Cape Vincent Town Board Is Asked to Pass A Resolution Opposing Article X

At the Thurs. meeting of the Cape Vincent Town Board, during privilege of the floor I presented a draft resolution to the Board to oppose the State's Article X just as the County has done.  In fact the language in my resolution was almost verbatim from the county resolution, with only a few very minor wording changes, but nothing of significance to the meaning.  Here is the draft  resolution below modified for CV.

RESOLUTION BY THE TOWN BOARD OF THE TOWN OF CAPE VINCENT, NEW YORK

Resolution No. ______

Resolution in Opposition to the Article X Provisions of the Power New York Act, 2011

Introduce By_____________________

 

FINDINGS

Whereas, New York State enacted legislation known as The Power New York Act of 2011, and

Whereas, Said legislation amended the public service law by adding a new Article X, which establishes a New York State Board on Electrical Generation Siting and the Environment, and

Whereas Said Board will have the authority to permit the siting of electrical generating facilities in the state which have a generating capacity of 25 MW or more, and

Whereas previously while various state agencies had regulatory oversight for such facilities as a home rule state, New York’s local municipalities, by virtue of discussions made by locally elected representatives could ultimately decide whether such development was in their resident’s best interest, and

Whereas, the Power New York Act of 2011 removes this decision-making from local municipalities, and puts that authority into the hands of an unelected bureaucratic state board which will have nominal representation from affected communities and even that representation cannot be from elected representatives of those communities, and

Whereas, the new board will have the authority to ignore any local ordinance, law, standard or requirement, if it finds that such is “unreasonably burdensome,” and

Whereas, the new legislation further states that no municipality may require any approval, consent, permit, certificate or other condition for the construction or operation of such a facility, and

Whereas, while the law provides for set-aside intervener  funds for pre-hearing research on behalf of the affected communities, and parties, said funds are controlled by the Siting Board and will be allocated as it sees fit, and

Whereas, the majority of the Board’s membership will have no connection to the affected communities and will not be directly affected by their decisions, and

Whereas, while municipalities may be party to the siting hearings, so may any individual within 5 miles of the proposed facility’s site, and therefore the municipality itself, which purpose is to represent the residents who elect its officials, is diminished to the level of each individual within the five mile radius whether or not he/she lives in the affected municipality, and

Whereas, said law follows a disturbing trend in New York State to remove power from the local jurisdictions and therefore from the affected electorate and transfers such powers to a faceless, unelected bureaucracy which has no constituency.

The Resolution 

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that this duly-elected Town Board of the Town of Cape Vincent, New York opposes, protests, and expresses its deep disappointment and concern over the enactment of Power New York 2011 law and the Article X siting board it establishes, and be it further resolved, that a copy of this resolution be provided to the local county and state representatives, the New York State Board on Electrical Generation Siting and Environment and the New York State Governor.

Seconded by_____________________________

 I gave a copy to each board member present, and asked if they would pass the resolution this evening, but knowing that was impractical I asked if they would hold a work session where this could be discussed in greater detail, and then pass it at a special meeting or at the October TB meeting.

Mr. Hirschey responded that they would not answer questions during the privilege of the floor but would have to talk among themselves about the resolution.  I was hoping there could have been at least some brief discussion of the resolution.

They were not blind sided with this resolution because they were aware of this idea in private discussions back as far as early Sept.

This draft resolution is now a matter of public record and the ball is in the court of the Board.  I see this as a minimum step to protect our community if they are serious about preserving our home rule rights and protecting the community.  Enough talk about Article X stripping us of our home rule rights, let's step up and actually take some action.  Someone also suggested that a resolution of this type sets the ground work and justification for denying a PILOT agreement that many are confident the Board will deny to BP if Article X preempts our zoning law. 

So if you have an interest in this resolution and feel it is an important political step to oppose Article X and protect our community...then the ball is also in your court to contact your Town Board about this matter and ask them if they will pass this resolution...and if not why not?

Ask them as well if they would be willing to set a public TB work session to discuss this idea in detail.