January 11, 2021
New York

Clymer Town Board to hear public input on solar, wind systems

By Kathleen Spinazzola | January 8, 2021 | www.thecorryjournal.com

CLYMER, N.Y. – A regular meeting of Clymer Town Board on Tuesday, Jan. 12, will include a public hearing as members of the board address a law suspending the development of any commercial solar or wind energy systems in the town of Clymer.

The meeting will be held at the Clymer Highway Building, 8026 Route 474, at 7:30 p.m. regarding the adoption of Local Law No. 1 of 2021, entitled “A Local Law Enacting a Moratorium on Commercial Solar and Wind Energy Facilities and Battery Energy Storage Systems.”

Any Clymer resident is entitled to be heard on the proposed local law during the public hearing.

Clymer Township Supervisor Travis Heiser said the moratorium will give supervisors a chance to look into the matter further before anything is developed.

“In looking at both solar and wind issues with other local towns, we thought it best to set a moratorium while we research and shore up our current laws,” Heiser said in an email.

Heiser went on to say there is a law regarding wind and solar energy facilities on the books from 2017, but many things have changed since then.

“The law that we have on the books does not prohibit the solar/ wind farms, it just regulates them,” Heiser said. “But as a few years have passed, we realize that we need to further update the law. So a moratorium will give us the space to do so.”

At this time there are no applications before the board for any solar or wind facility development.

“There has been some conversational interest of small-scale solar commercial farms, of just a few acres,” he said.

A public hearing is required before the adoption of any new law, or moratorium, in Clymer.

Heiser said however, he didn’t expect there to be many strong arguments one way or the other.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2021/01/11/clymer-town-board-to-hear-public-input-on-solar-wind-systems/