SCIPIO - The Town of Scipio unanimously voted Wednesday night to amend its zoning law to allow wind farms.

Nearly 30 town residents attended a public hearing of the town board to learn about a new law regulating temporary wind monitoring devices and establishing a wind monitoring permit.

A request by Shell WindEnergy Group, based in Houston, to amend the zoning law sparked the hearing. They needed to place at least three temporary anemometer towers near Hunter Road to measure wind velocity and direction before the company could determine the profitability of constructing wind turbines there. A 50-windmill wind farm could be in the works.

Locations for the towers, all about 1,200 feet high, are Townline, Rice, Carter, and Geiger roads.

“How does this benefit me as a landowner,” resident Mike Cardinale asked.

While the town would pay nothing for the 100-foot “met” towers, the landowners with “met” towers on their property would be locked into private agreements with Shell to have turbines built at the same site.

“If a turbine tower is put on your property,” said Charles Howell, town supervisor, “the money is fairly significant.

“The tax levy will decrease, and the tax base could increase by approximately 75 percent.”

The town would not receive any income from the electricity generated. Instead, the property owner would be paid by the company for allowing the 400-foot wind turbines to operate on his land.

“It will take approximately one year to run the test towers to check out the wind,” Howell said.

But it could take as long as three years.

Wind speed at the sight is important because energy produced by the windmill unit is directly proportional to the cube of the speed.

But why is Scipio tilting at windmills?

Kate E. Pacelli, owner of Windland Resources, a consulting company, admitted that the idea originated with her and her husband Ed.

“We wanted to bring wind energy to Cayuga County,” she said, mentioning Auburn Mayor Timothy Lattimore's efforts to help carry out her idea. Pacelli knew someone in the Shell WindEnergy Group to help move the project forward.

Dave Miller, former county planner and now a consultant advising Shell on land use issues, said, “We will be holding stakeholder meetings. Our goal is to have ongoing meetings before the application and hearing process.”

Howell said once the measurements are taken, if the company decides to move forward, it will have to go through a planning process including public hearings and environmental reviews. Although wind fields can be put up in months, the whole process is expected to take about five years.

Earlier this year, town board members visited Fenner, a town near Bouckville in Madison County, that had an established windmill farm. Rebecca Rury, Scipio town bookkeeper, accompanied her husband Greg, a town board member, on the trip.

“The people who spoke there were very positive,” she said. “The decrease in taxes allowed them to buy more road equipment.”

Some believe wind farms mar the area's beauty and can hurt birds and other animals living in the environment. But Rury said tests indicated that the migratory paths of birds wasn't an issue.

The largest concern keeping windmill power from taking off is basic cost: turbines, said to cost $1.5 million, land, and installation, which depends on the terrain and distance from the power grid. After the initial cost of setup, the capital needed to keep the wind turbines running is minimal.

“We may end up with manufactuing facilities inside of Auburn manufacturing turbine parts,” said Cayuga County Legislature Chairman George Fearon. “It's a very large company that's already around but not going anywhere.”

Staff writer Kathleen Barran may be reached at 253-5311, ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net