Falmouth Massachusetts Select Board Won't Appeal Legal Decision -It's Over

By Adam Lucente

Posted at 9:20 PMUpdated at 9:20 P
 
Falmouth won’t appeal order to shut down wind turbines

 Selectmen say continued legal battle would divide town.

FALMOUTH — The Falmouth Board of Selectmen voted Monday night not to appeal a judge’s decision ordering the shutdown of the town’s two massive wind turbines.
“It’s time to put the matter behind us and move forward,” board Chairwoman Susan Moran said.
The decision not to appeal could put the town on the hook for payment of loans and grants from the state as well as dismantling costs. A past estimate put the cost at $14 million.
But appealing the judge’s decision would result in more legal expenses and uncertainty for the town, Moran said. “The litigation has divided the community and diverted resources,” she said.
Wind 1 and Wind 2, constructed at the local wastewater treatment plant, drew complaints from the neighborhood and resulted in several lawsuits soon after their blades began to spin in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
The town has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for outside attorneys to handle much of the legal work related to the challenges; it also has lost revenue that was to come from the sale of electricity from the turbines.
In June, Barnstable Superior Court Judge Cornelius Moriarty upheld the decision by the Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals to close Wind 2 and ruled that both turbines were a nuisance and ordered them shut down. Wind 1 had been shut down since a cease-and-desist order from the zoning board in September 2015. The zoning board had previously ruled Wind 2 a nuisance, but the selectmen appealed that decision in court.
Moran announced the decision to a crowd of more than 25 people after the board met behind closed doors before the start of its regular public meeting.
She noted that the selectmen considered the cost to take down the turbines as well as the effects on electricity, services and other resources but voted to move forward. The town began steps to take down the turbines immediately after Moriarty’s ruling, she said.
“The board remains committed to clean energy,” she said.
The board declined to hear public comment on the decision, saying it was not part of the agenda.
Moriarty’s ruling contradicted the decision by a Barnstable Superior Court jury in April that sided with the town, saying there was no nuisance at a Wind 1 neighbor’s property.
Several other lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
— Staff writer Christine Legere contributed to this report. Follow Adam Lucente on Twitter: @adamlcct.

Views: 92

Comment

You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!

Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

Comment by Barry @ SaveOurSeaShore on July 11, 2017 at 11:50am

the town administrators should be held personally liable for this debacle! 

U.S. Sen Angus King

THE UNTOLD STORY OF RECORD HILL WIND

The Untold Story of Record Hill Wind, continued

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

© 2024   Created by Webmaster.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Sign in to chat!