Dixmont voters OK wind farm moratorium
2/4/09 | 2 comments

Dixmont voters OK wind farm moratorium


By Dawn Gagnon
BDN Staff

DIXMONT, Maine — A moratorium on industrial wind farms and a new comprehensive plan both passed by wide margins Wednesday night during a special town meeting at the Etna Dixmont School.

The 131 voters who turned out for the meeting voted 111-20 in favor of the 180-day moratorium, which aimed to give town officials time to study the pros and cons of such projects, First Selectman Brian Wilson said.

That information gathering already is under way, Wilson said, and likely will involve looking at how other communities have dealt with the issue, visits to existing wind farms and discussions with experts.

The moratorium was by far the most hotly debated issue, taking up all but 15 minutes of the two-hour meeting, Wilson said, crediting Moderator Charlie Gilbert with keeping the debate on topic.

Two and a half years in the making, the comprehensive plan passed by a vote of 96-5, Wilson said, adding that it was the first the town has voted to adopt.

“This plan is good,” he said, noting that it was the product of committee work, public meetings and outreach efforts, to name a few.

The moratorium was prompted by a Portland company’s efforts to find places to put up several large wind turbines on Dixmont’s Mount Harris.

The company, Competitive Energy Services, also is affiliated with the three-turbine Beaver Ridge Wind Project recently completed in Freedom.

Wilson said Wednesday that other companies might be looking at Mount Harris and other high spots, including Peaked Mountain and Hog Hill.

The language of the moratorium proposal states that existing land use laws in town are inadequate to prevent serious public harm from wind power development in Dixmont.

“Suitable sites and methods for wind power development need to be reviewed and identified,” the moratorium states. “Failure to carefully review and plan for wind power development will reduce options available to the town and may result in devaluation, blight, issues affecting public health and welfare, and environmental degradation.”

Several Maine towns have proposed moratoriums in an effort to slow down wind power projects. In most cases, moratorium supporters say the towns lack the legal mechanisms to ensure that the turbines, which often measure nearly 400 feet tall from base to blade tip, are sited properly.

Supporters of wind energy tout the technology as an abundant, local source of pollution-free energy. Maine is New England’s leading producer of wind energy.

Critics say noise, vibrations and light reflecting off the enormous spinning blades can disrupt sleep, affect neighbors’ enjoyment of their property and even be unhealthy for some individuals.

Voters in nearby Jackson recently approved a similar moratorium.

In a letter to Dixmont residents, Competitive Energy Services vows to work with residents.

“If the moratorium passes, we will work with your planning board to develop building ordinances that ensure that wind development is consistent with the interests of the town of Dixmont,” the letter states.

The full moratorium is available on the town’s Web site at www.townofdixmont.org.

Information about the Mount Harris project and other wind projects can be seen on Competitive Energy Services’ Web site at www.competitive-energy.com.

BDN writer Kevin Miller contributed to this report.

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2 comments on this item
On 2/5/09 at 11:52 AM, mountainman wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

It is ashame that the powers that be in LINCOLN did not listen to concerned citizen input , and decided instead of moratorium and review, to proceed down a path that is leading to protracted legal action, merely because of vested self interest, and denial of citizen rights and corporate manipulation. As the facts do come out in Lincoln, and elsewhere,(as they will) this ill-conceived scam of energy production will get the appropriate airing it deserves. Few benefits (except for Firstwind’s investor’s and some contractors and land owners in Lincoln), and little to nothing for the citizens of Maine. Ask about the potential loss of health to abutters,set backs from these massive turbines, Health affecting Noise generated by these massive machines, property value loss, and heritage view sacrificed. Ask any of these companies if they wish to return their Tax Benefits to the people of Maine in the amount that they should be, (or transport it to better paying markets.)! Ask if Grid even exists to transport it. Ask if the power produced is more than a mere pittance of unstored, intermittent power into our grid.Ask about how much we subsidize every watt produced. Ask if your rates will go down. Ask if DEP has really listened to the health and safety of Maine residents in the full manner it is mandated to do.Ask about Mars Hill folks living near these things.Ask about Expedited Process, about LD-199. Ask, Ask, Question, Question.

IT IS YOUR RIGHT. And do not take the Wind Industries Self Serving answers, testing, computer models, and statistics as gospel.They have never had appropriate independent review. They have one interest in mind that is most evident: Using Your TAX DOLLARS for their Investors Benefit from away. Ask Angus King and Mr. Gardiner if they have fully reveiwed and understood WTS (Wind Turbine Syndrome), and DbC. Read, Learn . KUDOS to DIXMONT! KUDOS to the overwhelming Common Sense and the Wise decision of the CITIZENS!

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On 2/6/09 at 12:44 PM, deanhornblower wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Congratulations to the good citizens of Dixmont, who join your neighbors in Jackson in putting the brakes on the relentless efforts of the wind industry to devastate the ridgelines with these sprawling industrial sites. The wind industry spins great propaganda and a moratorium will allow people the chance to assess the plethora of issues about wind. The more citizens know about it, the more they will come to the realization that these do not belong in the community. The wind industry would not exist except for massive tax subsidies and preferential treatment. This is not about creating "green" or "free" energy from the wind. It is about investors using unreliable, marginally producing wind turbines as a way to be piggies at the tax subsidy trough. The tax subsidy plantation that these thieves pass off benignly as wind "farms" threaten humans and wildlife with the noise, vibro-acoustic health effects, shadow flicker, disruption of well water from blasting away ridges, etc. Dixmont and Jackson, don't let it happen to you! And when you are accused of being a NIMBY, proudly say Yes! We are standing up for the health and well being of our families and the values associated with life in a peaceful, rural setting.

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