Scott Aubertine : I felt I was standing up for what was right.

May 7, 2008
Excerpts from the Watertown Daily Times

Scott Aubertine : “I’ve taken the brunt from a lot of people who said I wasn’t representing the majority of the town, but I felt I was standing up for what was right."~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Lyme Town Council approved a strict zoning law for wind development that Bp project developer Jim Madden said will make industrial turbine development virtually impossible.

The approval was on a 3-2 vote at a special meeting Tuesday night.

Before the vote, the council received a report from the assessors that invalidated a protest petition from wind development supporters (Voters for Wind) that would have required four votes for passage of the law.

The law creates setbacks from wind turbines of 4,500 feet from Lake Ontario, the Chaumont River, the village of Chaumont and the hamlet of Three Mile Bay. The law also requires the wind farm developer to pay for several studies, including environmental, property value and well water quality testing.


Supervisor Scott G. Aubertine and Councilman Michael P. Countryman voted against the amendment.
“It’s actually a bit of relief for me,” Mr. Aubertine said after the meeting. “I’ve taken the brunt from a lot of people who said I wasn’t representing the majority of the town, but I felt I was standing up for what was right. I felt that the law was restrictive to those landowners who wanted turbines.”