Knox in 2006
Testing the limits in harnessing wind energy, regulating dirt-bike noise



KNOX — In a hold-the-line budget year, Knox continually pushed the limits.

Discussions centering around the Helderberg community-owned wind project garnered both resident enthusiasm and resistance.

Neighbors of dirt-bike enthusiasts were pushed too far when noise at their properties exceeded their patience.

And a woman, pushing the age limits, continued to provide food for the needy by farming her family’s land.

Wind project
"If we’re going to be serious about wind power, we need to start looking at this thing and decide what we’re going to start doing about it," said planning board chairman Robert Price in March.

Price told the board that the Hilltown Community Wind Project selected a site in Knox to erect a meteorological station to measure the wind. The tower’s height of 50 meters, Price said, is taller than the town’s zoning allows, and will probably require a variance.

With funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the community wind project, also known as the Helderberg Wind Forum, is developing a model for a small, community-owned wind farm in the Hilltowns, which would be the first of its kind in the state. Though the model will only be theoretical, the project’s leaders hope a local community will follow through on the plan.

In October, a meteorological tower was completed on the Middle Road property of Russ and Amy Pokorny in Knox. The site was chosen from a pool of nine possible sites for its accessibility to power lines, altitude, and the willingness of the owners, among other reasons, said Kathleen Moore, a consulting meteorologist.

For a minimum of a year, the tower is to measure wind speed and direction at two heights, allowing the forum to gauge the feasibility of generating electricity there.
"You need that in order to do an energy-yield analysis," Moore said.

The tower was erected by Sustainable Energy Developments, Inc., the company of Loren Pruskowski, another project leader.
The other project leaders are Albany County Legislator Alexander "Sandy" Gordon and Hudson Valley Community College Professor Daniel Capuano.

Price was optimistic about wind energy. Power companies are clamoring to buy it, he said, at high prices. And, a municipality selling electricity isn’t unheard of; Green Island has been successfully marketing its hydraulic power for years, he said.

However, the initial costs are huge. A single wind turbine costs about $2 million, Price said.

Because of the costs involved, Knox Supervisor Michael Hammond was skeptical about the town’s entering the energy business.
"It will be very controversial. There’s no doubt about it," Hammond said. "I don’t know how much stomach the people of a town would have for a project like this."

Hammond pointed out that the town board takes two or three meetings just to decide on a $100,000 highway truck.

Price said the Helderberg Wind Forum has yet to determine how a community-owned wind farm would buy turbines. It’s a seller’s market for turbines now, Price said, and manufacturers aren’t interested in selling small quantities.

From the ground to the tip of an upright blade, a wind turbine is about 400 feet tall, Price said. The town should prepare, he said, because, even if the community project fails, commercial developers may soon come.

This month, Price reported to the town board that the average wind speed for October was 17 miles-per-hour. Price was encouraged by the initial data.

The lost covenant

The bucolic landscape stretching along the Berne-Altamont Road was the center of a development debate again in July.
"This story started exactly 20 years ago this year," Elizabeth Walk told The Enterprise. The land, known as the Walk property, once a 200-acre farm that flanked Route 156, has been parceled off over the last 20 years.

Frank Muia, of 1451 Berne-Altamont Road, lives on a 9.81-acre plot of land that had been part of that farm. He applied for a minor subdivision in the spring and got approval from the Knox Planning Board on June 8 to divide the land into three plots of roughly three acres each.

But on July 13, the planning board rescinded its approval in a unanimous vote, citing new facts.
"It’s not new evidence," Muia told The Enterprise. "It’s 15-year-old evidence."
The land that Muia lives on is under a restrictive covenant that reads, in part, "There shall be no further subdivision of any lot or parcel of land." This covenant was placed on the map of the subdivision filed in 1992 by Elizabeth Walk and was kept in the Knox Town Hall; planning board members said that they didn’t have the documents before giving approval.
"Is that something we should have had beforehand"" asked planning board member Brett Pulliam at the July 13 meeting.
"Yes," answered Price.
"Why didn’t we have it"" asked Pullian.
"It wasn’t in the file," replied Price.

The Enterprise found the map with the covenant written on it in a file housed in the building inspector’s office in the Knox Town Hall.

Price and Daniel Driscoll, both long-time planning board members, said that overlooking covenants isn’t a common problem.
"It certainly hasn’t happened while I’ve been on the board," said Price.

The board became aware of its oversight when Joseph and Sharon Zewert, who live on a neighboring plot to Muia’s, brought up the covenant. The couple filed an Article 78, a suit that allows citizens to challenge government actions, on July 5.
The Zewerts said that the reason they bought the property was because of the covenant. "I moved out here so I could be one with the land," said Mr. Zewert, who left Clifton Park for the Helderbergs two years ago.
Muia said that he didn’t know about the covenant. "I bought this property to subdivide," he said.

Muia, a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Prime Properties, said that he had planned to subdivide his property so that there would be three plots of about three acres each; he would build two houses, one each for his parents and in-laws.
"I have an approved subdivision," said Muia. "I’m going to go ahead with it."

Although the planning board initially approved the plan, Walk told The Enterprise that there isn’t enough room on the site to accommodate it. Between protecting already-existing wells from contamination from the two new septic tanks, keeping out of the 100-foot buffer zone along a creek that feeds into the Watervliet Reservoir, and steering clear of a portion of the Tennessee Gas pipeline that runs through the property, she said that she doesn’t think there’s sufficient space for two more houses.
"Nobody wants to drill into the gas pipeline," she said. "We’d all be gone."
"I’m glad that the neighbor brought it to our attention," said Driscoll, who apologized for the mistake.
"The people who are sitting on the board that gave me the subdivision," said Muia, "are the ones who were sitting on the board when they made Betty Walk put the covenant on."

Noise

Following complaints from some residents last fall about the noise from dirt bikes, the town board had the planning board look into changing the zoning ordinance to address the problem. In April, the town attorney, John Dorfman, presented a draft that would include regulation of motorcycles as part of the town’s zoning ordinances.
The law passed by a vote of 4 to 1 with Councilman Joseph Best dissenting. "That’s how we’re going to vote, individually, not as a group," said Best during discussion before the vote about party politics entering into the equation. Best is one of two Republicans on the board; the other three are Democrats.
The law now requires that all motorcycles have a muffler attached when used on both public and private lands. It defines a motorcycle as "every motor vehicle, including a motocross bike, having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designated to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, but excluding a tractor."

The law also makes it illegal to build a motorcycle racetrack on private property in any zoning district other than business, which would require a special-use permit.

Penalties for a first offense include a fine up to $250 and up to 15 days in jail. The motorcycle can be confiscated as a penalty for a second offense.
"This will not affect 99 percent of ATV and motorcycle use," said Councilman Nicholas Viscio. "We’re a residential area and we have to be considerate."
"If this went on," Hammond said of unregulated motorcycle noise, "we would be known as the weakest link in the Capital District."

Dedicated woman

Pauline Williman was born on her family’s Ketchum Road farm 80 years ago, and has worked and maintained the farmland for the past 65 years. In 1997, she put the land into a trust and named it the Patroon Land Foundation. The farmland was once part of the original Van Rensselaer patroonship under Dutch Colonial rule.

In 1988, Williman’s mother died, and the estate was settled in 1991. Following her mother’s death, Williman, through observing what others had done to protect their land and use their resources, discovered what she wanted to do.
"I went to Ireland, and was there 10 days," she said. "In the paper, the Irish Times, there was a job description of an educational farm trust"A short time after that, I cut clippings from the paper, sent them to my attorney, and said, ‘Go to work.’"

In the mid-1990’s, Williman, while perusing her church’s bulletin, also discovered that a church in Michigan leased its land and raised $10,000 each year for its congregation.

It took 13 years of procedures to form her not-for-profit organization, but Williman prevailed.

When she approached the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York with the idea of using her farmland as a source for their mission, Executive Director Mark Quandt, was responsive.
"What do you do when someone who’s brash enough walks into the food bank, and says, ‘I want to grow corn and squash for you"’" Williman said. "Most people would have thrown me out on my ear, but Mark didn’t, and it’s a good thing."

After the Patroon Land Foundation was formed in 2001, Williman, with the help of volunteers — students, at-risk groups, parents, and residents of the surrounding area — planted and harvested the fields to supply the regional food bank.

The bank, which serves over 1,000 charitable agencies in 23 counties, distributed over 19.2 million pounds of food in 2005.

This spring, Williman and the food bank re-evaluated its commitment to the project and made some changes in order to carry out their mission.
"This is the first year we concentrated on having a larger variety," Quandt said of the produce. "We wanted it managed so that [the foundation] will have a future and will continue to be a growing source for the people we serve." He added, "We could have continued as we were, but we had to look at what we really wanted to accomplish."

In 2005, Williman’s efforts yielded 10,000 pounds of produce; corn, squash, and pumpkins were the main crops.

This spring, Williman, who had provided the funding for the plants in past years, was provided with 5,000 plants from the food bank.
"We planted broccoli, peppers, cabbage, tomatoes, eggplant, melons, beans, carrots, and beets," Williman said. She added, "Everything was planted at different times"There is a steady harvest to be picked up three times a week."
"When we started out, we only did corn and squash," Williman said.

In addition to planting additional crops, an expert was hired by the food bank to oversee the harvesting, packing, and loading of crops, and for general upkeep of the farmland.
"What we wanted to do, was hire a farmer to oversee the project on a daily basis," said Tracey Martin, the associate director of the food bank.

In May, the food bank hired Mark Weinheimer to oversee the project.

Weinheimer, who began farming as a young man, has farmed throughout his life. He lives in Brahmans Corners (Schenectady County), spends a considerable amount of time in the field, 50 to 55 hours each week, and makes the commute nearly every day.
"He took the weekend off," Williman said. "That shocked me."

As well as providing the project with a large assortment of crops and the services of a professional to oversee the farmland, the Regional Food Bank also purchased an electric car to transport harvested crops from the field to the food bank’s vans, which carry the produce to its headquarters in Latham.
"It’s been a great help," Williman said of the electric car.

Martin and Quandt both see the Patroon Land Foundation as an outstanding source of food for the agencies they supply. The quality of the crops harvested from Williman’s farm, they said, is superior to many other contributions they receive.
"A lot of other farms donate what they deem not acceptable," Martin said. She added, "A lot of the produce we get is flawed in some way. It’s not inedible. It’s perfectly good. It just doesn’t look beautiful on the shelf in a store. Some might have been damaged by hail or have a blemish or two, but it’s perfectly good for eating."
"It’s nutritious, very high-quality, and there’s a good variety of it. We don’t often get a good variety."

The crops which were planted this spring, Martin said, will provide the food bank with a continuous flow of food.

On June 6, National Hunger Awareness Day, students from Berne-Knox-Westerlo came to the farm, and, Williman said, did an exemplary job. BKW students helped out at the farm again in November.
"No one ever left my parents’ home hungry," Williman said.