Yes! Wind Power for Cohocton

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

WAYLAND COHOCTON CENTRAL SCHOOL
National Junior Honor Society Inducts New Members





2011 Inductees: Sixth Grade: Madelyn Belanger, Alison Bligh, Emily Burke, Hanna Recktenwald, Alexis Robinson, Nicholas Smatl, Tara Stern, Raymond Tolner, Samantha Towner, Jackson West, Cora Young; Seventh Grade: Ian Carter, Kaitlin Harter, Bryce Kennedy, Brandon Sahrle, Marissa Schirmer, Bradley Sick, Alzy Uhl; Eighth Grade: Alexis Carnrite, Ben Topey

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

CONGRATULATIONS TO FIRST WIND COHOCTON AND WCCS SENIORS

First Wind owns and operates the 125 MW Cohocton Wind project in Cohocton and the 20 MW Steel Winds project in Lackawanna. The three 2011 scholarship awardees from New York are all from Wayland-Cohocton High School:

• Hannah Kimmel of Wayland will attend State University of New York College of Environmental Science in the fall where she will study Renewable Energy;
• Alexander Decker of Cohocton has been accepted to University of Rochester and will major in Biology;
• Sarah Wolcott, also of Cohocton, will attend the Rochester Institute of Technology where she will pursue a degree in Engineering.

Press Release: First Wind Continues Growth of its Scholarship Program with Announcement of Fifteen Recipients for 2011
Press Release
In its second full year, top high school graduates from Hawaii, Maine, New York, Utah and Washington are selected from an expanded and talented applicant pool

Boston, MA—May 24, 2011—First Wind, an independent U.S.-based wind energy company, today announced fifteen recipients of the company’s scholarship program. In its second full year, applications to the 2011 First Wind Scholars program more than doubled, and the college-bound students selected to receive scholarships were from host communities in Hawaii, Maine, New York, Utah and Washington.

First Wind Scholars offers one-time, $3,000 scholarships to local high school seniors who display strong potential for a successful college experience, as well as interest in the environment, energy, or the sciences. Of the fifteen scholarships awarded, one exceptional student, Joshua Lake of Utah’s Delta High School, has been awarded a renewable scholarship of $5,000 for up to four years.

“In its second full year, we were very pleased to see the significant increase in applications from so many talented and bright high school students in the communities where we develop and operate wind projects,” said Carol Grant, Senior Vice President of External Affairs for First Wind. “As we grow our development of clean, renewable energy projects across the Northeast, the West and Hawaii, we will continue to expand our scholarship program with the hope that students within our host communities take full advantage it. For our 2011 recipients, we wish them all the best during their college careers and we are excited about their future contributions in the fields of environment, energy and the sciences.”

Hawaii
First Wind owns and operates two projects in Hawaii including its 30 MW Kaheawa Wind project on Maui and its 30 MW Kahuku Wind project on Oahu. First Wind has a power purchase agreement with Maui Electric Company for an additional 21 MW expansion of its Kaheawa Wind Project. In addition, First Wind hopes to build a 70 MW project near the town of Haleiwa, called Kawailoa Wind. First Wind received more applications from students living in Hawaii host communities than from any other state, which resulted in six scholarships being awarded to students from the state. This year’s recipients from Hawaii include the following:

• Dane Oshiro of Kula, a graduate of Maui High School, will attend Willamette University and will major in Environmental Science;
• Stephen Adolfson of Lahaina attended Lahainaluna High School and is enrolled in Colorado State University where he will pursue a degree in Engineering;
• Kamie-Lei Fujiwara of Wailuku, a graduate of Kamehameha Schools Maui, has been accepted to Dartmouth College and will major in Environmental Science;
• Kiana Wilson of Laie attended Kahuku High School and will be attending Brigham Young University-Hawaii with a major in Science/Journalism;
• Daniella Reyes of Mililani, a graduate of Leilehua High School, will be attending Santa Clara University in California and will major in Biology;
• Jeffrey Milhorn of Wahiawa, who also attended Leilehua High School, will attend University of Colorado at Boulder where he will pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Maine
First Wind owns and operates three projects in Maine: the 57 MW Stetson I and 26 MW Stetson II projects, both near Danforth, and the 42 MW Mars Hill Wind project in Mars Hill. The company is also currently building the 60 MW Rollins Wind project, which is situated in the towns of Lincoln, Burlington, Lee, Winn and Mattawamkeag. First Wind also has projects in development in Eastbrook and Oakfield, Maine. As part of the 2011 program, First Wind awarded scholarships to three high school students:

• Nicklaus Carter of Franklin, who is a graduate of Sumner Memorial High School, will attend the University of Maine where he will major in Chemical Engineering;
• Selden Porter of Lincoln, who attended Mattanawcook Academy, has enrolled into the Rochester Institute of Technology where he plans to study Mechanical Engineering;
• Dillan Hesseltine of Lincoln and also a graduate of Mattanawcook Academy will attend the Maine Maritime Academy as Marine Engineering Technology major.

New York
First Wind owns and operates the 125 MW Cohocton Wind project in Cohocton and the 20 MW Steel Winds project in Lackawanna. The three 2011 scholarship awardees from New York are all from Wayland-Cohocton High School:

• Hannah Kimmel of Wayland will attend State University of New York College of Environmental Science in the fall where she will study Renewable Energy;
• Alexander Decker of Cohocton has been accepted to University of Rochester and will major in Biology;
• Sarah Wolcott, also of Cohocton, will attend the Rochester Institute of Technology where she will pursue a degree in Engineering.


Utah
First Wind owns and operates the largest utility-scale operating wind farm in Utah. The Milford Wind project features an operating phase of 204 megawatts (MW) and a second 102 MW phase, which recently achieved commercial operations. The First Wind Scholars program, which awarded its inaugural scholarship to a Utah student, will provide scholarships to the following two recipients:

• Joshua Lake of Leamington, who attended Delta High School, is the recipient of the four-year scholarship, will enroll at Utah State University, where he plans to study Electrical Engineering;
• Kyle Goodwin of Beaver, a graduate of Beaver High School, will attend Southern Utah University where he will pursue a degree in Engineering.

Washington
As part of its 2011 scholarships, First Wind also announced its first recipient in Washington, which is where the company has proposed the Palouse Wind project in northern Whitman County. Devin Saywers, a graduate of Cheney Liberty High School, will attend the University of Washington where he will major in either Physics or Chemistry.

Launched in October 2009, the First Wind Scholars program is available to high school students residing in each community where First Wind currently has a project in operation or in an advanced stage of development. The scholarship supports standout local high school students with an interest in studying the environment, energy or the sciences. In its first two years, the First Wind Scholars program has awarded 27 scholarships to top high school graduates from Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

About First Wind
First Wind is an independent wind energy company exclusively focused on the development, financing, construction, ownership and operation of utility-scale wind projects in the United States. Based in Boston, First Wind has wind projects in the Northeast, the West and in Hawaii, with the capacity to generate up to 635 megawatts of power and projects under construction with the capacity to generate up to an additional 121 megawatts. For more information on First Wind, please visit www.firstwind.com or follow us on Twitter @FirstWind.

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For more information, contact:
John Lamontagne
First Wind
Director, Communications
617-960-9521

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Dozens of wind turbines, similar to those in Cohocton, are ready to be built in the Town of Howard in the coming months.

By Justin Head
The Evening Tribune
Posted May 12, 2011 @ 08:37 AM


Howard, N.Y. — If everything goes as planned, a wind farm in the Town of Howard will be functional in about six months, according to Supervisor Don Evia.

EverPower Renewables has told town officials it's planning on having a 25 turbine farm functional by mid October. Evia Wednesday night said he was surprised the company expects to be running by then.

“That’s what I’m taking out of the latest communication,” said Evia. “That’s what they are telling the town.”

According to information recently reported by the The Courier newspaper, a 20-year payment plan will yield Howard 51.5 percent of the total, or $7.1 million, and the county will take in 16.5 percent, or $2.3 million. The Canisteo-Greenwood Central and Hornell City School District will split the remaining 32 percent, with the amounts determined by the location of the turbines.

The company is also looking to install two additional turbines on 39 acres of private land south of Spencer Hill and South Woods roads, bring the total number to 27. A public hearing will take place at 7 p.m. May 25 at the town hall. The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency, the Howard Planning Board and town officials will meet with residents to discuss concerns and provide more information about the project. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement accepted by SCIDA, the lead agency on the project, is available at the town hall and will be discussed.

Workers on the project have already began reinforcing roadways and transporting equipment. Construction crews have been busy working on access roads and Howard has seen more traffic lately, several townspeople said.

Like most wind farms in the region, EverPower battled multiple lawsuits and has put in years of work to get to this point.

Copyright 2011 Hornell Evening Tribune. Some rights reserved


Chain gang
Cohocton students move 5,000 books to new library.Zoom Photos. Jeff Miller.Third-grader Deandra Green gets handed a book May 11 in Cohocton as he helps out the Cohocton Library move some 5,000 childrens books to its new location.





By Jeff Miller
Genesee Country Express
Posted May 11, 2011 @ 05:00 PM
Last update May 11, 2011 @ 05:10 PM
Cohocton — It was a perfect day to take the kids outdoors.

On May 11, roughly 220 Cohocton Pre-k through fourth graders did more than go outdoors and have some fun, they helped the Cohocton Public Library move its roughly 5,000 children’s books to its new location, and did so in less than two hours.

The students walked from the school to the library, then formed a line from there, through the Village Greens, and to the new library on Maple Avenue.

The students, teachers and other staff moved the children’s books down the line in a “bucket-brigade” fashion.

Cohocton Library director Hope Decker said the idea came from one of the library’s board members, Barb Sick, who remembers doing the same kind of thing when she was a student in the 1930s.

When the now-Cohocton Elementary School was built, the students took the contents of their desk and one library book from the former school, now the Village Greens, to the new site.

“We wanted to create a similar experience for the kids,” Decker said, one in which the kids will remember fondly.

The former Cohocton Library closed at the end of the business day on May 9. Plans are to open in the new location in June.

As for the library’s former building, the Village of Cohocton will begin moving in there later this month.

The move solves two problems for the Town and Village, who own the property jointly. First, it’s a rent-free building, and second, it solves the problem of keeping it occupied.

The Village has shared space with the Town in the Larrowe House since the 1950s. When the municipalities gave the Larrowe House to the Cohocton Historical Society in 2009, the Village moved into space adjacent to the Post Office on Maple Avenue.

The Town moved into the former bank in Atlanta.

As in the Maple Avenue office, the new Village office will include space for both the Town and Village clerks, as well as a mayor’s office.

The Village is slated to move into the former library May 27 and 28, with a tentative opening date of June 1.

With the exception of partitioning and moving furniture in, Mayor Tom Cox said there is little the Village needs to do to accommodate the building for its use.

Monday, May 09, 2011


Eric Mathews, Rick Towner and Haney Sick, our cooks!
Thanks to all of our volunteers for their hard work.


Thanks to all who supported the Cohocton Historical Society's Chicken B-B-Q on Mother's Day. 275 dinners sold out in 1/2 hours.


St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

23rd Annual Wheels For Life Bike-a-thon

Saturday May 7th, 2011 - Cohocton New York



On Saturday May 7th, 2011 the Wayland-Cohocton Elementary School campus in Cohocton came alive with people of all ages from all around the area to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis Tennessee. There were 104 participants and their families, many volunteers and other people from the community that came to just witness and show their support. The event donations and pledges raised approximately $10,000.00 to support St. Jude.

The day was enjoyed by all as the participants either rode bikes or walked the 7/10 mile route around the school and sports complex area. Participants could do as many laps as they wanted, no requirement was needed and participants could spend the day or come for part of the day. Many of the children had little league and soft ball games but they still came either before or after their game.

It was a great family day! The weather held out with only a few rain drops and plenty of sunshine. Throughout the day the families were able to enjoy ice cream sundaes, a hotdog picnic lunch, face painting, friendship and FUN!.

The Community Quilt that was made by 24 women from the area was raffled off. The proceeds of $829 from the quilt will also go to St. Jude. The quilt was won by Sandy Riley. The Community Quilt was loved by everyone so the idea came to share the idea with more people by creating a book with the story of Cohocton. The story and illustrations were done by Kaye Wise and Margie Adams. Each picture represents different places, people and events from the Cohocton Community. The book shares a story that will be enjoyed by all ages. The pictures are all in black and white so they can be colored and come alive with your own artistic touch. Books were printed by Wayland- Cohocton School and are available for $1.00 in the Elementary & Business School Offices.

Why do people support St. Jude?

The donations collected will help fund the life-saving research and treatment at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital - the world’s premier pediatric research center. Every child saved at St. Jude means children saved around the world. Discoveries made at St. Jude are shared freely with doctors and scientists all over the world. . The support of caring people like you helps ensure that St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will continue its lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children. But the most important reason is, in the words of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas: "No child should die in the dawn of life."

Thank You

The dedication and support of the kids and the families in our area is wonderful. It is great to see that people care and want to help others.

Thank you for supporting our 23rd Annual Wheels For Life Event and making it another Great Year!

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

.....Changes for First Wind mean little to Cohocton.Zoom Photos. Chris Potter.The top of a wind turbine is seen from the Cohocton Athletic Complex in Cohocton.

By Andrew Poole
The Evening Tribune
Posted May 04, 2011 @ 11:40 AM


Cohocton, N.Y. — Financial and partnership changes for First Wind won’t impact turbines in Cohocton, according to First Wind and town officials.

First Wind announced Saturday they entered an agreement with Algonquin Power and Utilities Corp. and Emera Inc. to joint construct, own and operate wind energy projects in New York and the New England states.

Canada-based Algonquin owns and operates $1.1 billion in renewable and thermal power. Emera, based in Nova Scotia, invests in electricity generation, transmission and distribution and gas transmission.

According to a release from the three companies, the agreement requires state and federal regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

First Wind, who developed turbines in Cohocton and began a 20-year project with the town starting in 2008, will maintain 51 percent of the operating company. Emera and Algonquin entered into a separate venture titled Northeast Wind, according to the release. Northeast Wind will control the other 49 percent.

According to the release, Northeast Wind will invest $333 million to secure the 49 percent.

John Lamontagne, director of corporate communications at First Wind, said the $333 million will go toward projects in different stages of development.

He added First Wind will continue to serve as the managing branch of the operating company, and that the changes shouldn’t impact Cohocton.

“It doesn’t impact Cohocton at all. Anything new or in operation should see no difference. Everything will continue to operate as it has in the past,” he said.

Cohocton Supervisor Jack Zigenfus was notified Monday about the changes with First Wind.

“They didn’t want the town to be alarmed,” he said. “They called me so I wouldn’t hear about it second-hand.”

The only change for the town will be in the insurance bonds regarding agreement with First Wind. Zigenfus said the insurance company will have to issue new bonds, worth $300,000, after the agreement between the companies.

Zigenfus pointed to First Wind depositing $100,000 in the town’s bank account Saturday as an example of business continuing as usual with the wind energy company.

The $100,000 is payment as part of a six-year road use agreement between the town and company. The agreement is now in its fifth year, said the supervisor.

Projects started and completed by First Wind that are transferring to the operating company include the Cohocton Wind and Steel Winds I in Lackawanna, as well as a project in Vermont and four projects in Maine, according to the release.

Copyright 2011 Hornell Evening Tribune. Some rights reserved
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