County tables agreement to fund NYRI opposition
NORWICH – County leaders on Monday agreed to table a second round of local dollars requisitioned to afford legal expenses in the fight against New York Regional Interconnect, Inc.
A resolution authorizing $50,000 to Communities Against Regional Interconnect (CARI) expressed the county’s “staunch opposition to the transmission line” but contained a caveat: The sum would be approved only “upon similar participation of other counties.”
“As soon as the other counties sign on, we’ll make it available to them. We shouldn’t step out of those bounds,” Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker said. Of the eight counties represented by the CARI, Decker said two were also on the fence and one had dropped out.
Town of Norwich Supervisor James J. McNeil led the charge to table the resolution. “We are limiting our contribution based on what kind of participation? How many counties will we wait for? Where do we draw the line?” he asked.
Town of Coventry Supervisor Janice O’Shea said she couldn’t “in good conscience” vote for the resolution. “This has the feeling of a bottomless pit. I have not seen any accounting from legal services (retained by CARI) and this is a totally different organization than last year,” she said.
Six counties paid out $50,000 each and two paid out $10,000 to the New York State Association of Counties in 2006. The association is not a conduit for CARI’s litigation against the power line this year, however. Decker said a financial statement received two weeks ago from CARI reported that the funds accumulated from the eight counties had been spent on legal fees.
During the discussion period for the resolution, Decker said that members of the board had received “inaccurate” e-mails and telephone calls from CARI regarding Chenango County’s commitment to the fight. “We are the first ones to sign on for the second round, and we have signed a letter of engagement which ties us forever,” he said, lamenting what he called the organization’s “pressure tactics” to sign on again.
“We are going to do it the way we think is correct,” he said.
McNeil made the motion to table the measure in order to acquire more information. It passed with only two supervisors, Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford, and Decker, R-North Norwich, opposed.
CARI was formed in June 2006 from the communities that would be impacted if the proposed NYRI line is authorized. NYRI’s 190-mile long line of towers - many as high as 115 feet - would transmit upstate’s electricity to meet customer demands downstate. The opposition says the project would bring higher prices for electricity upstate as well as scar the environment and pose health risks.
Decker said of the CARI organization’s eight member counties, Delaware and Broome have yet to commit to this second round of funding and Herkimer County has dropped out all together. The coalition also includes Chenango, Oneida, Madison, Sullivan and Orange counties as well as STOP NYRI, Inc., Upstate New York Citizens Alliance, Say No 2 NYRI, Upper Delaware Council, and the Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition.
CARI Co-chairperson Eve-Ann Shwartz said she was unaware of any counties that would not be participating this year. “We are waiting to see,” she said. “Chenango County is really ahead of all the other counties on this.” Donations for legal services have also been received from towns and private individuals.
Shwartz, who is also co-chair of Stop NYRI, said CARI plans to provide the information local leaders need to make an informed decision on funding again. “We are looking forward to continuing our partnership that’s worked very well so far,” she said.
While Chenango County has signed a cooperating agreement with CARI, Shwartz said it has not signed a legal retainer agreement with its Syracuse-based law firm, Gilberti, Stinziano and Heintz. “Each county needs to do that. Most of the counties have,” she said.
Half of a $1 million allocation from Albany for the coalition’s legal expenses has been listed on the New York State Senate’s website. Shwartz said she didn’t know when to expect the promised funds.
Stop NYRI is a grassroots organization serving Madison and Chenango counties. For more information on CARI, visit its website at www.caricoalition.org.
A resolution authorizing $50,000 to Communities Against Regional Interconnect (CARI) expressed the county’s “staunch opposition to the transmission line” but contained a caveat: The sum would be approved only “upon similar participation of other counties.”
“As soon as the other counties sign on, we’ll make it available to them. We shouldn’t step out of those bounds,” Chenango County Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker said. Of the eight counties represented by the CARI, Decker said two were also on the fence and one had dropped out.
Town of Norwich Supervisor James J. McNeil led the charge to table the resolution. “We are limiting our contribution based on what kind of participation? How many counties will we wait for? Where do we draw the line?” he asked.
Town of Coventry Supervisor Janice O’Shea said she couldn’t “in good conscience” vote for the resolution. “This has the feeling of a bottomless pit. I have not seen any accounting from legal services (retained by CARI) and this is a totally different organization than last year,” she said.
Six counties paid out $50,000 each and two paid out $10,000 to the New York State Association of Counties in 2006. The association is not a conduit for CARI’s litigation against the power line this year, however. Decker said a financial statement received two weeks ago from CARI reported that the funds accumulated from the eight counties had been spent on legal fees.
During the discussion period for the resolution, Decker said that members of the board had received “inaccurate” e-mails and telephone calls from CARI regarding Chenango County’s commitment to the fight. “We are the first ones to sign on for the second round, and we have signed a letter of engagement which ties us forever,” he said, lamenting what he called the organization’s “pressure tactics” to sign on again.
“We are going to do it the way we think is correct,” he said.
McNeil made the motion to table the measure in order to acquire more information. It passed with only two supervisors, Alton B. Doyle, R-Guilford, and Decker, R-North Norwich, opposed.
CARI was formed in June 2006 from the communities that would be impacted if the proposed NYRI line is authorized. NYRI’s 190-mile long line of towers - many as high as 115 feet - would transmit upstate’s electricity to meet customer demands downstate. The opposition says the project would bring higher prices for electricity upstate as well as scar the environment and pose health risks.
Decker said of the CARI organization’s eight member counties, Delaware and Broome have yet to commit to this second round of funding and Herkimer County has dropped out all together. The coalition also includes Chenango, Oneida, Madison, Sullivan and Orange counties as well as STOP NYRI, Inc., Upstate New York Citizens Alliance, Say No 2 NYRI, Upper Delaware Council, and the Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition.
CARI Co-chairperson Eve-Ann Shwartz said she was unaware of any counties that would not be participating this year. “We are waiting to see,” she said. “Chenango County is really ahead of all the other counties on this.” Donations for legal services have also been received from towns and private individuals.
Shwartz, who is also co-chair of Stop NYRI, said CARI plans to provide the information local leaders need to make an informed decision on funding again. “We are looking forward to continuing our partnership that’s worked very well so far,” she said.
While Chenango County has signed a cooperating agreement with CARI, Shwartz said it has not signed a legal retainer agreement with its Syracuse-based law firm, Gilberti, Stinziano and Heintz. “Each county needs to do that. Most of the counties have,” she said.
Half of a $1 million allocation from Albany for the coalition’s legal expenses has been listed on the New York State Senate’s website. Shwartz said she didn’t know when to expect the promised funds.
Stop NYRI is a grassroots organization serving Madison and Chenango counties. For more information on CARI, visit its website at www.caricoalition.org.
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