A local group of wind advocates wants the public to start participating.
When the wind blows, it may be producing electricity soon in the towns of Ashford, Machias and Yorkshire, where Horizon Wind Energy has proposed to build its wind turbines.
As a result of this effort to build the turbines, a local group of people who support the new form of energy have formed a group entitled, START (Southern Tier Advocates for Renewable Technologies).
“It’s about understanding renewable energy,” said the board.
The group started with about 10 to 12 concerned citizens. It has since grown to over 40 members.
“We decided we must get together and form a group,” the board noted.
Their goal is to educate the public about the windmills and to give people a say in the process.
Locally, there is one Ashford representative, Patty Jankowski, to represent her town, but the group is hoping to increase the area’s participation.
Most recently, the group met to begin discussing a name and logo for the wind farms. One of the wind farms will be in Ashford and one will be in the Machias/Yorkshire area.
During the meeting, advocates discussed the need for two names, one name which encompasses both Machias and Yorkshire’s landscape and history and one for Ashford.
Examples for the Machias/Yorkshire wind farm that were expressed by local representatives were: red jacket ridge, deer crossing, fossil rock, happy hunting and others.
Karen Russell of Horizon Wind Energy explained that in order to come up with three names, it must not be copyrighted and the name must have a justification.
Chickasaw, was a name which several people seemed to take a liking to, but no decision has been made on the name or logo at this time.
It was believed that “Chickasaw” is the intersection where the five corners of Machias intersect. This includes McKinstry Road, Starks Road, Roszyk Hill Road, and Route 16 (Main Street).
“It’s kind of catchy,” one of the residents said.
“If there are questions that people need help with, we’d like to be aware of it,” the START board added.
The board noted that they want the information about wind energy to be accurate and substantiated.
START also serves as a liaison to Horizon because they can address issues to the corporate office.
Recently the public was invited to a public forum June 1 and June 2 on the economic development and the role that Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) may have in the wind energy development efforts.
An update will be provided in next week’s Journal on this information session.
For more information on START, visit the Web site at www.start-ny.com.