Demand more from wind developer
As a property owner in Henderson and being responsible for a property in Adams, I urge a no vote on the Galloo Island payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement and the associated transmission line.
The wind projects in the county will not produce enough benefits or compensation for the property owners or taxpayers of Jefferson County in the long run. It seems to me that the town and village of Adams get very little out of the package. A report in the Watertown Daily Times last week indicated that the combined budgets in Adams would have to contribute over $115,000 to subsidize this deal. This is a lot of money for Adams to lose.
I fail to see how the Galloo Island project, which was negotiated by a county organization on behalf of the whole county, never included the towns of Henderson nor Ellisburg. This, despite the fact that anyone who can read a map sees that a transmission line from the island will have to either go through both towns either overland or underwater. The company has failed to respect the local zoning rules and procedures in the town of Henderson and the county seems to have ignored the town as well. It just makes no sense for a county agency not to negotiate on the behalf of all of the potentially affected towns.
There will be more demand for wind power and the county needs to get a better deal for the whole county and for all the towns which have to host the farms. There must be some more significant contributions to the local tax base made by companies, not concessions by Jefferson County. The current company is not the only developer and if the pilot project is voted down, someone else with deeper pockets will come along. I see no reason for the taxpayers of Jefferson County to give more subsidies through tax abatement deals when we are already subsidizing the entire wind generation industry through our federal taxes. This strikes me as a double subsidy and real tax burden for everyone in Jefferson County. If the industry can't survive without intervention from all levels of government, perhaps it should not survive.
I don't believe the long-term trade-offs of the destruction of the beauty of the area and the losses to the tourist industry and vacation property investment have been adequately compensated for in the deal.
Robert C. Whiteman
Oak Hill, Va.
