Falmouth Town Meeting Concludes

Photo by Virginia Irvine

On the fourth night, Falmouth town meeting approved the article to keep turbines Wind I and Wind II off-line until testing is completed and the project reviewed at the next town meeting. On Wednesday Kathryn Elder and Todd Drummy had presented explanations of the issues, according to Sean Teehan’s Cape Cod Times reporting, “Falmouth turbine debate to resume tonight.”

The passage of Article 23 was a relief to people whose health and livelihoods have been adversely impacted by the two turbines, located as close as 1300 feet of some homes.

Photo by Cape Cod Times/Steve Heaslip

Dozens of letters were sent to the Board of Selectmen from around the state and the world, urging them to support article 23.

The town meeting also passed Article 27,  an article that supports mitigation of abutter complaints but keeps the turbines running. As Teehan reported in “Falmouth turbine votes go both ways,”

They voted to shut the turbines off, then less than an hour later, they voted to leave them on.

…Both articles are nonbinding — which means that selectmen are not required to adhere by the decision — so the contradictory articles are both valid…

The dilemma in Falmouth comes at a time when the Brown County, WI Health Department has passed a resolution “requesting emergency state aid for families suffering around industrial wind turbines.”