Town officials not ready to take a position on wind power projects

By Staff Report

GREENVILLE — During the public comment portion of the Dec. 2 selectmen’s meeting, the board was asked by resident Loren Ritchie when its members plan to come out in opposition to the proposed wind power projects in the region.

According to a draft of the meeting minutes, each member of the board spoke to the question and stated that they were not personally ready to take a position on these proposals, which have yet to be defined in the form of an application to the Maine DEP and LUPC.

Ritchie continued, noting that he feels this is a matter of leadership as the selectmen should take a strong and early position against these projects to have the greatest impact on the outcome.

Later in the meeting Selectman Josh Brown wondered what the board will do when more people come forward and ask the town officials to take a position on the proposed wind power projects. Brown’s question resulted in significant discussion and the general agreement was that despite what some citizens have expressed, the selectmen feel that there is more information to receive before taking a stand. The panel plan to investigate what other communities have done in this situation, as well as review the project proposals once these are created and submitted to the DEP and LUPC.