Town of Henderson, NY

12105 Town Barn Road

Henderson, New York 13650
(315) 938 - 5542
www.townofhendersonny.org

June 19, 2018

John Rhodes, Chairman

New York State Board on Electric
Generating Siting and the Environment
Three Empire State Plaza
Albany, New York 12223-1350

RE: Case Number 15-F-0327 Application of Galloo Island Wind, LLC for a Certificate
of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need to Construct an Approximately
108.9-Megawatt Wind Electric Generating Facility in the Town of Hounsfield,
Jefferson County, New York

Dear Chairman Rhodes,

This is in response to the letter submitted by Mr. Timothy Scee, Supervisor in the Town of Hounsfield, on
June 14, 2018.
Mr. Scee complains that nine months have elapsed and Galloo Island Wind LLC's application has yet to be
deemed complete. In reviewing the numerous filings since their initial application last September, it appears
that the cause of the delay lies with the Applicant, and not with DPS, for not fully complying with requests
for additional information. Additionally, Mr. Scee infers that a prior, completely different project review
completed in 2009 under SEQ RA would have relevance to the current Galloo Island project. Mr. Scee goes
so far as to state " ... in fact that pe1mit may still be valid." We certainly hope that is not the case.
The approval of a prior project should have no merit or bearing in this Article 10 proceeding. A close review
of the Examiners' transcripts from the July 2016 Pre-application conference seems to confirm that findings
from the prior project were not applicable to the current Applicant's project. Among other issues, Mr. Scee
neglects to note that the new project proposes turbines nearly twice as tall as the prior proposal and, as such,
would render the two projects dissimilar enough to merit a brand new and independent project review.

In a separate issue, we note that the Town of Hounsfield 's Zoning Laws were rewritten three times since
2009 (2012, 2014, 2016) and yet not a single revision provides an allowable use of wind turbines on Galloo
Island. In fact, Hounsfield's current law effectively bans wind turbines on Galloo Island.
The Applicant states in their application that they comply with all Town Zoning Laws. They are misleading
in their suggestion that their project constitutes "Essential Services" on Galloo Island. The definition of
"Essential Services", as taken from the Town of Hounsfield Zoning Law, is "The erection, construction,
alteration, operation or maintenance by municipal agencies or publicly regulated utilities of telephone dial
equipment centers, electrical or gas substations, water or sewer treatment or storage structures, pumping
stations and similar structures related to public service." Emphasis is added that only "municipal agencies

The Town of Henderson is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

or publicly regulated utilities " qualify as Essential Services. The Applicant has not proven they are either
nor has this been disclosed in their incomplete application.
We are requesting DPS withhold a determination of application completeness until, in fact, it is complete.
We believe several issues must be addressed and/or resolved before such a determination can be made. The
Hounsfield Zoning Law regulations must be made compatible with and specifically permit the Applicant's
Town development plans for Galloo Island. Using the "Essential services" loop-hole in Hounsfield's
Zoning Law to suggest the Galloo Island project comports with local law is disingenuous. Not only does it
open commercial wind development in Hounsfield's Marine District, in defiance of the currently existing
Zoning Law, it also opens the entire town to commercial wind development. This is totally contrary to the
public attitudes described in Hounsfield's Comprehensive Plan.
It is noted that several DPS requests for information have gone unanswered. We strongly believe the
Applicant should provide all the information DPS requests regardless of the length of time required to do
so. One has to believe that if the DPS deemed those requests necessary, they would have enough faith in
their knowledge of their own regulations to bold the Applicant accountable and not take their word that no
response is mandated.
Lastly, and to us most importantly, we would like to reiterate that the Town of Henderson is the municipality
clearly in closest proximity to the project and all the likely adverse impacts. The Town of Henderson has
submitted a scholarly and scientific study by highly competent and respected PhD researchers from
Clarkson University and Nanos Research. In that study the two most salient findings are the fact that there
will be virtually no long term job creation in the region and, most distressingly, the Town of Henderson
will realize a property value loss of over $40 million dollars. If the DPS is going to knowingly inflict that
kind of harm to the Town of Henderson, already one of the poorest communities in the state, they should
at least make sure the paperwork is complete. If nothing else, it will be of benefit to the lawyers in the
Attorney General's Office when called to respond to the inevitable litigation subsequent to approval of ill-
conceived project.
Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Sincerely yours,