CHERRY VALLEY - Developers proposing to build a $50 million wind park in Cherry Valley fielded another barrage of questions from residents during a special town planning board meeting last Wednesday night.

Project Managers Daniel Albano and Erich Bachmeyer of Cambridge, Mass., based Global Winds Harvest, Inc., were there to discuss the project which could end up putting more than 40 wind turbines on hilltops east and west of the village and generate enough electricity to power 37,000 homes.

The turbines are similar to those in use in a wind park off Route 20 in Madison, N.Y. and are rated at 1.5 megawatts apiece - enough to feed the electric needs of about 750 average households.

The towers are going to be between 235 and 270 feet high and have blades that are 130 feet in length. They would be located at least 600 feet apart and electrical cables connecting the turbines would be placed underground. The developers say they expect to feed the electricity generated into a NYSEG line along Route 20.

Currently the company would like to begin construction in March or April of next year and have the units commissioned and on line by December.

The special meeting was called by interim planning board chairman Chris Ottman, who is standing in for planning board chairman Ed Harvey, who last month relinquished his duties while the board reviews the project.

Harvey owns property on East Hill, one of the two areas targeted for the wind park. He said he had been approached by the company about locating four or five turbines on his property.

Ottman was out of town and missed last month's meeting when developers made a presentation about the project and submitted a sketch plan. The sketch plan is a starting point for discussion between the planning board and the developers prior to submitting an actual site plan for review.

The special meeting began with a 30-minute question and answer period for the public which stretched to closer to an hour and covered much of the same information discussed during last month's town board and planning board meetings.

People again quizzed the developers about the size of the turbines and the noise they create. Albano told residents that noise would be minimal and during quiet times because when the air is still, the turbines would not be operating. "they are loud only when the ambient noise level is high," he said.

Ottman said he traveled west to Madison to look at the windpark there and said he found the turbines to be very quiet, but East Hill resident Andy Minnig, who would be living in the shadow of the turbines, said he was told by the town clerk in Madison that they sound like washing machines in a high wind.

Mike Hanlon, who hunts and fishes the area selected west of the village, known locally as "the cape," expressed worries about invasive construction that might be required to move the equipment and towers to the sites on the hilltops.

Albano and Bachmeyer said they would use existing roads and rights-of-way whenever possible and that it would require a gravel road only 12 to 15 feet wide to move everything on site.

"The railroad's coming in - that's what it feels like to me," Hanlon said. "That land's been pristine for 100s of years. Indians used to camp out up there that's the way it ought to stay. That's the way it's been for 200 years and it ought to stay that way."

Residents again questioned the financial stability of the company developing the project and what would happen if it was to go bankrupt, but Bachmeyer tried to assure them that all financing would be in order before construction started and that all capital costs are incurred up front. Seventy percent of the cost would be covered by commercial loans, he explained, and if they went bankrupt, it would mean a bank would take over and operate the park.

There was also talk of requiring bonds to assure the turbines would be decommissioned and removed if something went sour.

Minnig and others also questioned how a project of this scale could come to Cherry Valley without more public notification.

Albano said they had come to the town board a year ago to discuss the windpower project and gauge the board's feelings about it. In the year since that meeting, they have worked to research and test the wind to make certain it would be suitable for the turbines. "We had to see it there was adequate wind," he said. "We resent the idea that we're trying to railroad the project in."

"We didn't even know if we would do the project. We had to research the wind," Bachmeyer said.

Joan Noonan told residents she believed complaints about notification should not be aimed at the developers, but the town board who was aware of it for the last year. People want to be able to do what they what with their own land, she said, but aren't willing to allow others to do what they want. "You can't have it both ways," she said.

Bachmeyer said they are thinking about conducting an informational meeting for area residents at the end of May or June at which they could explain the project and what it involves. "To fully digest the entire issue, you have to look at the entire context. There are lots of costs and benefits and we are aware of them," he said.

Albano said they would even be willing to the pay for a bus to take interested residents to Madison to see the wind turbines operating there and judge the noise for themselves.

Town of Middlefield Planning Board Chairman Dr. Henry Weil attended the meeting and asked the developers how they intended to demonstrate the visual impact of the project.

Albano said they will accomplish that through a visual simulation that will offer different perspectives from around the town.

Landowners who sign on to the project will receive an annual payment from the company which is expected to be approximately $3,000 per turbine.

The Town of Cherry Valley would receive annual payments into what is being called a "wind fund." The annual payments are still being negotiated, but are expected to be in vicinity of $2,500 per turbine per year, according to Supervisor Robert Loucks, who commented last month the town could expect to receive approximately $100,000 a year.

The turbines are not taxable - at least not for the next 15 years - so they will not contribute revenue in that manner. According to Steve Child, the Director of the Otsego County Real Property Tax Services, Section 487 of the New York State Real Property Tax law provides for a 15-year exemption for solar or wind energy systems.

The sketch plan submitted to the planning board is preliminary and subject to change, the developers said. The planning board meets again on May 21 which is the earliest the developers could submit their site plan and firmly pinpoint the number and location of the turbines.

According to Bachmeyer, they have been able to obtain a number of options from landowners, particularly for the site west of the village. He said they are still working with owners for the East Hill site and how many of them sign on to the project will dictate the number of turbines.

Bachmeyer said last week that he was uncertain if they would submit the site plan to the planning board for the May meeting or would have to wait until they meet again in June.