East Hill WInd Farm News Archive >Back to News Archive Company offers cash for CV wind power 06/28/06 The Daily Star, Tom Grace Cherry Valley, NY - Reunion Power has proposed paying at least $300,000 a year in lieu of taxes if it is allowed to build 24 wind turbines in Cherry Valley. David Little, project manager of the firm's proposed Cherry Valley Wind Farm, said the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement (PILOT) would be administered by the Otsego County Industrial Development Agency. "We think it's a generous offer, and we hope the people of Cherry Valley do, too," Little said. The proposal would likely generate $375,000 a year to be split by the town of Cherry Valley, the Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School District and Otsego County, Little said. "The agreement has a floor of $300,000 a year, and then the community would share in the upside of the project," Little said. The more wind energy produced in Cherry Valley, the more money the community would receive. Reunion estimates the PILOT will produce $375,000 annually, or about $7.5 million over 20 years. Little said the company will not be involved in discussions about how the money would be split but will leave this matter to the municipalities and IDA. The PILOT proposal comes in the same month that the Cherry Valley Town Planning Board voted to place a moratorium on development in the town, a measure that would have to be approved by the Cherry Valley Town Board. The request from the Planning Board is likely to be considered by the town board at its July 13 meeting. Town Supervisor Tom Garretson said Tuesday that he favors an 18-month moratorium as the best way to allow the town to complete its comprehensive plan and adopt land-use regulations. In recent months, town officials also have been working on a wind ordinance that presumably would regulate how Reunion's $100 million project would proceed. Little and Marion Trieste, a consultant to the project, said Tuesday that they were surprised by the call for a moratorium. "We thought the wind ordinance would allow the town to be protected and allow the project to go forward, basically the best of both worlds," Trieste said. Little noted that his company has been working for more than two years on bringing wind turbines to Cherry Valley. Although the proposal has met resistance, Reunion is still in Cherry Valley "because the wind is the best we've tested in the state, and we've tested many places," he said. The 24 proposed wind turbines in Cherry Valley could power about 34,000 homes, Little said. Garretson said he believes that companies wanting to harvest Cherry Valley's winds will wait until the town is ready to properly review applications. "Basically, our Planning Board needs more tools, and we need more time to make sure it has them," he said. Not everyone on the Planning Board wants the moratorium to last 18 months, however. Member Russell Flint said Tuesday that he believes 18 months is too long and may discourage Reunion from going forward. "I think we have to look at the possibility of getting $7.5 million over 20 years and what that could do for Cherry Valley," he said. Garretson said the town's annual budget is about $1.3 million. >Back to News Archive