February 23, 2011
Maine

Peru to mail out wind surveys

By Mary Standard, Special to the Sun Journal, www.sunjournal.com 23 February 2011

PERU – Following a lengthy discussion with eight Wind Committee members and the Planning Board Tuesday night, selectmen voted to mail surveys on wind power to taxpayers with the July tax bills.

Planning Board Chairman Steve Fuller said it was very important that the Planning Board receive a good representation of the town’s wishes regarding wind power. “Whether people are for, against or neutral, we need to know from the town what their wishes are for wind power,” Fuller said.

Acting Select-board Chairman Tim Holland said, “This is a hot potato to begin with and people want to voice their opinion before we as a town do anything.” Holland added that he thought the questionnaire was a good idea.

Holland said he thought it should go out sooner than July, but Wind Committee member J.R. Worthington said he thought it best to have the survey go out with the tax bills.

The survey will ask:

1. How would the town of Peru regulate commercial wind turbine development?

Zone the town in such a way as to effectively ban the development of all commercial wind farms.

Develop a local ordinance stricter than the existing state regulations, while not necessarily banning the development of all commercial wind farms.

Allow existing state Department of Environmental Protection regulations to govern commercial wind farm development in Peru.

2. What benefits do you feel commercial wind turbine farms offer?

3. What drawbacks do you feel are connected with commercial wind turbine farms?

In other news, the board was informed that although the new truck had been delivered two weeks ago, the town was being asked to pay an additional $1,000 for a hired bond counsel.

Road Commissioner Joe Roach said he didn’t know about this and though he said he had sent all papers to the office, no one had seen the leasing papers.

Town Clerk Vera Parent said the town had dealt with this company before and had never had a vehicle delivered without the leasing papers.

Holland did not sign the bond request and asked for the matter to be tabled until he had a chance to study the request. The board agreed that it wasn’t right to pay the $1,000.

Selectmen also voted to remove property from tree growth as a penalty for a resident not having a new Tree Growth Plan. The unnamed resident had been sent three letters and though the resident was in Arizona now, Hussey said the first notice was mailed last May.

On Monday, Feb. 28, representatives from Central Maine Power Co. will discuss its upgrades at 6 p.m., prior to the regular selectmen’s meeting.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/23/peru-to-mail-out-wind-surveys/