It appears a Chautauqua County Legislature vote on a lease between the county and a company that wants to store materials for the Arkwright wind project will be close.

It doesn’t need to be.

Two committees approved the lease last week, but both votes had two dissenting votes: Legislators George Borrello, R-Irving, and Charles Nazzaro, D-Jamestown, voted against the lease during the Audit and Control Committee meeting Nazzaro and Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, voted against the lease during a Public Facilities Committee meeting earlier in the week. It is fairly rare at this point in the legislature’s history to see three no votes against a proposal like this one.

Wind farms are a sensitive subject, but they are also one over which the county has precious little authority. The Arkwright wind farm has already been approved by the town. As long as it receives environmental permitting, there is basically nothing the county can do to stop it. Contrary to the opinion of those speaking against the lease agreement, approving the lease with BNSF Logistics is far from a strong statement of support for the wind project. The county isn’t facilitating the project by approving the lease, nor is the lease some sort of necessary lynchpin in the project. The materials would be trucked to Arkwright from Buffalo if the county doesn’t approve the lease.

Voting against the BNSF lease is akin to cutting one’s nose off to spite their face. It makes little sense to turn down a $60,000 payday for use of a vacant building. Legislators should vote with their heads and not their hearts and approve the BNSF Logistics lease during Wednesday’s meeting.