CHERRY VALLEY - Wind turbines look to be a major issue between the two candidates running for the open seat on Cherry Valley's town board, Republican James C. Johnson and Independent Nicholas Pressly.

Johnson, 51, has lived in Cherry Valley for his entire life and is a graduate of Cherry Valley High School. He attended SUNY Oswego for two years and is married and has three children. He is employed full-time as a bus driver for CV-S Central School.

Johnson said he was not opposed to the proposed development of wind turbines on East Hill in Cherry Valley by Reunion Power of Montvale, N.J.

"I'm not opposed to landowners having the choice to pursue that," he said. He said most of the long-time Cherry Valley residents he had spoken with were not opposed to the project and many support it. "There's a core of people opposed to it and unfortunately they're mostly people I have not met."

Johnson said he has served for approximately 10 years on the village board and is involved with the community as a 25-year veteran of the Cherry Valley volunteer fire department and as president of the historical association.

He said his major goal if elected would be to maintain an efficient highway department and prevent large increases in taxes.

"I have some knowledge of the workings of the highway department and can work well with the superintendent and the rest of the board," he said. Johnson said his life-long residency was one reason voters should consider him and that his opponent had only lived in the area for two years.

"I know the majority of people in town," he said. "I think that's a big asset."

Pressly, 39, is running as an Independent on the Cherry Valley Reform party line. He moved to Cherry Valley in 2002 and graduated from the University of Rochester with a Bachelor's degree in geomechanics and graduated with a Master's degree in environmental engineering from Rennselear Polytechnic Institute.

He is married and has three children and has owned and operated Pressly & Associates, Inc., an environmental consulting company, since 1996.

Pressly says he is not opposed to wind turbines in principle, but believes the current plan for development is not in the best interests of the community as a whole.

"The town should consider its own plan, not an outside company's plan," Pressly said. "There's just no need to rush into anything. The wind's not going anywhere. This should be a community plan that involves everybody."

He said a better plan would be to start with one or two smaller turbines to power the school and then develop from there.

"We could become energy independent and still preserve the rural, historical character of the town," Pressly said.

He said two other issues he'd like to address if elected are what he sees as a lack of representation on the town board and to move the town into Class 1 status.

He said the fact that the town board only has two councilmen, a situation unlike the vast majority of town boards in the state, reduces the quality of representation people have.

Pressly said the town's current Class 2 status was based on population and that it could become a Class 1 town based on income, which would give residents more power with the town board.

"Right now, 99 percent of the people could sign a petition and the town board could throw it in the garbage," he said.

The first thing he would do if elected, he said, would be to alert the existing town government to the issues he is raising regarding the wind turbine project and to use his experience as an environmental engineer to ensure an appropriate SEQR review process.