You may have recently read in the paper that our wind development project with Empire Wind Energy is over. Yes, true and disappointing. Supervisors of Rose, Butler, Galen, Sodus and our town received a call from Empire Wind CEO Keith Pitman. Pitman stated the project was no longer economically viable due to lower energy costs and energy efficient appliances. It does not add up for me.

For at least the past year the group of Supervisors have had to push for meetings and to find out where the project stands. Answers were vague and took too long to receive. I became suspicious when the principal shareholder changed residency. We were always assured the project was still moving forward. The last time we met, which was two or three months ago, it seemed there was difficulty in purchasing the windmills themselves.

After further discussion with Pitman again citing the lower cost of electricity as the reason for the demise of the project I asked why this would be. He felt the lower price of natural gas was a factor. He stated the model of revenue sharing along with the lower price for electric and no immediate sign of a potential increase made the project go on a permanent hold. He also stated that other wind developers have had the same experience.

I asked that the towns be supplied with their wind data in case we ever do have a need for it. Wind MET towers established in the towns of Wolcott, Rose and Butler will be decommissioned at the end of the contract with the individual land owners according to Pitman.

The good part is this discovery process cost no town money. I feel that as Supervisors we owed it to our constituents to investigate any project which may have potential benefit. It is not like this is the first project we have investigated that has not panned out. It is now time to move on to the next potential project.

I always talk about our town projects and initiatives. They are all moving along fine, it seems the county level has been controversial as of late. In fact when I asked a couple of people what they would like to read about in an article not one of them mentioned any town projects, it was all about the county.

I was constantly being asked about the conflict between two Supervisors at the County Board meeting. That conflict was about the canal trail from Newark to Lyons. The two towns did not have the amount of money necessary in their budgets to begin the project or supply the local match for the project. Without the local match the project would be lost. The two towns came to the County seeking help and asked the County to contribute the match out of the "intermunicipal fund". This fund has been used in the past for sidewalk or road construction to bring business or foot traffic into areas. Personally I voted no on this project because I did not feel it was an appropriate use of the fund. I don't believe a canal trail is going to bring a significant amount of tourism into the county and the respective revenue. I also believe that the town match for grants should be met by the towns and if you do not have the funds for the match don't do the grant.

You may have read about activity regarding the Hotchkiss building. As you might know this is another project I have never supported putting county money into. The grant regarding this building and construction update is simple pass though for the county, meaning no county money is being used. At the end of construction the building will then be turned over to the village of Lyons. This is where the building should be, considering the county has no useful purpose for it and has only been stuck maintaining it

. Unfunded mandates – two words I really can't stand. I don't like them separately and I certainly don't like them used together because when together it means they are costing us money. The state tells the town or county something we must do, but they will not pay for it. My feeling is of the state wants to require something you need to pay for it. The latest unfunded mandate is something called Leandra's Law. This law requires an individual with a DWI with a conditional discharge or on probation to have an interlocking device on their vehicle. The device complete with camera, breathalyzer and GPS will not start the car if the driver has consumed alcohol. The county probation department is supposed to be the agency monitoring those cases required to have the device. The state reported that this additional monitoring would have no budgetary impact for the county. Not so, the probation department would need to hire an additional full time staff member (with state retirement and health benefits, etc.) to administer these cases that have the potential of reaching 300 per year and possibly more. The cost of the full time employee would be added right to your tax bill. Supervisor Bob Plant of Walworth requested the Board of Supervisors to inform the State we would not participate in this unfunded mandate. He also requested we ask other counties to join us in this message to Albany. I believe it is well worth our effort to send the message to Albany "stop putting requirements on the local municipalities that you don’t want to pay for".

In recent months you may have heard the Wayne County Certified Home Health Agency or "CHHA" as it is better known is being reviewed by a committee charged with finding efficiencies in government. The CHHA is our visiting home nurse service run by Wayne County Public Heath. The CHHA currently competes with two other agencies in the county, both privately run. One agency is Lifetime Care with well over the majority of business, Wayne County being second and Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service being third. Presently the County subsidizes the CHHA administratively via management, office space, and billing and computer services. The only way to increase revenue is by increasing the number of patients without increasing staff or expenses. Over the past several years client base has been shrinking and expenses continue to grow while revenue does not. The County could continue this service and compete with the private agencies for business and continue to increase the subsidy. The subsidy would be directly added to what you pay for county taxes. At this point, I would need someone to give me a really good reason why the County should compete in this business and charge the subsidy to the taxpayer.

As with all of the decisions and actions I take as Supervisor I look to represent you the best way possible. I look for your input on topics and your opinion. You can email me at wolcottsupervisor@rocherter.rr.com or call the town hall. Contact me with any questions or concerns you may have or let me know what you would like to see in the next supervisor article.

Until next time, take care and be safe,

Sincerely,
Kim Park