Full speed ahead on Galloo Island

Upstate NY Power Corp. has pulled out all the stops to try to get all of its approvals lined up by the end of the year for the proposed Galloo Island Wind Farm.

It wants to capitalize on the federal Treasury Department’s offer of 30 percent refund of the cost of the 252-megawatt project, which requires at least partial construction by the end of 2010.

At the beginning of the month, the developer asked for, and received, a separate track for a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for its project from the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency. This week, it submitted the site plan application to the town of Hounsfield Planning Board.

But Galloo Island still needs its final environmental impact statement submitted and accepted by the state Department of Environmnetal Conservation before site plan approval can occur.

A spokeswoman for the project said Thursday that the final EIS should be submitted by the end of the year, allowing both approvals to come before Jan. 1. Then the developer could plan and begin construction once the weather breaks in 2010.