Issue had been tentatively scheduled for mid-October vote

The hotly debated wind turbine proposal will not see a town council vote before the November election.

That's what current council members stated at the Oct. 6 meeting after news surfaced that the deadline for the interest-free loan associated with the wind turbine project was extended from Dec. 31, 2008, to Dec. 31, 2009.

Just weeks ago the council was planning to hold a special meeting in October to vote on the project.

"I understand how the perception might exist that we are passing on this decision until after the election," said council member June Speakman. "But I have said many times that I was willing to wait if this issue needed more time. This has been a very contentious issue."

Ms. Speakman, council president Jeff Brenner and fellow councilor Kate Weymouth are all Democrats running for re-election. Mark Gillooly and Sharon Brinkworth are Republicans running for the same seats - both challengers are former council members.

Mr. Gillooly would not comment on the council's decision to delay the vote on the wind turbine project but criticized the process the current board has followed to this point.

"Let's look at the calendar of events. At the financial town meeting in May they were asking taxpayers to vote for a $2.4 million bond," Mr. Gillooly said. "Now, here they are five months later and they have yet to identify a cost analysis and yet to vote on it themselves. In my opinion, that decision should have been made first. Then it should have come to the taxpayers at a financial town meeting when all the questions are answered so that taxpayers could have had that in front of them first.

"They've asked the taxpayers to vote on something that has not been thought through. As a taxpayer that bothers me. In my estimation this process has been done backwards."

Mr. Brenner said the interest-free loan affected the timing of the process.

"The timing wouldn't have worked dealing with the (previous) deadline," Mr. Brenner said. "I think we had the trust of the voters that we would see this through."

What's next?

The council plans to hold a public workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at the high school at 7 p.m. regarding the wind turbine project.

"At that point the public can raise questions, the council can ask questions. CREB (Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington) will go back and develop answers to those questions," said Ms. Speakman.

Ms. Weymouth said she thinks critics to the process will appreciate the deadline extension.

"I don't feel we have been rushing to judgment, but now that the time limit has been moved I think we're responding to our critics," she said.

"They said we should slow down our decision-making and that's what we've done."

Mr. Brenner said the deadline extension is good for everyone.

"You have people who are analyzing the issue. They want to look at all the information," he said. "I want to hear if there's any criticism, either through documents or verbally."

Deadline extension explained

Believe it or not, the federal government's $700 billion bailout plan made a big difference in Barrington. The legislation that was approved for the bailout reportedly carried with it the deadline extension for the interest-free loan for the wind turbine project.

"We knew there was legislation out there for months," said council president Jeff Brenner. "We've been in touch with Rep. (Patrick) Kennedy's office and (Sen. Sheldon) Whitehouse's office, asking them if it could be extended in any way. There were similar circumstances in other parts of the country. Just through sure chance, it was piggy-backed (on the bailout legislation)."

Council member June Speakman acted as the point person for Barrington, regularly contacting the legislators' offices.