GranolaBox

By Guest Blogger Lappe Parish

The Town Board Meeting last Monday drew an outpouring of people from the hills of Gulick and West Hollow. At issue was a request to survey their land, sent out by Rochester Gas and Electric. The lawyer sent by RG&E plus his entourage of assistants and an engineer tried to mollify the landowner’s concerns.

But in the process of various citizens asking their questions it became clear that RG&E (which is part of a conglomerate that along with New York State Electric and Gas is owned by Energy East and is in the process of being bought out by an international corporation based in Spain) is part of a plan to build an electric grid through the hills connecting the Cohocton Wind Turbines with urban areas to the North.

The big corporation (with a name something like Indola) is interested in pursuing the lucrative subsidies offered by the state to install and connect up the massive turbines.

What was interesting about the meeting was the way that individual people knew little aspects of the situation but together it formed a bigger picture, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle fitting together.

The meeting was well run by Town Supervisor Frank Duserick, who initially laid down “ground rules” and then allowed citizens to free expression. When emotions ran high, he simply called for more focus.

“Only new questions are to be asked… Let’s not rehash old ones.”

Thereby order was maintained as well as citizens feeling that their concerns had been acknowledged and heard.

Filed under: Lappe Parish on September 29th, 2007