Councilor says turbine could tear town apart

Jamie Schwartz says he would vote no on wind turbine if he had to vote on it now

Unanswered questions and legitimate objections — that’s why Barrington Town Council member Jamie Schwartz believes the proposed wind turbine project would not get his vote of approval … at least not right now.

Last week Mr. Schwartz went public with his position regarding the wind turbine. He said if he had to vote on the project tomorrow, he would vote no.

“The disagreements over the economic model, the wind adequacy, the environmental impact, vendor qualifications, property values, construction impacts, aesthetics, etc., suggest that community buy-in is insufficient to approve the project,” Mr. Schwartz wrote in a letter last week.

“At this juncture, I believe that it would be a mistake to give approval without extending the study process, including exploration of alternatives to a single wind turbine generator.”

Mr. Schwartz said his position was based on the research he has done for the project and the concerns he has heard from residents, including many in his Broadview Drive neighborhood. The quiet residential area borders Brickyard Pond and is not far from the proposed location for the 300-plus-foot-tall wind turbine on Legion Way. Mr. Schwartz’s wife wrote letters to the editor earlier this year opposing the wind turbine project and its Legion Way site.

“I’m right in the thick of this,” he said in an interview on Tuesday, Sept. 16.

“Right now the writing is on the wall that there’s just not enough time to properly research everything that needs to be researched,” Mr. Schwartz said. In order for Barrington to capitalize on an interest-free IRS renewable energy bond, it must have a deal completed with a contractor by Dec. 31.

In Mr. Schwartz’s letter, which he sent to some neighbors and to the chairman of the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington, the council member wrote that an independent third party review should be commissioned to help address concerns and questions.

“I don’t want to see this community torn apart over a non-critical project,” he wrote. “That point must be added to the pro and con list and it is of no minor importance.”

Weighing in

Other council members stopped short of following Mr. Schwartz’s lead on the wind turbine issue.

Jeff Brenner, the council president and the liaison to the CREB, said he wants to see the final report from the renewable energy committee before he makes any decision. He said he is expecting a recommendation from the CREB at the council’s October 6 meeting, which will help steer his position.

“When the report comes in it might answer a lot of these questions,” Mr. Brenner said, referring to Mr. Schwartz’s cited concerns. “We need to let the process play out.

“I think the Legion Way site is a better site than the high school. I don’t think we should have it at the high school, but I don’t have all the answers yet.”

Council member John Lazzaro said he is sitting squarely on the fence with the wind turbine issue until the CREB report is submitted.

“All the facts aren’t in,” he said. “I think I’ll stay on the fence until I know everything about the project.”

Mr. Lazzaro and fellow council member Kate Weymouth have been involved in the review of the wind turbine contractor bids. He said he has also done his own research on the topic and is anxious to hear the opinion of the CREB.

“I’m still open to everything and still asking questions,” Mr. Lazzaro said. “I know there was an old dump down there. What about that? What is DEM going to say? What about the foundation for this thing? I think there are a lot of unanswered questions… But do we, the people on the council and in this town, do things just to do them? I don’t think so. There’s a reason we’re looking into this.”

Ms. Weymouth said she would find it impossible to vote on the issue without having seen the CREB report.

“I disagree that there is not enough time to satisfy all the questions. We can never know all the answers to all the questions … it would keep us in a perpetual state of indecision,” she wrote in a recent e-mail. “I think it was Jamie who said publicly that there is a level of risk to all investments. It is CREB’s task to support their recommendation with facts to minimize that risk. Short of building and testing a turbine in real time, we must rely on available data. I am confident that CREB can and will supply that data, so that our decision is based on facts, not fear.”

Other energy avenues?

Councilor June Speakman, like Mr. Schwartz, said there may be other ways for the town to reap significant savings each year and help the environment without constructing a large wind turbine. She added that if she was asked to vote on the project tomorrow, she would vote to table the issue because her information was incomplete.

“We haven’t seen the CREB report,” she said, adding that she has done a lot of her own research and will not rely “exclusively on that committee’s work.” Ms. Speakman said she plans to have some of her colleagues at Roger Williams University contribute to her body of information; Ms. Speakman is a political science professor at that school.

Ms. Speakman said she is also concerned with the deadlines associated with the project.

“If I don’t personally feel ready to make a decision, I’ll be happy to let this deadline go by,” she said. “I think this is important enough to let the interest-free bond pass. I want to decide on this on the merits of the project.”

Ms. Speakman also raised concerns on the wind data for the Legion Way site. She said she does not entirely understand the information and needs to have a solid grasp on it before she lends her approval for the work.

“I am completely for renewable energy,” she said, “but I have some questions. Is this renewable energy technology going to change in the next few years?

“I think there was a certain amount of energy behind this [wind turbine] project. Should we be looking at other [renewable] energy sources?”

By Josh Bickford

EastBayRI.com

26 September 2008

Tags: Wind power, Wind energy

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