Grafton Town Board Action – Are Windmills In Grafton’s Future?

by Erin Hogan
A Public Hearing about a proposed law to regulate windmills in Grafton was held on June 11 at 6:30 pm before the regular Grafton Town Board meeting. Sal Ferlazzo, the Grafton Town Attorney, began the hearing with a quick summary of the proposed law. Then he explained in a little more detail the law and all it entailed.
Within the 15 pages of this proposed law, topics addressed are the permits needed to have a windmill, either private or large scale, the guidelines for owning and operating a windmill, the enforcement of the windmill codes, the application payments and the overall protection of the Town by enacting this innovative law. With this law, sound, height, distance from residences and visual impact are also regulated. For example, according to this pending law, the windmill must be 1,500 feet away from all residences and “…wind-turbine-only sound…shall not exceed the appropriate ambient noise level…”  Ferlazzo assured the public that “…extra excruciating detail” was put into this law to make sure everything from the height and visibility to the environment and even the color of the windmill was covered. He said that he used the Rotterdam windmill law as a template but refined it where necessary to fit Grafton’s needs.
After Ferlazzo finished explaining the law, the Board opened up the floor for public comment of 5 minutes in duration per person. David Buckley read a prepared statement on the subject addressing why he did not think that this law was helpful. Buckley worries that the cost of administering the law is too steep and the law is unnecessary. Buckley ran over his five minutes and was unable to finish his statement. Jim Wagar commented that the law was confusing and that it “looks expensive.” Dr. Hunt jumped in saying he was concerned about the noise levels in our rural area. William Joyce was the last to comment on the open floor with some constructive criticism saying some language needed to be changed to avoid the confusion already expressed and to have a better differentiation between large scale windmills and privately owned windmills.
Will there be windmills in Grafton soon? According to  Ferlazzo, the “proposal can be changed,” and we are benefiting from the extensive research Rotterdam conducted when drafting their law. The law hasn’t been passed yet, but even though there is a test windmill on North Pond Road near the State Park there aren’t any spinning white giants in Grafton’s immediate future. This proposed law is, as Board Member Mike Crandall put it, “proactive, not reactive.” If a windmill is planned in the future, regulation will already be in place to avoid troubles.
At 7:20 the regular Town meeting began with Highway Superintendent Sandy Hasbrouck’s report. Currently, the Highway Department is short staffed because of illness.
Second, the Johnson Road project is still in progress and a culvert has been ordered. In order to help save money, the County is going to help supply labor for this project and in return the Grafton Highway staff will help the County crew with work on County Road 85. There are plans to widen, ditch and gravel Johnson Road. The road will have to be closed for quite a while, and there will be a temporary bypass for cars  and fire or emergency services to get in if necessary. According to the report this will be “quite a project.”
Third on the highway report was the Stonybrook project. An oversized chipper with 600 horsepower will be needed so that  trees can be chipped up faster and time used more efficiently. The chipper will cost 2,000 dollars a day to operate and will be needed for two days.
The Rescue Squad reported that there have been 11 calls this month. This translates to approximately 60.5 man hours and 60.1 miles driven. The Supervisor’s Report and Town Clerk’s report were both submitted to the Board and passed.
Next was the Youth Report. The Summer Youth Program will run from July 13 to August 14.
After that, the Lake Elizabeth petition was mentioned. The petition resulted in a notice being sent to a Lake Elizabeth resident telling him or her that they have 30 days to clean up the property before action will taken.
Next to be addressed was the Town Hall renovations. There is currently a small electric problem, but Town Supervisor Allison Kirchner said that the project will be “finished up shortly.”
The situation concerning safety issues on Clickner Road has been resolved after two years. The Town has been deeded property along the road and is now able to correct the problem.
Odd Improvements
There was a suggestion that there be a computer placed on the Board’s table. There was not a lot of interest in that idea because it would be too cluttered to place a desktop on the end of the board’s desk. A laptop was suggested instead.
Also, there is an opportunity for a grant to get walk-through metal detectors installed in the Grafton Town Hall. It was pointed out that the Town already has a wand that is not used often. The Board seemed to favor the idea of a grant for something more practical especially in “…these budgetary times.”
A Live-In Trailer
Glenn Hebert has applied for a variance on Town code 161-14 that states that no one is to occupy a travel trailer unless in a camp. With this variance he can live in a camper on his property while he is working on another project. He will reside in his 1999 26B Prowler travel trailer at 20 Banker School Way. Hebert already has had the septic approved by the County Health Department. The Board was open minded about this and agreed to this variance as long as Hebert follows a few guidelines. These included having his tank pumped to septic, that he doesn’t dump gray water, that he is prepared for random checks on site and that he will vacate his camper by September 27. If he does not abide by these rules he will immediately have to cease living in the camper.
Public Comment
David Buckley expressed concern that the Grafton laws were outdated and needed to be updated. The Board assured him that they would look into it but they believed the laws were fine. Les Rodfield wanted to thank the Board for listening to the petition to have the Lake Elizabeth residence cleaned up. He said he anticipated a 30 day resolution which the Board said he would have. Another Lake Elizabeth resident, Tom Sands, was impressed on the thoroughness of the windmill proposed law and wanted to thank the Board as well. The meeting finished with Doug Drice expressing concerns about selling his property, which he has been having trouble with since March. He submitted plans to the Board and they directed him to Code Enforcement Officer Tom Withcuskey.