Cohocton Planning Board April 27, 2008 Letter from Judith Hall

Town of Cohocton Planning Board
Mr. Ray Schrader, Chairperson
15 S Main Street
Cohocton, NY 14826

4/27/08

Dear Mr. Schrader,

Today I witnessed first hand what is being discussed in all areas of Cohocton and the neighboring towns. Workmen are attempting repairs to the blades on the ground surrounding the erected turbine towers. There is black plastic and some kind of air hose going into the blades. We have been hearing from various construction personnel for months that blade repairs have been ongoing. My question to you as chairperson of the lead agency is, who is overseeing these repairs? Who is acknowledging the problems and assuring the equipment is safe? Is the Zoning Officer for the town, Joseph Bob qualified to inspect this kind of activity?

Once again I would request the Planning Board do its oversight responsibility concerning the liability this suspect construction of non certified industrial machines may have on Cohocton and the health and safety of its residents. Who is certifying the components and construction, when daily construction workers are talking about cracks in the towers, blades that do not fit and have structural problems, and we know the Clipper turbines have gearbox problems?

Recent letters exchanged between Mr. Bob and UPC acknowledges changes to the project and construction problems are not being adequately addressed. Where is the concern and responsibility of you as the lead agency in following through on issues not yet resolved from the Findings Statement? Who is watching out for the safety of the residents of Cohocton? Who is providing the engineering expertise to protect the town and where can we look at their findings? This appears to be a clear case of the developer writing the rules, and then doing their own supervision in following those rules.

After months of waiting Mr. Bob produced the memorandum of leases and easements for perusal. Are you aware these were not yet valid at the time the Planning Board issued the Special Use Permits? It was stated Mr. Bob had seen them, though they were not available to the public. My question is how do you see something that had not yet existed? This would be the same situation which existed when the planning board passed the Findings Resolution without having yet seen the document in final form. With three Article 78’s still to be heard by Judge Furfure, and the many questionable unreported changes to the project, as well as the unverifiable reliability of the turbine components being used, it would certainly seem that the Planning Board would rescind the Special Use Permits until these issues are resolved.

Concerned,

Judith Hall

cc: Cohocton Town Board
David Miller, Attorney
Judge Bouteiller, PSC
Steven Blow, PSC
Office of the Attorney General
Rudyard Edick, DEC