Falmouth town meeting to vote on turbines

FALMOUTH - Town meeting members will now decide the fate of Falmouth's two town-owned wind turbines after selectmen voted to place three articles on April's special town meeting warrant.

"We're glad that the town is moving in that direction," said Todd Drummey, a turbine abutter and vocal opponent of the turbines. "Hopefully we'll be able to start working together to lessen the burden on the town as a whole."

The vote came late in the selectmen's meeting with little discussion among the four board members present. Vice Chairman Brent Putnam did not attend the meeting because of a death in his family.

The three articles collectively ask town meeting members to: appropriate money to cover debt obligations the town holds for construction and maintenance costs; fund the dismantling and disposal or relocation of the turbines; and supplement the fiscal 2013 and 2014 operating budget as necessary due to the turbines being curtailed or shut down.

Special town meeting will be held April 9 at the Lawrence School.

The vote marked the first selectmen-sponsored warrant article that would order the turbines torn down since the "Wind 1" turbine was erected at the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Blacksmith Shop Road in 2010 at a cost of $4.3 million. "Wind 2" began spinning there about a year ago.

Soon after Wind 1 started operating, abutters began complaining the turbine caused adverse health effects, including headaches, nausea and disturbed sleep.

Several nonbinding articles have made it to town meeting's warrant by petitioners with varying degrees of success, but this article is the first that town officials would be required to carry out if successful at town meeting.

In a presentation at a specially scheduled selectmen's meeting on Wednesday, Assistant Town Manager Heather Harper - who served as the turbine project's manager - told selectmen that taking down the turbines would cost up to $11.9 million.

It would cost up to $1.5 million in the first year when accounting for dismantling costs, annual energy costs and other considerations, Harper said last week.

Residents would pay an average of $53 to $66 in additional taxes that year.

In the years leading up to Wind 1's operation, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Clean Energy Center's predecessor, paid for a feasibility study and provided expert advice for design and siting, a spokeswoman for the center told the Times.

In 2007, the Technology Collaborative prepaid Falmouth for $1.9 million in renewable energy credits they expected the turbine to produce.

The center, which was established as part of Gov. Deval Patrick's 2008 Green Jobs Act, sold the Wind 1 turbine to Falmouth in 2009. The turbine had been in storage after Orleans' water commissioners rejected a plan to install it and another one in a watershed in their town.

Monday night's meeting lacked the fanfare often seen at meetings when the turbines were on the agenda.

About half the chairs in the selectmen's meeting room at town hall were empty as the board unanimously voted to put all three articles on the warrant within about 10 minutes.

After the vote, Drummey said turbine abutters have already started seeking help from state officials.

"All through this process, the neighbors have been in constant contact with state legislators," he said. "The conversation has already begun."