Clarendon wants Douglas to stop ridgeline turbines
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By SANDI SWITZER HERALD CORRESPONDENT - Published: November 27, 2009
CLARENDON – Municipal officials want the governor to place a moratorium on locating wind towers atop ridgelines around the state until lawmakers address the issue in the next session.
The Clarendon Select Board voted on Monday to send a letter to Gov. James Douglas requesting a face-to-face meeting in order to present a formal request.
"We want the opportunity to meet with the governor and ask for a moratorium on the ridgelines until the Legislature takes up the siting criteria bill that (Rep.) Dave Potter and other legislators are pursuing," Select Board Chairman Michael Klopchin said.
Klopchin indicated the moratorium was needed to give state legislators the opportunity to develop criteria addressing health, safety and aesthetic issues with regard to the placement of wind turbines in the state.
A majority of the board agreed to the request after one member indicated the moratorium should not be site-specific.
"I'd want to see it statewide, not one particular project," Selectman Robert Bixby said.
The town has been battling a proposal by Vermont Community Wind Farm for an 80-megawatt industrial wind operation comprising about 40 turbines each measuring nearly 400 feet high on ridgelines in Clarendon, Ira and other towns.
VCWF has installed two temporary meteorological towers on Susie's Peak in Clarendon to collect weather data for the project.
While the majority of board members voted in favor of requesting a meeting with the governor to pursue a moratorium, one municipal official voted against it.
"We never put it to the voters, so we don't know how they feel," Selectman Robert Sebasky said prior to the board vote.
In a related matter, the board has directed the town's attorney to review state statutes regarding the creation of an airport zoning commission that would be responsible for local regulations addressing height restrictions and other issues related to airport hazards.
"It would create the zoning we want around the airport," Klopchin said.
The board chairman indicated his concern that the VCWF proposal could pose hazards for aircraft approaching and departing the Rutland Southern Vermont Regional Airport located off Route 103 in town.
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