December 15, 2012
Massachusetts

Dec. 18 meeting to be held on future of Falmouth wind turbines

Falmouth Town Announcement | The Bulletin | December 14, 2012 | www.wickedlocal.com

The Falmouth Wind Turbines Options Analysis will hold a public meeting from 6 p.m.- 9 p.m. Dec. 18 in the Hermannn Room of the Falmouth Public Library, 300 Main Street.

According to the town website, the purpose of the Falmouth Wind Turbine Option Analysis Process (WTOP) is to engage in an open, transparent, and collaborative exploration of the range of options for the long-term future of the town’s two Wind Turbines – Wind I and Wind II.

The tasks of the WTOP are to:

• Clarify the range of potentially acceptable long-term options

• Identify the questions that would need to be answered about each of those options in order to evaluate their feasibility, costs, and benefits

• Determine legitimate methods for gaining answers to those questions

• Jointly review and interpret the data that comes back, and

• Evaluate the options based on the new information.

Two additional goals of the WTOP are to:

• Improve relationships and effective communication among the Town officials, affected families, and other members of the town

• Provide an arena for public information and input and transparent deliberation and evaluation

The core interests at stake include:

• Health, safety and well-being of impacted abutters

• Property rights and economic impacts on property for abutters

• Implementation of Falmouth’s climate action protection plan goals to reduce use of fossil fuel

• Fiscal impacts on the town’s taxpayers and town services

• An amicable end to a conflict that has divided and challenged the town’s relationships and reputation

Any broadly acceptable long-term plan for the turbines will need to respond to some extent to all of these core interests.

The participants represent the following interests:

• 5 residents primarily concerned with adverse impacts of the turbines on neighbors, including health and economic impacts

• 2 residents primarily concerned with implementing Falmouth’s climate action protection plan to reduce use of fossil fuel

• 2 taxpayers primarily concerned with the Town of Falmouth’s fiscal well-being

• 2 residents with strong empathy for all perspectives. These representatives are primarily concerned with a fair and effective process that may lead to an amicable outcome and reunite the town

• 3 Town Departments

• 2 liaisons from the Board of Selectmen attend all meetings and are available to answer questions, but do not participate at the table.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/12/15/dec-18-meeting-to-be-held-on-future-of-falmouth-wind-turbines/