July 29, 2014
Maine

Dixfield selectmen approve warrant for town meeting on wind energy moratorium

MATTHEW DAIGLE, Staff Writer | Sun Journal | July 28, 2014 | www.sunjournal.com

DIXFIELD – The Board of Selectmen voted 4-1 Monday evening to approve a warrant for a special town meeting where residents will vote on whether to enact a 180-day wind energy facility moratorium.

Selectman Mac Gill was the lone dissenting vote.

Since January 2013, the Planning Board has been revising a wind power development ordinance that was approved by voters in 2012. The revised version will be placed before voters at a later date.

During the June 16 board meeting, Selectman Hart Daley said he attended a recent Planning Board meeting at which lawyer Kristen Collins wanted to know why the town doesn’t have a moratorium while the ordinance is being revised.

Daley suggested that selectmen adopt the language from the wind energy moratorium ordinance that was approved in 2009 and expired in 2010.

Town Manager Carlo Puiia said that he received a final draft of the proposed moratorium featuring new language from Collins.

“There’s not much that changed between the old moratorium language and the new one,” Puiia told the selectmen. “Kristen said that she wanted to look over the old moratorium to make sure that there was no conflicting information before drafting language for a new moratorium.”

The board originally scheduled a public hearing and special town meeting on Thursday, Aug. 7, and subsequently postponed it to Aug. 21 after Collins said she needed time to draft the language of the moratorium.

Puiia said during Monday evening’s meeting that the public hearing and special town meeting is still scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 21.

In other business, Puiia told the selectmen that the Planning Board had finished their recommendations for the wind energy facility ordinance and provided copies of the revised ordinance to each of the selectmen.

“As you go through this, keep an eye out for anything that you may have questions about,” Puiia said. “You also might want to think about holding a joint meeting sometime soon with the Planning Board to go over their recommendations.”

Police Chief Richard Pickett, who serves on the Planning Board, said that he and the rest of the members would be ready to meet any time the Board of Selectmen wish to meet.

The selectmen also unanimously voted to appoint Ricky A. Davis to the Planning Board.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2014/07/29/dixfield-selectmen-approve-warrant-for-town-meeting-on-wind-energy-moratorium/