McConnell Refuses to Recuse
Prattsburgh supervisor accused of profiting off vote to seize land for turbines
Under fire over accusations he and other town and county officials have endorsed generous tax breaks and cut sweetheart deals with the Massachusetts-based UPC Corp. wind farm developer, Prattsburgh Supervisor Harold McConnell faces further criticism following a vote last week to condemn and seize private land for the project.
After admitting he accepted real estate commissions in at least one land deal last fall involving UPC, McConnell on April 21 cast the deciding vote on an “eminent domain” resolution.” The action will allow construction of 36 controversial, 386-foot tall wind turbines towers in the town.
Scores of the imposing, densely-clustered turbine towers have spiraled taller than upended football fields above the Naples Valley on hilltops in neighboring Cohocton in recent months. Many other communities have frantically enacted moratoriums and taken other actions to control placement of the massive towers pending further study of environmental impact and questions about whether the turbines can do what they are intended - generate “clean, safe power” in a rural region touched more by occasional gentle breezes than by strong and steady winds.
by Jack Jones in The Naples Record, April 30, 2008
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Labels: Legal Issues, Morality, Process
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This is OUTRAGEOUS!!! You would think the eminent domain issue would be it... I would be furious if someone forced me to give up my land for that... Isn't there something that can be done, short of asking the President to step in?? I thought eminent domain was only for war issues when our country is being attacked.. not business. This is sooo wrong... I hate the sight of the Cohocton towers - makes me sick.
Thanks for your comments, Kate. I agree entirely. It looks like the only way we're going to be able to stop this kind of unrighteousness is through the courts (see plea from Nancy Wahlstrom on behalf of Advocates for Prattsburgh).