Municipal wind turbine at Rock Harbor?
EASTHAM — The proposed municipal turbine bylaw that will be presented to voters at town meeting would allow placement of a wind turbine up to 250 feet high in Zone B in town, which would include the town’s parking lot at Rock Harbor. The planning board, at its March 9 meeting, voted to include Zone B in the bylaw, even though they had concerns about whether it would be economically feasible or not.
Board member Howard Sandler pointed out that at their last hearing, Fred Fenlon, the town’s representative to the Cape Light Compact, told them it was highly unlikely that a turbine at Rock Harbor would be able to transfer wind energy to the grid which is a mile away.
Board member Mike Cole pointed out that the municipal turbine bylaw, as proposed, will require that the town have just short of 13 acres on which to site it. “It would have to be perfectly sited in the middle, so there’s not a lot of places you could put one that tall.” A minimum of eight and a quarter acres would be need to site a 200-foot tall turbine on town property, he said.
Selectman Martin McDonald, who attended the meeting, was asked if the town had 13 acres at the Rock Harbor site. “I’m not sure if it is 13 acres or not, but because it is an open area, and you have prevailing winds coming in from the south west, you don’t necessarily need at 250 foot high turbine,” he said.
McDonald said was not prepared to accept Fenlon’s views on the economic feasibility of a turbine at Rock Harbor at this point. He also noted that at the public hearing, a couple who live near Rock Harbor were the only ones who spoke against zoning it as a site for a municipal wind turbine.”
The fact of the matter,” McDonald said, “is that Rock Harbor is a town parking lot. It is not a spot of beauty. In the summer if is full of cars, and at this time of year, we store boats there. The parking lot is a dredge spoil site, too. In fact, in my opinion, a wind turbine there would make it more attractive.”
16 March 2009
Tags: Wind power, Wind energy
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- Wind turbine plan to come again before Eastham voters
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