Wind Turbine By-Law delayed again
Last month when the Planning Board met, public comment was sought in the "residentail" part of the wind turbine zonning by-law. The latest revsion of the By-Law, Rev 10, had been updated with a higher allowed roof height and more regulations that would have effected large, utlity grade turbines, something this Town will never see.
When the meeting started, the Chairwomen wondered out loud if two sepertae zonning by-laws would be better than one, one residential, one commercial. It was also brought up that the issue of crafting a by-law was "very difficult and that the board should hire a consultant.
When public comment, all be it 10 minutes, was allowed, one of this Towns most ardent detractors once again, rambled on about how bad wind turbines are and how bad it would be for the town to allow them here. The highlight of the night came when the second zealot stood before the board and spun his coat in a circle, asking, "do you want to see this"? The last speaker was another in the "Dirty Dozen" who appose anything and everything. She was even more outrageous in claiming autism would somehow be related to wind turbines.
Having great respect for the Planning Board and the job they do, I'm dismayed over their reasoning for delaying action and even more dismayed that a group of otherwise intelligent people, who deal with technical issues every week, couldn't follow through will a by-law. Adding insult to injury, they will ask tax payers to pay for a consultant.
It's even more amazing to me, how an entire board can give any credence to a select few in this Town, (appointed by selectman) that have no knowledge of what they talk about, spread fear amongst the less informed, use mis-formation, lies and outright propaganda to make their point.
I'm very disappointed that the PB didn't see through the smoke and put down the fires that have scorched attempts at allowing this Town to move into the 21st century.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 8:17 AM
18 Comments
18 Comments:
hey Jim I read the article in this mornings paper. Safe to assume you are one of the Hecklers it refers to?
I keep hearing about this wind turbine by-law issue, and I have tuned in to the meetings when it was on the agenda. Seems to me not a lot of people in town really care about this issue. Whenever there is public comment, it is the same 3 people who show up and comment. No one else has anything to say. So why is it so tough to write a by-law? Not like the whole town is pressuring them or voicing all sorts of opinions on it. No one cares! Just write a by-law to keep my neighbor from errecting some commercial turbine in my back yard and be done with it!
Town politics at his best. Two years arguing about this and by their own admission they are no further along then they were two years ago. What a waste of time this whole things has been.
Hecklers.... I was ready to call 911 and ask for an ambulance to be on stand by. The coat waving zealot was not only delirious, but perhaps mentally ill. You bet I heckled that weirdo and he's very lucky I'm not his neighbor. If anyone has the chance to see this meeting on cable.. please do so.
They, (the Dirty Dozen) have the same rights as we do, what they don't have the right to do, is hi-jack this process with made up stories of the health effects of wind turbines. The connection to autism was over the top.
I'm just so surprised that Carol and the board, paid any attention to the mis information and delayed this by-law from happening now.
Wind is not going to power Framingham. Lets move on.
Seems that this topic is just a place for all kinds to misinformation to be put in the public forum. Spinning a jacket to duplicate the effect of a wind turbine? And people thought this was a good thing? Framingham is either full of idiots, or the people with some semblance of intelligence don’t realize that the idiots are taking over the town. Better start paying attention people. If you let someone say that wind turbines lead to autism with not one single shread of proof to back that statement up, and if you let someone who swings his coat around in the air at a public meeting make political decisions, then you are putting control of the largest town in the country in the hands of people who are liars, and nuts. Is that really what you want?
As the parent of an autistic child there is nothing that gets my motor running as much as the uninformed, uneducated, unethical people who use this disease to their advantage. They should be drawn and quartered in the public forum they use to spew their lies and threats. But even more than the people who do that, the town government people who allow this to take place should be absolutely ashamed of themselves. If they want to know about the possible causes of autism, have them speak to me, or to an expert on the subject. For them to allow some self-serving idiot to make false statements about the causes of this terrible disease on the public record unchallenged is shameful, and wrong. They owe those living with this disease an apology.
This is a complete waste of time. Why are they making such a big deal out of this? Seems like they are trying to make themselves out to be experts on wind. Not what we need them to do. We just need a by-law to set some basic guidelines for what you can and can not do in the town and that is it. Why are they making this into some big, complicated, involved project that requires spending money for a consultant? Seems they are trying to make themselves way more important then they are.
I can’t wait for this to come before town meeting for approval to spend money on a consultant to write this by law. It will have to come before town meeting before they can spend this money, right? We are cutting budgets and services across the entire town and these bozos think they are going to get approval to spend money on a consultant to do their job for them? Clearly the people on this board are completely out of touch with reality. They need a wake up call.
All of this came about because Staples said they wanted to put a wind turbine up. Since they are no longer doing that we are we even spending time arguing this point? What is the likelihood anyone else in town will actually put one of these things on their property?
There idea about a consultant is just a way for them to hire someone who will lean toward their point of view, whatever that point of view may be. Given what I have seen happen every single time this wind turbine stuff comes up for discussion I would say hiring a consultant will just be another topic that they will spend hours on, trying to decide which consultant is the best choice. Not time well spent in my opinion, and in a budget cycle where we are cutting so many things not money well spent I would think in anyone’s opinion.
JJ.. I have 4 micro units on my house now performing experiments. Are they like the Staples unit... NO. Will homeowners install that size unit on their homes or in their yards? NO. There's just not enough big wind to make it financially feasible. Will homeowners install smaller units that charge batteries for their electric cars, phones, lap tops, flashlights, camera's? yes they will if they prove to be cost effective. Will homeowners have free electricity forever? NO, but after a unit is paid for, the cost of producing said electricity will be less than what we pay now and for as long as the unit runs, some electricity will be made, any time the wind blows over 8 miles an hour.
The point is that not all wind turbines are the same. The micro wind units can be as small as 6 inches across and weigh less than a few pounds.
With the 4k rebate now offered by the government, I feel very sure, someone in this town of 66k would like to install a unit on their property and as far as I'm concerned, there is NO legal way for the Town to stop anyone. But most residents wish to abide by whatever laws there are, and very few are willing to take a stand on behalf of their own rights.
NMP.. I'm not sure they need any approval from TM to hire a consultant. Perhaps a TMM would like to address that question?
Just to set the record straight, it was already decided by the PB, before the meeting, to delay the By-law discussion and the only allowed comments were to address whether the PB had more pressing matters at hand and whether the PB should hire a consultant. I agreed the PB has more pressing matters but did not agree on hiring a consultant.
Hire a consultant? And exactly where does the money come from to do that? Have they hired consultants to write other by-laws for the town of Framingham? Where is the precedence for this? Personally I think if they say they are not knowledgeable enough to write the by-law then they should not be on the planning board. Isn’t that what the planning board is supposed to do?
Are we talking about those huge things like in Hull or for Cape Wind? I don’t want those in my neighbors yard so would want a by law to prevent that. But if we are talking only about those little things Pillsbury mentions, I don’t see what all the fuss is about.
AUTISM IS NOT CAUSED BY WIND TURBINES. No that you mention it, I heard it was a direct result of the stupidity meter reading in an area. Better watch out if you live in Framingham.
I got to tell you that I think spending money on a consultant is ridiculous. Other towns seem to be able to craft a by law without so much work. Why can’t Framingham do the same thing?
No wind turbines in Framingham is the only way to go. We are too densely populated for people to put these up in their back yards. And there is no wind in town anyway, so why bother.
Anon... from where did you get the information about no wind in Framingham?
Would a cloths line, antenna, solar panel or flag pole be ok in a densely populated area?
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