Politics & Government

Water Authority Wind Turbine Proposed for Laurel Lake Preserve

Southold Town considers changing wind energy code to accomodate public facilities.

The is interested in installing a wind turbine on , according to Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell.

At a work session Tuesday morning, Supervisor Russell mentioned that a Suffolk County Water Authority representative proposed the installation of a at in Peconic — the largest so far in Southold Town. The wind turbine would help power water pumps located in the preserve area and would offset energy costs for the company.

Russell asked the board members if they were interested in tweaking the town’s wind energy code, which currently allows for the installation of turbines only on active farmland. He said he was also concerned about disturbing the natural state of Laurel Lake Preserve.

Find out what's happening in North Forkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“With all the franchise and commercial activity that already goes on through that corridor, we really need to balance out the need for wind power and preservation of that view shed that Mattituck deserves,” he said.

As a neighbor to Pindar’s turbine, said that the winery’s windmill is a “great-looking machine” that runs constantly and does not make any noise.

Find out what's happening in North Forkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“And from the viewshed point —people pull over to take pictures of it during sunset,” he said. “Everyone is looking at it. And these things have to be that high to catch the wind, I think that’s been demonstrated well out here.”

Councilman William Ruland said that though the intention of the water company's windmill would be to offset power costs, he doubted if those savings would trickle down to the taxpayer. Councilman Chris Talbot said he wanted to wait until after the last meeting of an East End wind symposium, a group that is analyzing the wind power needs of the whole of the East End, but Russell said he wanted to address amending the code sooner than later.

“I want to get more specific recommendations from both the Planning Board and Land Preservation,” he said. “We have to amend the code with technology.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here