We, the undersigned residents of the Town of Shelby, NY, are asking that the Town of Shelby formally pass a law banning any commercial industrial wind projects and commercial industrial mining in the town. The town’s residents have overwhelmingly rejected these proposals for over 15 years. We should not have to keep revisiting this fight.  

The Town of Shelby only has a 5-member board. Over the years several board members have secretly been approached by both industrial mining companies and industrial wind turbine companies and asked to sign lucrative contracts for the use of their land.  Board members have been pitted against town residents because they stand to gain financially for their positions on the board, and in a recent case, access to town legal counsel.  

It is time to put the issue to rest once and for all. The Town of Shelby is in the middle of the second largest migratory bird flyway in the country.  These applications are a danger to the wildlife that frequent the refuge as well as the way of life for the town residents. They affect everyone in the town not just a single property owner.  Town residents should not have to revisit and refight these issues every time a board member gets offered money for allowing industrial mining or industrial wind turbines on their property. Please create a local law that bans these applications within the Town of Shelby.