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Ferdinand voters reject wind proposal

The Caledonian-Record|Amy Ash Nixon|January 14, 2014
VermontGeneral

By a count of 171 against to 107 in favor, the UTG voters rejected the industrial wind project developed by Eolian Renewable Energy of Portsmouth, N.H., which included cash payments for the residents if they became host to the wind project. From the beginning SMW/Eolian has promised they would abandon the wind development if a community rejected the official project proposal.


FERDINAND -- Ballot results counted Monday afternoon show a significant majority of property owners in the Unified Towns and Gores oppose the Seneca Mountain Wind project proposed in Ferdinand.

By a count of 171 against to 107 in favor, the UTG voters rejected the industrial wind project developed by Eolian Renewable Energy of Portsmouth, N.H., which included cash payments for the residents if they became host to the wind project.

Two members of the Unified Towns and Gores Board of Governors took part in the count, along with four other UTG employees and residents.

John Soininen, vice president of development from SMW/Eolian, and Valerie Desmarais, a Burke Hollow resident and a founding member of the opposition group Save Our Senecas, …

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FERDINAND -- Ballot results counted Monday afternoon show a significant majority of property owners in the Unified Towns and Gores oppose the Seneca Mountain Wind project proposed in Ferdinand.

By a count of 171 against to 107 in favor, the UTG voters rejected the industrial wind project developed by Eolian Renewable Energy of Portsmouth, N.H., which included cash payments for the residents if they became host to the wind project.

Two members of the Unified Towns and Gores Board of Governors took part in the count, along with four other UTG employees and residents.

John Soininen, vice president of development from SMW/Eolian, and Valerie Desmarais, a Burke Hollow resident and a founding member of the opposition group Save Our Senecas, observed the counting, which preceded a meeting of the full UTG Board where the issue was discussed.

From the beginning SMW/Eolian has promised they would abandon the wind development if a community rejected the official project proposal.

Pete Rodin, the town's zoning administrator and a longtime planning commission member who was against the proposal, stood in the entry to the UTG offices, and observed the ballot piles, noting at one point before the count was announced that, "It looks like the no's have it, but I'm not going to count my chickens before they're hatched."

In a statement issued shortly after the results were announced, SMW officials said, "Seneca Mountain Wind is disappointed by the results of the vote on our proposed wind energy facility in Ferdinand. Our team members have personally connected with most landowners in the UTG and it is very clear to us that there is strong support for the project. We would like to extend our thanks to our supporters for all of their efforts and for taking the time to cast their ballots. SMW will need to evaluate the results and consider our options moving forward. For now, we recognize that there are local concerns. In the end, we hope that there is a viable project that can achieve local support and bring the myriad benefits of wind energy to Ferdinand and the UTG."

The proposal was for 20 industrial scale turbines that would generate 60 megawatts of power in Ferdinand; which was scaled back from an initial 90 megawatt project in Ferdinand, Newark and Brighton.

The project has a Certificate of Public Good from the state Public Service Board to erect four temporary meteorological towers to test wind conditions, and so far has erected one in Ferdinand. One tower permitted for Newark and two for Brighton have not been raised.

The Brighton Ridge Protectors opposition group issued a statement thanking landowners who opposed the project and vowed to continue their fight against SMW. "The Brighton Ridge Protectors would like to extend our thanks to the Landowners and Voters of the UTG's that supported Brighton and Newark by voting NO to the SMW/Eolian proposal for an Industrial Wind project in Ferdinand. We also thank the Board Of Governors for completing what was a difficult task."

The Brighton Ridge Protectors statement continued, "Although SMW, the landowner and our Governor have repeatedly said a project will not be built if a town does not want it, statements from SMW/Eolian all point to this project moving forward regardless of the town's wishes."

At the meeting that followed the ballot count, Soininen was asked if the developer would respect the vote, and he said, "Yes, we are committed to abiding by a local vote." Soininen was also asked if the MET tower in Ferdinand would now come down and he said that he did not know.

The towns of Newark and Brighton rallied hard against the wind project and both towns wrote new town plans that opposed industrial wind.

There were representatives from Brighton Ridge Protectors, Newark Neighbors United and Seneca Mountain Wind at the meeting, and the issue of the wind project ballot was moved up to the first item of business on the agenda because of the packed room, most there for that issue. Both the groups opposing the wind project and the developer thanked the board for their work on the issue, acknowledging it had been a difficult process for officials.

Val Desmarais of the Save our Senecas group also released a statement thanking voters and vowing to keep up the opposition. "It is clear that the voters reject the destruction of fragile high elevation habitat. The UTG's join their neighbors in Brighton and Newark in opposing habitat fragmentation and green sprawl for the enrichment of a small group of investors. Given that the amount of electricity generated by wind turbines is modest, the benefits must be balanced against the environmental harms they cause. "


Source:http://caledonianrecord.com/m…

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