The town is preparing on several fronts to face the question of whether wind power will come to Ashfield.
At last night’s meeting, the Select Board reviewed their approval of the use of Town Hall for this evening’s informational meeting. Board Chair Dave DeHerdt said that, since the board voted to approve the meeting, they have discovered that Clear Sky LLC, the company hosting the meeting, has asked Town Moderator Buz Eisenberg to moderate it.
DeHerdt proposed that they amend the approval so as to require Eisenberg to announce twice, once at the beginning of the meeting and again after the meeting is underway, that he is not acting in his official capacity as Town Moderator. He is also to disclose his interests, in his private capacity as an attorney, with any of the parties involved in wind turbine sitings in town.
The board also received notice of a Planning Board hearing for a temporary, 50-meter-tall meteorological tower to be erected 3000 feet east of 1837 Cape Street. DeHerdt explained that this tower would be erected by ECHO for Sustainable Development, a nonprofit sustainable energy group. It would measure the strength and steadiness of wind at the site over the next 15 months. He also said that these measurements are a precursor to possible wind turbine siting. The hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. on July 1, 2010, at Town Hall.
The board also approved a request for the use of Town Hall by Harry Dodson, of the Ashfield Wind Study Group, for an informational meeting. The speaker at the meeting will be Eleanor Tillinghast, president of Green Berkshires, Inc. The board approved the request with the same restrictions that applied to the Clear Sky meeting and subject to approval by the Police and Fire Departments. The meeting is scheduled for July 8, from 7-10 p.m.
David King
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Just wanted to add some information on the meteorological tower on Cape St.
ReplyDeleteThe Leue family, with the help of David Mager and Eduardo Suarez of Echo for Sustainable Development, is exploring the potential wind resource on their land on Cape St (rt. 112 near Sears Rd. and the Goshen town line). Our family has been here on Cape St since 1909.
The site is located on the east side of Cape St, a little less than 3/4 of a mile from both Cape St. and West Road, at an elevation of a bit under 1700'.
Until we gather a years worth of wind information from the site, we have no specific proposal for the type of, or number of turbines to consider. The Leue family is hoping that a community scale project would be feasible on the site, and we are also hopeful that in several years time when all the relevant planning would completed, that quieter, more reliable and more environmentally friendly turbines will be available.
Mark Leue