LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

News Watch Home

Windmill foe to step down as selectman 

FREEDOM – Steve Bennett, a dogged opponent of the proposed wind farm on Beaver Ridge, has decided not to run for re-election as a selectman. Ron Price, an equally ardent supporter of the project, has filed papers to replace him.

Price, who recently moved to Freedom, previously served as a selectman in Knox. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Ballots will be cast Friday, March 30, at the Freedom Grange Hall. With Price the only declared candidate, he appears likely to win the seat.

Bennett said his decision not to run has little to do with Beaver Ridge, where he and several of his relatives own land. Price owns an adjoining hilltop parcel where Competitive Energy Systems of Portland seeks to erect three 400-foot-tall wind turbines.

The proposal has split the town, with a majority of residents backing the project but a vocal minority solidly against it.

Bennett also owns two businesses and serves as chairman of FUTURE MSAD 3, which is engaged in a $575,000 campaign to fund enhancements to the $40 million school complex in Thorndike that will replace the aging Mount View.

“I’ve just got to let go of something,” he said. “The wind power issue was not a major factor.”

Bennett, who was elected three years ago, survived recall votes in 2005 and 2006 by wide margins. He pointed to several accomplishments during his tenure as selectman, including the development of a long-range plan to improve the town park and efforts – not yet completed – to gain town control over the dam on Sandy Pond.

“I think Sandy Pond is the town’s greatest natural asset, but the dam has allowed to deteriorate,” he said. “The pond is entirely manmade – the dam is 10 feet high and the pond is 11 feet deep – so the condition of the dam is important.”

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection claims ownership of the dam, as does an out-of-town landowner, according to Bennett. The issue is now in court.

Bennett said work still needs to be done to get the town’s sand pile under cover. “We can’t continue to put sand on the ground and mix it with salt, right in the floodplain,” he said.

Despite the controversies during his term, Bennett said the job has been enjoyable “for the most part.” The town now has staggered terms for its selectmen, and the two who remain on the board – Tim Biggs and Lynn Hadyniak – will serve Freedom well, he said.

“They have been wonderful people to work with,” Bennett said.

By Andy Kekacs
Copy Editor
Village Soup

villagesoup.com

25 February 2007

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon