July 30, 2015
Massachusetts

Head of Bay turbines arrival still mired in need for permits

By Paul Gately | The Bourne Courier | Jul. 30, 2015 | bourne.wickedlocal.com

Bourne selectmen for a second month are still not yet prepared to grant a road-alteration easement that would facilitate delivery of turbine apparatus to the Future Wind Generation project being built at Keith Mann’s cranberry acreage in Head of the Bay near the South Plymouth line.

Selectmen Chairman Steve Mealy met with Town Counsel Robert Troy and Town Administrator Thomas Guerino on July 28 to sort out lingering permitting issues that plague turbine-parts delivery through Buzzards Bay.

Mealy said it has become apparent that Mann sold the wind-farm project to Consolidated Edison Co. after all regulatory permits and health board review were completed. This may complicate delivery matters, he said.

Troy said it falls to ConEdison now to request the appropriate Bourne permits to trim trees along Head of the Bay Road – officially, a scenic way – and remove a section of guardrail at the Mann property entrance in Head of the Bay near the Wareham line.

Troy said requests for permits had fallen into a degree of disarray that still needs sorting out, including needed review of possible roadway impacts along Main Street, Buzzards Bay. The attorney said the town’s code-enforcement officers are more than able to move expeditiously on this front.

Mealy said the primary issue is approval “to modify Head of the Bay Road. We’re working with ConEdison.” If there were no need to remove the guardrails, he added, there would have been no need for the road alteration permit.

The turbine apparatus, meanwhile, will be delivered across the Cohasset Narrows Bridge to Veterans Circle to Main Street to Belmont Circle and then along Head of the Bay Road to the Mann entrance.

Four projected deliveries by Gamesa Corp. of Pennsylvania will be undertaken in the early-morning hours with a State Police escort. Delivery routes from the New Bedford waterfront through the city’s North End to Acushnet and Fairhaven to Route 6 eastbound have been finalized.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/07/30/head-of-bay-turbines-arrival-still-mired-in-need-for-permits/