To the Editor:

Today, I have discovered a direction that my [oponent for Westerlo supervisor], Bill Bichteman, has taken that has put politics above the residents of Westerlo.

Since Labor Day, I have been playing email “tag” with the project manager of Nexamp (you may have received an orange postcard from them — that farm is in Rochester, New York but they manage Shepard Park and Westerlo A).

 Nexamp has been attempting to set up meetings with the acting supervisor for more than three weeks to formulate a joint letter of introduction — the town and Nexamp — announcing the benefits of the solar farms, establish a full-blown informational campaign with newspaper, TV, and radio promoting these projects.

Nexamp generally hosts a number of informational sessions throughout the towns so that the residents have an opportunity to meet and discuss and ask questions regarding these projects.

Bill has stonewalled the representative and refused to take his phone calls or answer his correspondence all because any positive information on solar would look good for me and bad for him. He has put politics above the town.

The residents of Westerlo, Rensselaerville (who have already had this presentation), and Greenville will have a 45-day window of opportunity to take advantage of  this on a first come, first served basis. Nexamp put aside 3-4Mw specifically for the local residents.

Who can take advantage? Everyone whose costs are $1,000 or more a year, whether you own a home or rent. You can receive a 10-percent reduction of the total bill. If you utilize a reseller for your power, you can keep it. The discount is on the total billed amount.

In addition, each subscriber, if he or she has a charity or agency that they contribute to (food pantry, Salvation Army, etc) Nexamp will donate in your name $50 to that agency.

Nexamp handles 25 percent of all of the solar projects in New York State.

Dorothy Verch

Westerlo

Editor’s note: Keith Hevenor, the communications manager for Nexamp who works with the representative for Westerlo, Allan Telio, said, “We deal with a lot of town government and it’s fairly typical to experience delays.” He added, “It’s not something we’re complaining about.”

Acting Supervisor William Bichteman responded that Telio had initially been sending information to the wrong email address — that of retired supervisor, Richard Rapp — and when they finally got in touch, “He was going to send me information and some brochures on the policies and the plans that he was offering, and then we were going to set up a date [for them to present].”

However, Bichteman never received brochures, he said, but still put Nexamp on the agenda for the Nov. 19 town board meeting. “No one has sent me anything yet,” said Bichteman of the brochures. “It's ... much ado about nothing.”