January 16, 2007
New York
New York
Could Hamlin be a good spot for a wind farm?
That’s what the town’s Wind Tower Committee will investigate in coming months as the nine-member group works to develop regulations for developers interested in producing wind power in Hamlin.
The town currently has no regulations regarding wind tower placement.
Competitive Power Ventures Inc. installed two meteorological towers in Hilton late last year to study whether the area is suited for wind power development. The towers, located on Redman and Cook roads, will gather wind speed and direction data for up to three years. According to town documents, if the area is suited for wind energy development, CPV would eventually ask to build 40 to 50 wind towers that would connect to the Route 18 substation.
“Even though it’s going to be a while before we have a proposal for a wind farm, we have to get ahead of the developer,” said Hamlin Supervisor Denny Roach. “We have this time while the developers are collecting information to get laws we want on the books.”
Paul Lapinski of Redman Road opposes having any wind towers in Hamlin. He is part of the anti-tower neighborhood group, the Hamlin Preservation Group.
Wind farms are “noisy, they’re unsightly and developers aren’t truthful about how much energy they will produce,” he said. “And, they’re subsidized: If these are the greatest things since sliced bread, then why aren’t companies putting them up themselves?”
The first meeting of Hamlin’s Wind Tower Committee, which will be held tonight, will include a presentation by attorney Daniel Spitzer, who has represented other towns when they developed wind energy regulations.
The committee will meet on the third Tuesday of every month.
Roach said the committee’s charter says it has a year to develop regulations.
By Meaghan M. McDermott
Staff writer
If you go
What: Hamlin Wind Tower Committee meeting and presentation on wind tower regulations.
Where: Hamlin Town Hall, 1658 Lake Road.
When: 7 p.m. today.
Details: www.hamlinny.org/index.html.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/01/16/group-to-discuss-wind-farms-in-hamlin/