Henderson residents to Galloo Island wind developer: tall turbines all pain, no gain 

“The turbines are going to be facing right at us when you’re looking at the water. Our house is worth about $250,000, and I bet it would go down to $200,000,” Mr. Cirilo said, adding that blinking red lights at night would also be a nuisance.

Gary M. Puccia, who lives year-round on Hovey Road near the Cirilos, presented a photo he took on his cellphone from his waterfront home that shows turbines about 18 miles away on Wolfe Island, Ontario. He said his quality of life would suffer if the Galloo Island project materializes, contending he’d no longer be able to enjoy sunsets.

“Henderson has the best sunsets in the world, but the natural beauty would be gone with the blinking lights,” he said. “People will be able to see turbines at least 15 miles away.”

Town resident Ronald W. Peterson, however, said he supports the wind project and does not believe it would harm property values. “We need more renewables so we aren’t dependent on carbon-based power with more pollution,” he said. “I would be able to see the turbines from my house, but you get used to looking at them.”

Larry M. Les Chander, meanwhile, said in a discussion with Mr. Peterson that he doesn’t support wind projects because of the high cost, pointing out that projects need to be subsidized by state and federal funding. “If turbines produced cheap power I would be for them, but I’d rather spend my tax dollars somewhere else,” he said.

A tax break from the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency will be needed for the project to materialize, said William M. Moore, the principal of Hudson Energy who is widely known in the region for developing the Maple Ridge Wind Farm project in Lewis County. The 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement sought by the developer would have to be approved by Jefferson County, the town of Hounsfield and the Sackets Harbor Central School District.

“No project will be built without a PILOT,” he said, adding that he is hopeful people will be receptive to the project after learning more about it. He said several Henderson residents were surprised at the model depicting how turbines would look from the shore. He claimed they look “like a thumbnail on the horizon.”

Mr. Moore said it is unfortunate that Henderson would not receive tax benefits from the project, contending that because of its proximity, “the town deserves to get some of the benefit of the project. We should consider coming up with a way to address the economic inequity.”

Neil T. Habig, a developer for Hudson Energy, said that while he understands the majority of county legislators might now be opposed to the project, he is hopeful they could change their minds after learning more about it.

He said it is possible Hudson Energy could decide to sell the project to another developer during the multiyear Article 10 permitting process. “We’ve had multiple discussions with other developers that have expressed interest. We could decide to partner with someone or to sell it to them in a year,” he said, declining to provide further details.