Initially, developer Global Winds Harvest had hoped to build as many as 50 of the power generating turbines on two sites, but had to abandon the East Hill location because not enough land owners agreed to participate.

"We didn't get the landowners commitments," said project manager Erich Bachmeyer.

The site plan review application presented Tuesday calls for 27 turbines to be built on the west site, Cape Wycoff, across from the Cherry Valley-Springfield school.

The planning board accepted the application as an incomplete document and will now notify other involved agencies as part of the process of determining who will take lead agency status.

Otsego County Planning Director Diane Carlton attended the meeting to assist the Cherry Valley board and said it is likely they will be the lead agency, but must go through the process before beginning the formal review of the project.

Chris Ottman, who is acting as planning board chairman, allowed 30 minutes of comment from the public which filled the meeting room and spilled outside with people watching the proceedings through the open windows.

Fly Creek attorney Les Sittler, who represents two landowners, was the first to speak and cautioned about segmentation if the developers tried to later expand the project.

Martha Frey, Executive Director of the Cooperstown-based Otsego 2000, said the project would "introduce a new industrial land use to an otherwise rural landscape."

"This land use could adversely affect adjacent property owners' land values and may encourage other industrial developments which would forever alter northern Otsego County and beyond," she added.

Andrew Minnig, a resident of East Hill, said that if property values drop because of the wind turbines it may result in a loss of revenue for the town because of lower assessments.

"This project is green on the surface and black on the inside," he said.

Middlefield resident Henry Cooper, a member of the board of Otsego 2000, spoke about James Fenimore Cooper and the influence the landscape of Otsego Lake and northern Otsego County had on his writing and how important it was to shaping his view of nature.

"The lake and its surroundings are the Walden Pond of New York state," he said.

Cooper said he believes the wind turbines are the "thin edge of the wedge." If they are allowed, he said, more will squeeze in.

"Northern Otsego County could well become a giant wind farm. I recommend this project be given the closet possible scrutiny and review," he said.

Lynn March read a statement on behalf of the Advocates of Cherry valley, an opposition group which formed to fight the proposal.

"This wind farm, however clean the energy, will permanently transform our rural landscape and way of life by creating an industrial landscape without the industry," she said. "How we decide this issue will shape the future of Cherry Valley for the rest of our lives and for generations to come."

The Advocates pointed out that sites with significant wind potential in the Catskills and Adirondacks have been removed from consideration because they are located within park boundaries or because of their scenic beauty. "Does this mean that the rural beauty and historic resonance of Cherry Valley are of less importance?" Marsh asked.

Following the close of the public comment period, Minnig said the removal of the East Hill site was "not a victory for East Hill, but a partial victory for Cherry Valley."

Minnig stopped short of crediting the group's lobbying effort with landowners for reducing the size of the project, but said the Advocates had "hardened their resolve."

"The Advocates see no distinction between East Hill and Cape Wycoff. It's not two separate issues," he said.

John Saintcross, a project manager with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority attended the meeting to answer any questions about their involvement in the project and commented that the development of wind energy in the state was "just getting off the ground."

Global Winds Harvest wiss one of six firms prospecting for wind under contract with the agency, he said. Saintcross said he did not believe of any wind energy projects proposed in the wave of development that had been denied.

The planning board will continue the review of the project during it next meeting in August.

Planning board chairman Ed Harvey, who stepped dnow for the review of the project because his East Hill was targeted by the developer may now return to the board. Interim chairman Ottman said that they will not shift the chair in the middle of the process, but are currently discussing with the town attorney the possibility of Harvey participating in the review.