Falmouth Board of Selectmen Wind Turbine Statement

Falmouth Board of Selectmen Wind Turbine Statement

July 11, 2017

With respect to alternative energy, this Board is very proud of the fact that Falmouth has been and will continue to be a pioneer and a leader. The Town includes green considerations in all of its building projects. The EDIC solar farm is operational and producing clean energy but it can never generate the amount of electricity that Falmouth’s wind turbines were capable of producing. As a Board, despite all of our personal differences and philosophies, we feel we have done all we can do to honor the Town Meeting and ballot votes of 2013 as well as the 2015 nonbinding vote for the Town to continue to operate the two turbines, Wind 1 and Wind 2.

In the Funfar case, the judgment affirmed the Zoning Board of Appeals’ finding that Wind 1 and Wind 2 constitute a nuisance. Two other recent wind turbine cases were recently decided in the Town’s favor. In a Land Court case, the judge found plaintiffs complained about Wind 2 too late and in the Anderson nuisance case, in circumstances similar to the Funfar case, a jury found in favor of the Town. Notwithstanding these two judgments in the Town’s favor, Judge Moriarty's order against the Town stands on its own

The Town could continue to litigate all of the pending cases that seek a shutdown of the turbines and to appeal the current order of Judge Moriarty with the hope that if the Town won the appeal and it was sent back to Judge Moriarty, he would find a different outcome. This option leaves the Town right where we have been for the last seven years ‐ with uncertainty and mounting legal expenses. Alternatively, we know there would be substantial costs associated with taking down the turbines in addition to the loss of electricity generated by both Wind 1 and Wind 2 as well as the looming debt associated with not running the turbines.
These are real numbers and those liabilities have real impacts on our community services and resources. Each member of the Board has weighed these considerations heavily throughout our tenure.

This litigation has divided this community for a long time and diverted many resources from other worthy and necessary causes. It is time to put this matter behind us and move forward. When weighed with the challenging legal standard of appellate review of Judge Moriarty’s decision in the Funfar case, the Board found it in the best interest of the Town to consider the alternative of not appealing Judge Moriarty's decision and instead focus on how the town best moves forward from what has been a divisive and expensive ordeal for the Town.

This Board is committed to clean energy because we recognize that climate change is real and poses significant threats to our town. We recommit ourselves to moving forward in order to limit the carbon footprint of our community and to focus on sustainability, both economic and environmental.

With great respect for the prior Boards that took the important step of supporting the Wind 1 and 2 initiatives, this Board has voted not to appeal Judge Moriarty’s decision.

Susan Moran Chairman
Falmouth Board of Selectmen

State of the Town: Falmouth Wind Turbine Update February, 2018