Woodstock's Spruce Mountain eyed for 20-25 wind towers
Three Woodstock town officials last week expressed their support for a potential plan to place wind-power towers on Spruce Mountain.
Business partners Todd Presson and Andy Novey of Quincy, Mass. are studying the feasibility of a wind-generating project utilizing 20 to 25 towers, Presson said by phone Tuesday.
Such towers would likely be approximately 260 feet high, he said. Each would have three blades, with each blade about 250 feet in diameter.
Presson said he and Novey had studied maps showing where adequate wind speeds and power lines intersect, “and this was one of the most promising [areas].”
The men hope to bring their idea to the Planning Board within four to six weeks, Presson said.
They will request a permit for a temporary wind unit that would test wind speed and other factors.
If conditions are favorable, an application for the project and public hearings would follow.
Selectmen comments
Town Manager Vern Maxfield and selectmen Rick Young and Bruce Korhonen said they thought the wind power idea was a good one.
Presson and Novey contacted Maxfield asking for input about the proposal from town officials.
Korhonen, who said he believes his property may be the closest neighboring the site, said he likes the idea that wind is a “completely renewable” energy source.
Maxfield said he expects the main concern from area residents would likely be any visual impact from the towers.
He noted there are currently several antennae on the top of the mountain.
“Coming up Route 26, there might two or three places you could see [the towers],” he said.
Korhonen said he believed that the only nearby residents who might see the towers would be on the Black Brook Road.
The towers, he said, “would generate a lot of tax money for the town.”
Maxfield said he asked the partners about the sound level generated by the spinning tower blades, and was told if conditions are right the sound might be audible from about a half mile away.
If the plan were realized, Maxfield said, service access to the towers would be in the vicinity of Shagg Pond.
Presson said he and Novey have been in the wind power business for about three years.
They have done two projects in Massachusetts — one at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and another offshore in Buzzards Bay.
They are currently involved in a wind project under construction in Freedom, Me.
By Alison Aloisio
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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