Dixfield selectmen to decide on wind power moratorium

DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen will decide tonight whether to extend the moratorium on wind power projects for another 180 days.

The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the basement of Ludden Memorial Library.

It would be the fifth moratorium extension in four years.

The moratorium extension would give voters more time to act on the latest amended wind ordinance, which will ask townspeople in November if they want to rescind the 2012 wind ordinance and adopt the state's governance of wind turbines.

Townspeople in June voted 178-220 against approving the most recent version of the ordinance, which included the state standard for sound limits of 42 decibels at night and 55 decibels during the day.

The ordinance was written after Patriot Renewables of Quincy, Mass., approached town officials in October 2010 about constructing wind turbines on Colonel Holman Mountain ridge. It passed in November 2012, but its zoning restrictions were unenforceable.

In November 2014, an amended version was rejected. In June 2015, the Planning Board's original draft was also rejected.

Other items on the agenda:

* Setting the tax rate for the 2017 fiscal year;

* Reviewing the town's Consumer Fireworks Ordinance;

* Appointing Planning Board and Appeals Board members;

* Authorizing the town manager to sign all excavator lease/purchase agreement documents.