Liberty mulls zoning to build wind farms

By Leonard Sparks

Published: 2:00 AM - 05/16/12

LIBERTY A study identifying three sites in Liberty as potentially suitable for a community-owned wind-energy project is spurring talk of new zoning rules.

Supervisor Charlie Barbuti recommended the town consider guidelines to cover wind energy at Liberty's May 7

Town Board meeting.

The board met one day after the Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development held a public forum to review four sites identified in an ongoing study of suitable places for a wind farm.

"I came away from the (community) meeting thinking it's something that would be important," Barbuti said. "We don't address geothermal; we don't address solar; we don't address the new technologies."

Sullivan Alliance invited residents to the Liberty Senior Center on May 6 to unveil one site on Thunder Hill Road in Grahamsville and three Liberty sites that might be viable for a wind farm.

The areas in Liberty include Walnut Mountain Park, a ridge just north of Old Loomis Road, and another ridge east of Route 17 near Tanzman Road.

The ongoing study is being funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant. Part of the funding is being used to identify shovel-ready sites that might be ideal for a small wind farm. A 5.4-megawatt farm could generate $1.4 million in revenues, according to SASD's presentation. The study envisions such a system owned by local groups or by municipalities.

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Liberty mulls zoning to build wind farms