April 10, 2013
Massachusetts

Falmouth selectmen to regroup after wind turbines vote

By Sean Teehan | Cape Cod Times | April 10, 2013 | www.capecodonline.comBy Sean Teehan | Cape Cod Times | April 10, 2013 | www.capecodonline.com

A day after Falmouth town meeting voted down an article to fund removing the town’s wind turbines, selectmen plan to make a motion allowing them to find out more about costs and other details.

Last night, town meeting defeated the selectmen-sponsored initiative to authorize spending nearly $14 million – with $8.2 million of it borrowed – to remove Falmouth’s two 1.65-megawatt turbines at the wastewater treatment facility on Blacksmith Shop Road.

Selectman Brent Putnam this afternoon said that when special town meeting reconvenes tonight at the Lawrence School, selectmen will ask town meeting members to allow them to study the costs of removal and seek special legislation that would allow Falmouth to borrow the necessary money. The motion would not actually authorize the town to borrow the money.

“Maybe that’s what town meeting needs, they need us to come back with a more complete idea of the cost,” Putnam said in an interview this afternoon.

Last night, 125 town meeting members voted in favor of the article, and 72 people voted against it. The measure failed because it did not garner the 2/3 majority required to pass.

A spokeswoman from the American Wind Energy Association said in an email that no other communities in the United States have taken a vote like Falmouth’s last night.

Selectman David Braga said selectmen will vote in a meeting Thursday night and decide whether to place the question of removing the turbines on Falmouth’s May 21 election. It is not clear if this ballot question would be binding.

Town meeting will continue at the Lawrence School auditorium tonight at 7

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/10/falmouth-selectmen-to-regroup-after-wind-turbines-vote/