Cape to defer action on wind
CAPE VINCENT — The town board agreed Thursday that it will not schedule a public hearing or take any vote on a controversial proposed wind power law until at least the beginning of the year.
The stipulation came in the wake of a state Supreme Court Article 78 petition filed by the Wind Power Ethics Group LLC in which the group also is asking a judge to rule that three town board members abstain from voting on any wind power-related issues due to alleged conflicts of interest.
The group filed the petition Thursday morning at the Jefferson County Clerk's office against the town board and members Marty T. Mason, Donald Mason and Joseph H. Wood. Mr. Wood did not seek re-election in November and will no longer be a board member after Dec. 31.
The group asked that the three recuse themselves from any discussion or voting on wind power issues because they have entered into agreements with wind energy companies for which they are being compensated.
Specifically, the Wind Power Ethics Group wanted a Nov. 12 vote by the town board establishing a public hearing on Local Law No. 1, a proposed law outlining wind power regulation, declared illegal and vacated because the three men voted on scheduling the hearing. The group was concerned that the town board, as currently configured, intended to pass the law before Dec. 31.
In addition to Mr. Wood leaving the board at year's end, Supervisor Thomas K. Rienbeck, a supporter of two proposed wind turbine projects in the town, will be exiting the board after losing the election to Urban C. Hirschey. The former chairman of the Wind Power Ethics Group, Mr. Hirschey has been critical of the town's proposed wind power law.
The group went to court Thursday seeking a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order because it feared the current town board would move quickly to pass the law. Judge Hugh A. Gilbert decided not to issue an order to show cause on the two actions until at least some time in January after hearing from the town's attorney, Mark G. Gebo, Watertown, that it has never been the board's intention to hurriedly enact the law.
"The town agreed it would not hold a public hearing or try to adopt a wind law before the end of the year. That alleviated a lot of the concerns," Mr. Gebo said.
The plaintiffs were satisfied with that guarantee.
"We agreed to try to hold things in the status quo until after the first of the year and, at that point, a re-examination could take place," the group's attorney, John J. Muldowney, Saranac Lake, said.
While some of the immediacy of the Article 78 petition alleviated Thursday, Mr. Muldowney said the group will still seek its requested relief preventing Marty Mason and Donald Mason from voting on wind power-related issues. Donald Mason said Thursday he has abstained from voting on any related issues, with the exception of the scheduling of the since-canceled public hearing. Marty Mason could not be reached for comment.
Joining Wind Power Ethics Group as plaintiffs in the legal action are John L. Byrne, the group's chairman, and Clifford Schneider, a member of the group and a former town board member.
