Updates

We know for fact that UPC absolutely does not have a contiguous line from the windmills to the proposed substation in the Prattsburgh project. In addition, Ecogen, which has bought up lots of land, still can't get to its substation because (among other reasons) the County of Yates is not allowed by law to sell them 10 acres of land on Emerson (it has something to do with green acres). People upon whom pressure has been put have been standing firm and refusing to sign easements.

And while we know that members of Advocates for Italy who live on Emerson Road have made agreements with Ecogen, those people are still living in their houses. They may have signed some kind of agreements to keep quiet and to sell in the future, but clearly Ecogen is not spending the money at this time to buy them out. We can only speculate as to how much money Ecogen actually has.

In talking to your neighbors and acquaintances please tell them:

• Ecogen and UPC do not have a contiguous transmission route from the wind turbines to their substations
• If UPC and Ecogen can't get to their substation then they can't make their projects work.
• The town of Prattsburgh has said that UPC has permission to use Town right of ways, saying that this is all that is required for UPC to bury its cable, but this is not true.
• Landowners own land up to the middle of the road. The Town has 25 foot easements from the middle of the road in order to maintain the roads. The town does not own this land and cannot sublease this land. So while town permission is necessary to use this land to bury cable, landowners' permission is absolutely required. The town has intentionally misled the citizens.
• In addition, UPC is misleading people by hiring an outside firm (Prospect Land services, I believe) to contact people and act like they are representing the Town. They are pressuring people to sign right of ways and easements for UPC to bury the cable.
• No one is required to sign an easement. UPC is not an electric utility and does not have power of eminent domain.
• And once a landowner signs an easement it is forever. Perhaps for this project they will bury the cable, but if the companies have easements and in the future want to put up huge power lines, there will be nothing a resident can do if those easements are signed. And remember it is not just the poles and wires - there is also the 100 foot "tree clearing rights" that will be invoked.

Please make sure to share this information with everyone you know.

Ruthe Matilsky

Labels: Legal Issues