May 9, 2007
Massachusetts

Fairhaven wind turbine informational session slated tonight

CCI Energy will hold an informational meeting tonight and sponsor a visit to the Hull wind turbines Saturday to garner support for the project at the special Town Meeting next week.

Meanwhile, project opponent WindWise Fairhaven continues efforts to derail the project.

The informational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Jim Sweeney of CCI, town wind consultants, representatives from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and others are expected to be there.

On Saturday, a bus will leave Hastings Middle School at 8:30 a.m. for a visit to the two turbines that Hull operates. Officials from Hull Wind will be on hand to answer questions.

The bus trip is open only to Town Meeting members. Fairhaven Town Meeting is an elected body.

By Tuesday, 16 people had signed up for the trip, officials said, but the bus can take up to 50.

Concurrently, WindWise will release a video Thursday on its Web site, WindWiseFairhaven.com, about the effects of noise and shadow flicker for residents in the vicinity of the Hull turbines.

Extra copies are being made for Town Meeting voters.

“Everything that town has been told by the developer is contradicted in the video,” said Kenneth Pottel, WindWise member. “The video shows how residents’ lives have been adversely impacted by the noise and by the shadow flicker.”

Residents interviewed by WindWise live about a quarter-mile away from the turbines, a situation that also would occur in Fairhaven, Mr. Pottel said.

The Little Bay wind turbines have faced strong opposition from WindWise.

The group has raised questions about the turbines’ placement and potential noise.

The group has submitted 10 articles to the Town Meeting warrant that ask for further studies and attempt to change zoning bylaws to stop the project, among other things.

The special Town Meeting is scheduled for May 15 to vote on a lease deal that would allow CCI to erect two 400-foot turbines on town land in Little Bay.

The company would sell power to the town at a deeply discounted rate.

The Town Meeting was scheduled after a group of supporters submitted a petition to the town.

As the meeting approaches, both sides of the issue continue efforts to sway Town Meeting voters.

At the annual Town Meeting last Saturday, Mr. Sweeney set up a poster board in the Hastings Middle School hall with information about the proposal, a miniature wind turbine and “Yes” pins with a graphic of a wind turbine forming the “Y.”

On the other hand, WindWise placed brightly colored fact sheets on car windshields during Town Meeting proceedings.

The special wind Town Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. May 15.

By Joao Ferreira
Standard-Times staff writer

southcoasttoday.com

9 May 2007


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/05/09/fairhaven-wind-turbine-informational-session-slated-tonight/