SUPERVISOR’S MEETING
February 28, 2008

 Public Hearing:
Chairman Baker opened the Public Hearing with the salute to the flag. Solicitor Bill Barbin said, there was an advertisement placed in the paper. The advertisement was placed in the paper twice. The advertisement said the Jackson Township Planning Commission held a public meeting to discuss recommending an amendment to the Jackson Township Zoning Ordinance at 6:30 on February 18, 2008 at the Township Building and it says the Jackson Township Supervisors will hold a Public Hearing to consider the amendment on February 28, 2008 at 7:00 pm. The Supervisors may adopt the amendment at the regular meeting following the Public Hearing. A summary of the Ordinance is as follows: An Ordinance of the Township of Jackson amending sections of the Jackson Township Zoning Ordinance as follows: Providing for small scale windmills as an accessory use in the Residential, Agricultural and Commercial Districts and providing setbacks and other regulations. It went on to say a copy of the Ordinance Amendments can be reviewed by contacting the Township at 749-0725 or the Township Website or the Township Building. A copy of the Amendment was sent to the Cambria County Planning Commission by a letter dated January 23, 2008 which the Township have received no comments. The Ordinance provides that a new section is added to the Zoning Ordinance. . . Section 412 - Small Scale Wind Generators. It’s short enough I’ll just read the whole thing and we’ll be done with it. A - Small Scale Windmills for the purpose of serving residential or commercial buildings on site shall be permitted as an accessory use in Residential, Agricultural and Commercial Districts. B - The structure of the windmill shall be subject to site plan approval by the Jackson Township Planning Commission. The site plan shall be drawn to an appropriate scale and shall provide construction details and show the location of all existing public roads, existing structures, utility line and all structures, facilities and power lines to be constructed on the site, as well as identifying adjoining property owners, and the location of any structures on adjoining properties within one hundred feet of the common property lines. C - Facilities, including but not limited to towers, shall be safe and neat construction to be approved by the Planning Commission and subject to any requirements of the Uniform Construction Code and manufacturer’s recommendations. D - Towers shall be located at least 100 feet from all property lines. Other facilities must follow generally applicable setbacks within the particular zoning district. E - Towers shall be no more than 35 feet in height from the elevation of the ground at the base of the tower, before the placement of fill, to the top of the blade. F - No more than two towers shall be located upon a property or serve a single commercial or residential structure. G - The property owner must use at least two-thirds of the power generated by the windmills in his home or business located on site. The property owner receiving site plan approval shall annually provide a verified report of electricity generated and electricity sold from the windmills. Failure to provide an annual report within 60 days of the end of each calendar year shall result in the termination of the authorization to maintain the windmill and subject the property owner to an order for immediate removal of the tower. H - The property owner shall construct and maintain the windmill and tower in a safe a neat manner so as not to present a danger to neighbors or to present an unsightly appearance. The property owner receiving site plan approval shall annually provide a verified report of a qualified contractor as to the structural integrity of the tower and windmill assembly. Failure to provide an annual report within 60 days of the end of each calendar year shall result in the termination of the authorization to maintain the windmill and subject the property owner to an order for immediate removal of the tower. That’s the Amendment section. Does anyone has any comments they wish to make on that section before the Supervisors consider this?. . . this has gone to the Planning Commission. . .there were minor changes. . . I’ve read to you what the Planning Commission recommended. Ed Nischalke asked, could you say again what the height was? Barbin replied, E - Towers shall be no more than 35 feet in height from the elevation of the ground at the base of the Tower, before the placement of fill, to the top of the blade. . . .just the actual thing shall be no more than 35 feet high. Nischalke said, at the top of the blade? Barbin replied, yes. Clair Michaels said, yeah, I have something to say. . . .when they first started talking about this, they said they were not going to bother doing anything with the small windmills an individual had and now all at once they come up with an Ordinance because some guy wants to put in one and he was turned down. . .I’m presuming this is why. . .but the Planning Commission said they weren’t even going to monkey with small windmills and now all at once they’re puttin in an Ordinance for it. . . why are they?. . .because they said they weren’t even going to bother with them. Barbin answered, the Ordinance that we adopted previously was only for the large windmills. Michaels replied, that’s right and they said at that meeting when they were talking about that. . . .they weren’t even going to worry about the small ones because they’re private individuals. . that’s all they were going to have. . . and now here they are. . adopting an Ordinance and makin it real hard to put up one. Barbin said, the comment I heard . . .the explanation I heard here and in other places is that a place such as Vinco where there are houses right next to each other or right against each other. . .it could be considered inappropriate to put up windmill towers and that’s why there’s a 100 foot set back. . .you have to have a little bit more land. . . not a lot more land but it’s got to be at least 200 feet square to put a windmill on. Michaels said, at 35 feet, that isn’t very high for a windmill. Barbin replied, that’s what are being sold. . .those are the windmills being sold. . they meet that requirement. . . the 100 foot set back. . .the gentleman who was talking didn’t like that because he said he’d have to put it in his front yard and he didn’t like that idea. Michaels said, but even when I was at the other meeting they had. . .that’s what I’m talkin about. . .they weren’t going to have any kind of Ordinance on it but now all at once they come up with an Ordinance for it. Ed Nischalke said, I’d like to make one comment. . . I understand the set back and I understand Vinco and where you have a lot of neighbors you need to be concerned about that. I’m not sure I understand an annual financial report. If you have cows and you sell 10 cows, do I have to provide a financial report to the Township? . . .or how much electricity I’m using? That’s getting pretty detailed if it’s a private windmill. If it’s a private windmill, it’s a private windmill. Why would you want a financial report? Barbin said, the concept. . the people said we want windmills not subject to the rules of the big windmills. . they’re for our own use. . and there’s an arbitrary number here and it’s 2/3 of the power generated has to be used by the people who are putting it up. . if they’re putting it up for private use and the annual report is just to say. . yes. . you are doing this for 2/3. . you’re not just sticking up a bunch of windmills across the property. Nischalke said, well. . you limit it to two windmills. . so the size that we’re talking about is a 10K small windmill and most homes require close to that to operate so again, it seems pretty invasive to require an annual report. . . maybe initially for the first time. . but if you got a 10K generator and you’re using it in your house, that’s not going to change a whole lot and if you add more electricity, you’re only going to be using less. . .again. . it’s pretty invasive I think. Will Michaels said, how about we say somebody like a farmer and he can only put up 2 windmills. . .but maybe his farm . . he might be able to put up 4 or 5 windmills and he might be able to use the power. Barbin replied, special circumstance can always seek a variance. The one coming out right off the bat was. . .the gentleman who raised this issue said. . well. . 100 foot setback is too much for me. . if you make me set it back 100 foot from the property line, I can’t put it where I want it and in a Residential neighborhood, that might not be appropriate. . . I’ve been told this guy’s out in the country but the answer to him and the answer to your question I think is, if there are some special circumstances that say, this is a general rule. . .this is the rule that will be generally followed. . .the Zoning Hearing Board has the right to grant a variance if there are unique circumstances and there are some special circumstances that give justification to go outside the rule and it won’t harm anyone else, then they should grant a variance. That’s the general criteria. Now. . will they. . .I can’t predict because they’re a separate body. Steve Yurasek said, you’re saying you want this report by a certified contractor. . .what you’re trying to do. . you’re trying to drive the cost up. . . you’re the legal. . you’re trying to drive the cost up so that the average person will not put a windmill up. You’ve done this in the past. . .in each Ordinance you make it in such a way that the cost to the average taxpayer is not feasible. Barbin replied, the sentence says, a verified report of a qualified contractor. . ..the contractor doesn’t have to be certified. Yurasek said, what about the poor widow living on a farm living on Social Security and they think. . I can save my electric bill. . .do you think they’re going to go through with this?. . no they’re not. . . and you can add the cost on to the Township. . what are you going to do. . add another secretary to take care of all the incidentals like this . . . .these reports and everything? Barbin said, I had a client in Upper Yoder Township who built a ham radio antenna in a neighborhood like Vinco . . .with density. . .a little bit more than Vinco. . he built it out of scrap lumber. . and I defended him. . he fought for a long time. . and if you’re going to put something with blades going around and you’re going to put it relatively close to other people, the tower it’s on should be structurally sound and we didn’t say certified. . we didn’t require engineering studies. . .we just say we want you to have a qualified contractor come in and look at the tower and say, it’s not going to fall down and the rule has to be the same. . if it’s out in the middle of Ed’s field or my field or back in your land, it doesn’t matter if it falls down. Yurasek said, when you buy one of those towers, you get a wood frame. . now it’s just like building a bridge. . anything. . you submit this to Labor & Industry. . it’s approved. . you shouldn’t have to go back every year and say, I have to have it reapproved. Barbin said, it does not require you to have it reapproved. . it doesn’t say you have to go back and get another Building Code approval. . it says you have to submit a report from a qualified contractor saying I looked at them and they’re structurally sound. . .that’s all. . you have to check it and see that it’s structurally sound and towers that have machinery on top of them should be checked regularly and not everybody does. This was one of the questions that came up at the Planning Commission. . it was one of the suggestions. . .well. . we could have. . we could make a provision for somebody to look at it and make sure it’s still safe. Yurasek said, we make the laws so that the rich can have and the have-nots. . we kick them in the ass. That’s exactly what we do. By using legal terminology in those legal terms, you know exactly what’s on your mind. . you want the poor people to do without. . you want the rich people to have. Each time you make a law, you restrict them more and more and more on their own property. Some of these people can hardly pay their property taxes but nobody worries about them. Clair Michaels said, vote this down and have this rewritten different. . change some of this stuff. . .somebody might have a farm or need more electricity. . he’s going to have to go monkeying around. . getting variances and if they decide they don’t want to give him a variance, he’s done.

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