Video of Cape Vincent PB Chair discussing BP's site plan application

Transcript of video
Planning Board Chair Dick Macsherry:
Item #7 , I think is probably an issue that brings most of you here tonight . I drafted a little report here. I call it a note to file, I'd like to read it .

As I reported during last month's meeting, we acknowledge the recommendation made by the Town Board to terminate British Petroleum’s site Plan Application. I have sought counsel's opinion on the matter and made a lengthy review of the past records, in the interest of presenting a clear picture of where we are today, I offer the following outline of events.
 I will start with the Acciona project otherwise known as St. Lawrence wind farm. On August 18, 2010 planning board held a special meeting at which time the St. Lawrence wind final environmental impact statement was resolved to be quote unquote , complete in keeping with DEC SEQR requirements.
 A follow-up special meeting was convened on September 15, 2010 ,to address the statement of SEQR findings, a resolution accepting the SEQR findings was passed.
I believe we all remember the third special meeting which was held on October 27, this was a singular event in two respects , first it highlighted the extent of frustration on the part of many community citizens, that their right to open comment , had been routinely denied and denied with prejudice. Secondly the developer was allowed to initiate the site plan review phase by presenting, its own set of review criteria. Simply put this was tantamount to accepting the foxes’ blueprint for the construction of the hen house.
Without discussion a resolution was adopted to accept Acciona’s proposed site plan review criteria . January of 2011, came and there was no activity towards Acciona’s site plan review, either by the developer or the town of Cape Vincent Planning Board.
Finally on May 11, 2011 Mr. Edsall received a letter from Mr. Tim Conboy that began, “ I anticipate it will be a few months before the supplemental application for site plan review is completed and can be submitted to the Cape Vincent planning board.” Mr. Conboy went on to say that “despite the possible of appearance of inactivity we are still actively engaged in the tasks to complete the development phase of St. Lawrence wind farm.”
 There has been no further communication to or from Acciona since Mr. Conboy's May 9, 2011 letter.

 Regarding British Petroleum the Draft environmental impact statement was received by the planning board in December of 2007, according to the Planning Board minutes of January 9, 2008 , a public hearing was scheduled for the review of the BP DEIS on January 26, 2008 , no minutes of such a hearing are to be found at the Town Offices. The draft EIS must have been accepted but documentation of this is missing. BP’s supplemental EIS was received in February of 2011, no action was initiated by the Chairman or the board to begin review of the BP documents.

On June 30, 2011, Messrs. Edsall, Reinbeck and McCarthy notified the Town Clerk by letter that their resignations from the planning board would be effective the following day .

On August 4, I received a letter from BPs project manager, Peter Gross who inquired as to the progress the Planning Board was making its review of the BP supplemental submission. My reply to him, dated August 8, 2011 explained current issues of lack of information from the prior Chair, his abrupt departure from the Board along with two others, the time needed to bring on new members, and for them to become familiar with the application and so on. No further formal exchange has taking place with this board.

June 27, I won't, I'll leave that part. This is what we've had to work with in my estimation was a lack of due diligence on the part of both applicants and the past Planning Board.
 It is position of counsel and this chair, that the two applications are for the lack of a better term “live” until the remaining entity BP ,has time to deliver to this board a formal declaration as to its intentions regarding the applications ,should that response not be forthcoming in a timely basis, and I might say comprehensive response ,this board will make a decision as to whether the applications have been abandoned and removed from further consideration .

And lastly I'll read my letter.
Bob Brown: Mr. Chairman in addition, was there not a communication asking them to attend the meeting to update us?
Planning Board Chairman Macsherry: it was in November of 2011, they did have a phone call, I made a phone call to Mr. Gross inviting him to come and update us as to the intentions of BP. We were still in the process of waiting, the board was still in the process of waiting for the town board to make its selection of replacement members. I made that clear to Mr. Gross that we still could not review the, BP’s supplemental EIS because we didn't have sufficient members to do that and I said frankly, asking Mr. Cullen and Mrs. Bourcy and me to do that was not responsible on our part ,even to consider it .

The letter I’ve written to . Mr. Chandler dated last Thursday, September 6, is as follows.
A transcript of Mr. Macsherry's letter can be read  in the previous post as can a foiled copy of the original.