June 6, 2012
Vermont

Holland selectmen oppose Derby Line Wind

Robin Smith, Staff Writer, The Orleans Record | orleanscountyrecord.com 6 June 2012

HOLLAND – The Holland Select Board has gone on the record to oppose the Derby Line Wind Project, a week after the developer withdrew his plans.

The three selectmen voted the unanimous opposition.

The board took that vote rather than consider other suggestions for a broader opposition to all wind projects in the Holland area, said town clerk Diane Judd. Town moderator Ernie Emmerson moderated the discussion Monday evening in the Holland town office, leading up to the vote.

The board had decided to consider the town’s position on the wind project last month – setting the stage for Monday’s vote.

But in the meantime, developer Chad Farrell of Encore Redevelopment announced May 25 that he was pulling the plans off the table for the two turbines, one each proposed for Grandview Farm near Derby Line and Smugglers Hill Farm closer to both the Canadian border and to Holland.

Farrell also affirmed that he would no longer try to put a turbine on the Smugglers’ Hill Farm, but he would try to come back next year to propose a turbine for the Grandview Farm owned by the Davis family.

Derby farmer Bryan Davis has sought to have a large turbine raised on his farm for years and asked Encore Redevelopment to do the project.

The decision to pull the plug on the two turbines for this year came after the hearing officer for state utility regulators on the Vermont Public Service Board set a schedule that put the hearings in late summer and a decision by the board at the end of the year – too late for the commissioning deadline for the Davis turbine.

Farrell is planning to seek an extension for the Davis turbine under the state program for small renewable energy projects like this.

Farrell could not be reached for comment Tuesday about the status of his efforts to keep the Davis turbine plan alive and file a new application next year with the PSB.

Holland now joins the town of Stanstead, Quebec, and the villages of Derby Line and Derby Center in opposing the Derby Line Wind Project and both turbine locations. The village of Derby Line held a village-wide vote about it at the annual meeting.

The location for the Smugglers Hill turbine near the Canadian border drew Quebec and Canadian politicians into the opposition over the project.

A majority of the Derby Select Board is either opposed or concerned about the project, but an attempt to have a vote in opposition failed for lack of votes when Selectman Steve Gendreau abstained.


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/06/06/holland-selectmen-oppose-derby-line-wind/