The Wind

The prospect of wind farms in Rotterdam took a small step forward at last Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting when a 197 foot temporary test tower was approved. The tower is approved for up to three years and it may well turn out that there is not enough wind to make a full-blown wind farm economically viable. This newly approved tower will be situate to already existing cell phone towers apparently.

Though only one resident spoke out against the tower, the concerns voiced were aimed more at future efforts to erect a wind farm and therefore were slightly misdirected. It will, nonetheless, warrant much closer scrutiny as this initiative progresses and the onus will be on the Town Board to make sure zoning is updated and sufficient to ensure proper safeguards should a larger scale project emerge.

Alternative energy is vitally important but look for this issue to heat up if a wind farm is eventually proposed as it was in Cherry Valley.