SAVOY -- The Selectmen got more than they bargained for when they sat down with Zoning Board of Appeals alternate Marshall Rosenthal to discuss his re-appointment to the board.

Rosenthal got himself put on the Selectmen's agenda when he failed to receive a notice of his re-appointment to the board. Selectmen Chairman Scott Koczela said the Selectmen are reviewing all ZBA appointments after three members abruptly resigned after the board's last public hearing about Minuteman Wind LLC's request to install five, 425-foot wind turbines on 290 acres of West Hill capable of putting out 12.5 megawatts of clean electricity but carrying a construction cost of roughly $22 million.

Rosenthal, who has been openly critical of the project, had several detractors at the Selectmen's meeting who encouraged the Selectmen not to re-appoint him.

"The ZBA as a board does not make policy in town," said Harold "Butch' Malloy, owner of the West Hill property. "It makes sure the laws and bylaws of the town are upheld. Mr. Rosenthal has done the same thing he always does, he's in there with anti-wind and everyone he will bring to the table will be against wind.

"What Mr. Rosenthal should have done is put aside his personal issues on this but he is unable to. So I would ask the board to absolutely not appoint Mr. Rosenthal."

Joseph Bettis, former Selectman and one of the ZBA members who recently resigned, also spoke up.

"That's why I resigned from the ZBA, because Mr. Rosenthal and a couple other members of the board are setting their own agenda at a public meeting and have said ‘we have to shut this down.'" he said. "That's not why we were there. We were supposed to make sure everything was done correctly and by the bylaws that people voted for. Mr. Rosenthal thinks he has the right to sit on the board and shut it down. That's not right."

Koczela shut down any further debate on the subject before Rosenthal could rebut.

"We're not here to debate whether or not you will be re-appointed or not," Koczela said. "We've gotten information from you, the board will take that into account. We're going to do that for all the applicants and make our decision that way."

Koczela encouraged more people to apply for positions on the ZBA but asked for truly neutral applicants, adding "If people have agendas, don't bring them. It only makes things harder." He said anyone interested in joining the ZBA should contact Sue McGrath at town hall to get put on the Selectmen's agenda or could contact any of the Selectmen.

After the meeting, Rosenthal spoke out against the comments Malloy and Bettis made.

"There were some pretty consorted attacks on my character and my personality," he said. "I was accused of being a propagandist against the Minuteman project. My feelings are that if you are conscious, if you're awake and aware, you can't help but have learned some very significant things about the nature of industrial wind power.

"We held a public hearing and took many testimonies from residents who would stand to be very seriously and negatively impacted by the proximity of these things, and what I really don't understand is the failure of the ZBA to give due diligence to those statements and what this would mean on their lives."

Rosenthal used the example of years ago a resident wanting to build a motocross track in town that was stopped before it even reached the ZBA because abutters complained to the Selectmen. He said the same should have applied to this project.

Koczela said the board should have a decision on the ZBA appointments by their next meeting on June 16.