Press-Republican

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
October 19, 2007

Lawmakers upset with recent wind agreement

By DENISE A. RAYMO

MALONE -- Lingering hard feelings over negotiations for wind-farm-tax agreements last month may lead Franklin County to create a planning department.

The five-party payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal reached in September involves the county, the Chateaugay Central School District, the towns of Bellmont and Chateaugay and Noble Environmental Power of Connecticut.

Noble is building Noble Bellmont Windpark, with 14 turbines, and Noble Chateaugay Windpark, with 72 turbines.

Combined, the two facilities are to generate 129 megawatts of power.

The parties agreed that Noble will pay $8,000 per megawatt. The two towns, as host communities, would split $5,000 of that, while the other $3,000 would be divided between the school, the county and the towns.

Chateaugay Central would get 65 percent, the towns would split 20 percent, and the county would receive the final 15 percent.

At the same time, a separate negotiation for $1,000 per megawatt of power created an economic-development fund that will be administered by the county's Industrial Development Agency.

Thursday, when IDA Executive Director Brad Jackson came before the County Legislature's Economic Planning and Development Committee, he was criticized for not doing enough to look out for the county's interest at the negotiating table.

Saranac Lake Democrat Timothy Burpoe said legislators thought Jackson was supposed to be the county's representative in the room.

Burpoe said higher megawatt figures could have been obtained with a tougher stance against Noble and the towns.

But because a deadline was imposed to reach the deal quickly, Burpoe said, he and some other legislators felt pressure to settle for a deal even though the county ended up with the smallest share. Jackson said his Board of Directors told him his job was to bring the parties to the negotiating table but to stay out of the actual talks, and that's what he did.

He said his agency's interest was strictly narrowed to getting the economic-development fund started so the IDA can use it to finance projects to attract more business to the county.

Burpoe countered that Franklin County is in his job title and that its welfare should be the first priority, adding that maybe it is the IDA Board that needs reminding since its members are appointed to their posts by legislators.

Jackson said PILOT negotiations are really something a Planning Department should handle.

But Franklin County is one of three counties in New York that doesn't have one.

He said a planner would be the right person to advise the county about its interests rather than the IDA.

"Then I propose that the time has come to form a task force or a planning board to step in," said District 2 Legislator Daniel Crippen (D-Burke).

Jackson said he believes a Planning Department "is a county's operation center. Legislators can come to the planning director to talk about these inter-agency issues.

"It's time for that type of expertise to advise you through all of this."

draymo@pressrepublican.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Recent Article Comments
Albany Round-up

Photo of the Day
Strange News
Videos: Editor Picks
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48 Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48 Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion' 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses