More Secret Meetings?????

Well OK...maybe not a "secret meeting" but just a quiet unannounced "consultation" between BP and our two most important town officers, and as far as I can tell no detailed accounting or record of what was discussed or decided at the meeting!

Recently  on the PSC website I noted BP's spreadsheet of PIP activities.  You can look at it at this link.  Right now it is the top document.

http://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?MatterSeq=40867

Among the PIP outreach items by BP this item caught my eye!
23‐Jan‐13 Stakeholder Consultation

Meeting with Town of Cape

Vincent Fire Department, Town

Supervisor of Cape Vincent, and

Planning Board Chairman of

Cape Vincent


So along with the CV Fire Dept. the town supervisor and planning board chairman were present in the "consultation."  This item also indicates that BP's project status and turbine array were discussed as you can see below from BP's spread sheet bullet point comments on the meeting.  If an updated turbine array was a part of the consultation I sure would like to know what they were consulting about!  Here is what BP says...

• Project status update including
proposed turbine array

• Information regarding the
 Article 10 permitting process

• Discuss fire and safety measures and equipment/resources
available to address  

Now maybe I missed something while I was away traveling but I have caught up on most CV wind news since and I don't recall any notification or discussion publicly of this  little get together.  I checked the WDT, the minutes from the plannng and town board and the other CV blogs.  There is not a  mention  anywhere other than BP's brief mention  of this meeting on the PIP spreadsheet to the PSC.  So what project or turbine array details were discussed?  Apparently two of our most important town officers, Mr. Hirschey and Mr. MacSherry were "consulting" with BP, and were presented project updates and turbine array information as part of the discussion according to BP's spread sheet.  Was this a meeting with Chandler himself or some other BP rep?  Are there any detailed official minutes or notes other than the BP spreasheet on this meeting since two of our most important town officers were in attendance and details of the BP project and array were apparently discussed. Like I said I can't find anything about it except what BP put in their spreadsheet.  Was different information presented about the project status or the turbine array?   Funny that the town has been complaining that BP has not provided enough information  on the project or maps of the array etc.  But apparently Hirshey and MacSherry got a private update.

  So let me get this straight.  A private meeting occurred somewhere between our town supervisor Mr. Hirschey, and our planning board chairman Mr. MacSherry, and with some one from BP, probably the project manager from BP, Chandler.  And apparenttly according to BP's spreadsheet the project was discussed as well as the turbine array.  And apparently a very few CV citizens were aware of it and there is no information that I can find about it on a public level.    Interesting.

 Now I don't know about you, but based on all the bitching about secrecy and secret meetings in the past, and our current govt's mantra of open govt, I would be  a hell of a lot more comfortable if there is a need for BP and two of our most important town officers to meet that it be done in public and not in private, and there be public notification of it or a detailed follow up on it somehwere, and I don't care what the subject matter is about, but certainly if the updated details of BP's project and the turbine array are part of the discussion.

 In fact Mr. MacSherry as a member of a previous wind law committee should be more sensitive to this idea since he once met unannounced  and privately with Rienbeck and wind developers concerning one of our previous wind laws as the wind developers objected to it and privately, not in a public hearing as the public is only offered, and the developers  took that law  apart line by line in private.

Now why does this concern me?  Well for one there has already been enough secrets and deals and meetings in this town with wind developers and  because not long after Mr. Hirschey originally became our town supervisor he said this publicly in a town board meeting...

"To get through this very, very contentious and difficult issue about the wind turbines...Yes. no or where...And somwhere along the line, at some point  there will be compromises and there will be decisions one way or the other.  In my own mind.  I don't know if that's whether you agree with it.  Sometime. some where that is going to happen."

At some point there will be compromises?  Really?  So are we at that point now?  Well Mr. Hirschey, you wanna enlighten us to what those compromises are going to be with BP and when they are going to occur?  You have already told us there is going to be a wish list as to what to get after BP puts up their wind farm.

With this mind set I would much prefer any meeting between our town supervisor and our planning board chairman and  BP's Chandler or any other BP rep...that they be announced and held in public...not in a private forum were a discussion could start away from the public view on a possible compromise.  And there should be  a full detailed acounting of what was discussed and decided.  Now that may not be what the open meeting laws require, but after all we have been through on this issue it is just pure common sense!


Help me out here.  Did any of you know about this meeting and can you provide details of the discussion?
If such a detailed  account exists then I expect it be posted on the town website ASAP!  Or maybe Mr. Hirschey or Mr. MacSherry can enlighten us.