NORWICH – The final two public hearings about the proposed 190-mile electric transmission line that could cut through upstate New York will take place in Norwich tomorrow.
Information forums will be held at 1 and 6 p.m. Thursday, with public statement hearings at 2 and 7 p.m., at the Chenango County Council of the Arts Building, 27 West Main St.
The sessions will give area residents their final opportunity to make direct statements before the administrative law judges assigned to review the New York Regional Interconnect application under the Public Service Commission’s Article VII review process.
Local opposition groups have been encouraging area residents to attend the meetings and speak out against the project, which would affect numerous upstate New York communities along the proposed route from Marcy to New Winsor.
Communities Against Regional Interconnect is a non-profit coalition representing seven counties and five local community groups in the fight against the $2 billion project.
Chenango County Planning and Development Director Donna M. Jones is the local representative for the organization, of which Chenango County and Stop NYRI are members.
Jones said she hopes the events in Norwich will have a large turnout.
“We want the administrative law judges to see how many people this would impact,” she said.
It is important to make informed statements, she stressed. To assist in that process, both CARI and Stop NYRI have posted talking points on their websites. These suggested topics can be viewed at www.caricoalition.com and www.StopNYRI.com.
Cindy Carter, a Sherburne resident active with Stop NYRI, has already made statements at previous hearings. She plans on making one if not two statements on Thursday and encourages others to do the same.
“This is the one place average citizens have for their voices to be heard,” she explained.
Carter lives directly on NYRI’s proposed primary route. If NYRI gets its way, the 400 kilovolt transmission lines would follow the rail corridor through parts of Madison and Chenango counties. Her fear of losing her own home and her concerns over the potential impact of this project on the area as a whole, has prompted Carter to follow the application review process carefully.
To date, Carter has attended the PSC hearings in Hamilton, Oneonta and Utica. Although turnout in Oneonta was lackluster, she said she was impressed by what she has seen so far. Utica in particular made an impression on the Sherburne resident, because of the number of elected officials and community leaders who used the opportunity to speak out against the project.
