zoning is about recognizing how interesting this place is, and it describes what we need to do to preserve it." In helping Bovina come up with its zoning laws, he said, the goal was to make sure "we don't look like the south side of Oneonta--that we keep our beautiful vistas, and yet remain a viable community."

Bovina's zoning laws and comprehensive plan are both aimed at preserving the area's natural beauty. And, Bray said, when someone told him that a company was targeting Bovina for 385-foot wind turbines, "I couldn't believe it." Such structures, he said, would violate Bovina's zoning laws. He noted that you couldn't erect a junkyard or an amusement park in Bovina because it's not zoned for that. Why would the town allow giant structures like wind turbines?

Tom Craveiro, a co-director of the Alliance for Bovina, then spoke about how Bovina might address the turbine issue. "We need a new zoning law in Bovina," he said, "and it should be modeled on an ordinance that passed unanimously in Malone, NY." The Malone ordinance, he said, allows only small turbines--up to 125 feet--to provide electricity on-site. With an ordinance like this, he said, Bovina would have "no $300,000 cost of decommissioning each turbine, no liability to the town, no potential lawsuits….Malone has led the way with a small, simple, manageable ordinance on turbines." He said he had presented the Malone ordinance to the Bovina Town Board at its last meeting.

The last speaker was Alliance for Bovina co-director Larry Karam, an attorney. He said, "there are rumors propagated by pro-wind people that a town cannot ban turbines or else they will be sued by turbine companies." These rumors are false, Karam said. "We ban junkyards and other types of businesses"-- and can ban turbines as well. He noted that the NYC Court of Appeal has upheld the right of towns to bar certain types of industry that do damage to the town."

Karam said that even if Bovina's Town Board votes to allow turbines, the issue will have to go through a strenuous review process under New York's SEQRA law (State Environmental Quality Review Act).

Karam then announced that the Alliance for Bovina will soon be conducting a poll of all Bovina taxpayers and voters on the wind turbine issue. Responses will be received and tabulated by a neutral third party, he said. It will contain two simple questions on the turbines. He noted that the Alliance's poll is not a substitute for any survey the town of Bovina might conduct on the issue. He urged the audience to complete the poll and any town survey that might follow, and he called for volunteers to help the Alliance for Bovina with research to assist the Town Board in its labor.

Carol Spinelli, who leads the Alliance's outreach efforts, then described next steps. "We can't vote on the turbines, because it's a zoning issue," she said. "So we have to let our elected officials know how we feel about it. She said that an informal tally by the Alliance showed that about 80% are against the turbines. She urged everyone in the audience to reach out to their neighbors, to ensure a good return on the poll and any survey the town might conduct.

Hall Willkie then opened the event up for questions. One resident asked if the turbine question could be decided by referendum. Larry Karam responded that under New York law, a zoning change cannot be decided by referendum.

Someone asked what interest local people had in supporting turbines. "Money," said several panelists. Another noted that there are many well-intentioned people who think turbines will be good for the environment.

A resident asked if the town was liable if something went wrong with the turbines. Karam replied that the town could be liable, as could the landowner who has turbines on their property.

A resident asked: If the town votes to allow turbines, when is the next election, and could the decision be reversed by new officeholders? The panelists replied that the Town Board is elected for staggered terms, the first coming up in 2007. However, Karam said that once turbine companies had begun construction, reversing the decision to allow turbines would expose the town to liability.

Heidi Goggins suggested that perhaps the town might compensate a landowner if the turbines were not allowed. In reaction, another resident asked who would compensate him for the loss of value to his property if the turbines were allowed.

A local resident who said he has signed a contract with the Pesot objected to the way panelists had described these contracts as "secret." He said it implied there was something illegal about this process. He also said that he had told the Town Board about his actions and had not kept his agreement a secret.

Larry Karam replied that the concern is not that the agreement between landowner and company is secret, but that the company is keeping its intentions secret from the town. However, Karam noted, there is nothing inherently illegal about businesses keeping secrets--they do it all the time. Karam said that of the many secrets Pesot Renewable Energy LLC has kept from the community, the most telling was the company's refusal to come to Bovina and speak to the Town Board. The Town Board is on record as asking the company exactly what its plans are for Bovina, since it is difficult for the Board to study the turbine issue without knowing the specifics.

A resident of Stamford commented that she believes the issue is not so much about legality as ethics. She said people who signed contracts with wind companies should be able to talk face to face to their neighbors about what they had done. She invited audience members to attend Stamford's meeting on turbines on Wednesday September 20 at 7:00 pm.

Another local resident said she believed change--including a turbine
installation--was inevitable. She argued that turbines would provide needed revenue for some Bovina landowners, and asked how many in the audience made their living in the local area. Few people raised their hands. Later she asked how many residents would even see the turbines if they were erected--and almost the entire audience raised their hands.

A resident asked why the county appeared to be in favor of wind. Not all panelists agreed that it was. Karam pointed out that the county hopes the turbines will net them revenue.

Hall Willkie concluded the meeting by urging the audience to attend the Town Board/Planning Board workshops, to watch for the community poll and respond to it, to provide financial support to the Alliance. He commented that the silver lining in this fight is that it affords us a chance to get to know each other.

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