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Town of Enfield
Special Town Board Meeting Minutes
Enfield Community Building
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
6:30 p.m.
Present: Town Supervisor Ann Rider, Town Councilperson Virginia Bryant, Town Councilperson
Mike Carpenter, Town Councilperson Henry Hansteen, Town Councilperson Michael Miles, Town
Clerk Alice Linton.
Supervisor Rider opened the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. by leading the assemblage in the Pledge of
Allegiance to the Flag.
Privilege of the Floor:
Marguerite Wells, project manager of the Black Oak Wind Farm, stated she sent an e-mail to town
board members regarding decommissioning bonds. In order to address concerns of bonding, she
suggested the bonds would only be for one year, but long-term they would use a letter of credit or
cash escrow account. She proposed that $180,000 per turbine would be a good amount to use for
decommissioning bonding.
Presentation by Michael C. Cannon, Vice-President of Commercial Banking, Tompkins Trust
Company, on Bonding, Other Forms of Security, Irrevocable Letters of Credit, and
Undertakings:
Mr. Cannon gave a brief presentation and likened wind farm decommissioning to decommissioning
of gravel banks. If a project is abandoned, a letter of credit or bond would be called and reclamation
would commence. They often get cash security. This is a common thing and used for many
purposes.
Councilperson Hansteen asked if it was the bank's responsibility to make sure the letter of credit or
bond is backed by something. Mr. Cannon stated the town would be backed by the bank so they
would not need to worry about the credit worthiness of the wind farm.
Councilperson Miles asked if a bank changed hands if the security would carry over to the new
bank. Mr. Cannon said it would.
Councilperson Carpenter asked if a letter of credit and bond could be used interchangeably. Mr.
Cannon stated usually a bond is issued by an insurance company and an irrevocable letter of credit
by a bank.
Councilperson Carpenter asked if a bond is called in because someone did not follow through with
their obligations, would the issuer sue the person who bought the bond. Mr. Cannon stated he is
more familiar with one year renewable letters of credit. If the letter is cancelled, there needs to be 90
days notice given. If 90 days notice is given, they can say "pay us now" and then he deals with the
customer. The town would want to have language that says the money would be delivered the next
day.
Councilperson Carpenter asked if there were issues that might happen during the decommissioning
process where the bank might not pay, such as environmental catastrophes as in spilled fluid from
the turbine. Mr. Cannon responded the bank pays the full amount of the security to the town. If a
Enfield Town Board Special Meeting, July 27, 2016 2
contractor is hired to decommission the turbines, he would want to have coverage for
environmental catastrophes. If all of the money is not used for decommissioning, the agreement
would likely state the excess would be returned to the wind farm.
Councilperson Miles asked if the amount of the security could be adjusted. Mr. Cannon stated the
amount can be adjusted at any time.
Mr. Cannon left the meeting at this time.
Councilperson Miles stated he felt the $180,000 per turbine estimate he presented at the July 13,
2016 town board meeting was a good figure to start with.
Councilperson Carpenter believes that if there is a job that is unusual, the proposals received by
contractors may be higher as there is less competition and contractors often aren't as eager to get the
job. This should be kept in mind when considering future increases in turbine decommissioning.
Marguerite Wells would like the language in a short agreement to state bonding would be for one
year and then that could be swapped out for another form of security. She will e-mail board
members with proposed language in the next week or so.
Councilperson Miles asked about road repairs after decommissioning.
Supervisor Rider stated wording is in the proposed Road Use Agreement that would kick in at the
time of decommissioning.
Councilperson Carpenter feels if the town wants bonding to repair roads after decommissioning, that
would need to be in the agreement now. He also mentioned the only reason for a bond is if the wind
farm doesn't take down the turbines themselves, but the repair of the roads would need to be done
after all equipment is gone.
Marguerite Wells mentioned that after 10 years of operation, the turbines would be sold as turbines.
After 30 years of operation, they would be sold as scrap. She will come up with figures of the
number of trips going over the roads if 90% of the foundation stays in place.
Councilperson Carpenter feels the Road Use Agreement needs a financial instrument to back up
decommissioning. The dollar amount should be put in the decommissioning plan for repair of roads
after decommissioning. The town needs to be covered with a bond or letter of credit to pay for this.
Supervisor Rider will rework her resolution with more current figures and will put the Road Use
Agreement on next month's agenda.
Next Steps in Finalizing the Black Oak Wind Farm Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement:
Supervisor Rider stated she spoke with Kathy Spencer of LaBella and Marguerite Wells of the Black
Oak Wind Farm. Haley Aldrich, the engineering firm for the Black Oak Wind Farm has not done
any draft work yet. She understands Councilperson Carpenter is concerned about moving forward,
but feels it is up to the project to present a draft.
Enfield Town Board Special Meeting, July 27, 2016 3
Marguerite Wells stated she has been working on the comments, instead of Haley Aldrich, but the
work is not yet completed.
Councilperson Carpenter stated he received a letter from Kathy Spencer this afternoon which stated
the project sponsor has not authorized Haley Aldrich to do any work on the preparation of a draft of
the SEIS. So at this time no draft has been started. He wrote Kathy Spencer questioning wh y that
impacts our ability to work on this. He asked why the town isn't working on this also. He would like
to have a plan of how the town can work with LaBella.
Councilperson Miles stated there are hundreds of pages of comments that need to be sorted and
categorized. The town needs to decide what they want LaBella to do with these. The town hired
LaBella because they are experts and town board members are not.
Councilperson Carpenter wants to be sure LaBella understands the depth of the study that is needed.
It is important to try and find solutions for real problems.
Councilperson Miles feels LaBella could do some sorting of truths - not pro or against - and provide
feedback to the town.
Councilperson Hansteen suggested citing the top 5 concerns and writing down proposed solutions.
Councilperson Carpenter felt that was a good suggestion for the findings, but the SEIS should
respond to all comments. He thinks the town board should talk to Kathy Spencer of LaBella and see
where she stands and how comments should be organized. Meetings should be held to start going
through the process.
All town board members felt they would like to meet with Kathy Spencer at a special meeting.
Councilperson Carpenter suggested putting another extension on the process.
Marguerite Wells stated she would have the comments organized in another couple of weeks.
Tax Levy Limit: Supervisor Rider reported the New York State Comptroller has set the tax cap
limit for municipalities at .68% for 2017 budgets. She plans to stay under this tax cap by giving no
raises to employees and including no new improvements or new purchases in the 2017 budget.
Privilege of the Floor:
Dawn Drake of Enfield asked why discussions of Road Use Agreements and Decommissioning of
turbines continue when Black Oak Wind Farm has not provided locations for proposed turbines or a
location of a substation. She also stated she has seen a major impact on birds since the clear cutting
on Black Oak Road.
Marcus Gingerich of Enfield asked if there should be an inclusion in the Road Use Agreement
and/or Decommissioning Agreement of the process if there is a catastrophic failure of a turbine that
would need to be replaced. This language needs to be in black and white and spelled out clearly.
Councilperson Carpenter responded that he would like to have the Decommissioning Agreement
provide coverage from start to finish of the project.
Enfield Town Board Special Meeting, July 27, 2016 4
Marcus Gingerich also asked if LaBella, the engineering firm hired by the Town of Enfield for
Black Oak Wind Farm matters, had worked on other wind farm environmental impact statements.
Supervisor Rider stated they work in other states on wind farms. She will get the numbers and
provide them.
Adjournment: Supervisor Rider moved, with a second by Councilperson Carpenter, to adjourn at
8:12 p.m. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Alice Linton, Enfield Town Clerk