November 21, 2013
Massachusetts

Townsend voters approve bylaw for wind energy

By Chelsea Feinstein | Sentinel & Enterprise | 11/21/2013 | www.sentinelandenterprise.com

TOWNSEND – Voters at Special Town Meeting on Tuesday unanimously approved a bylaw that would regulate wind-energy use in town, despite questions on the specific wording of the 11-page bylaw.

“This isn’t intended to invite every wind-turbine manufacturer in the world to come to Townsend. This is for our protection,” said Jeffrey Peduzzi, chairman of the Planning Board. “We’re putting this in place because right now there is nothing.”

Peduzzi said the moratorium would allow the Planning Board the opportunity to better plan for such development.

Voters also:

* Approved an article to allow licensed restaurants to serve alcohol on premises between 10 a.m. and noon on Sundays the last Monday in May and Christmas Day, 72-24, in the closest vote of the night.

Although one resident suggested removing Christmas Day from the article, Town Counsel said that the statute could only be voted on in its original form.

* Approved two articles allowing for the enforcement of the town’s mandatory recycling program.

The enforcing officer will be the municipal recycling-enforcement coordinator, a position that is being funded for 18 months through a state grant, Board of Health Chairman Christopher Genoter said.

“The intent is not to create a permanent position for the recycling coordinator,” Genoter said.

* Approved a series of finance articles, including a transfer of $10,000 to supplement veterans benefits, a transfer of $9,806 to replace the phone system in the Police Department and an approval of collective bargaining agreements with the police, fire, telecommunications, highway and water unions.

No articles were rejected.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/21/townsend-voters-approve-bylaw-for-wind-energy/