Falmouth Mocks Courts & Wind Turbine Special Permit Process

Falmouth Massachusetts 8 PM Sept 10, 2015 

Falmouth Mocks Courts & Wind Turbine Special Permit Process

Massachusetts- Justice Delayed is Justice Denied- Cease and Desist Order By Courts Needed Immediately

The Falmouth ZBA postponed the permit hearing tonight for Falmouth Wind 1 for 2 months and there is no reason for them not to do it again.

The Town of Falmouth as in the past does not get financial relief from the Mass Clean Energy Center for renewable energy credits, loans, grants etc. unless the court make the decisions.

The only incentive for Falmouth is legal action. There is NO incentive for the town to obtain a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals. At the current pace it will be forever.

Judge Robert Rufo also declined to issue a time frame or limit on how long the Town of Falmouth has to obtain the special permit. The town will continue to obfuscate until the court takes legal action

Most court rulings impose limits at most stages of proceedings. Why didn’t the judge insist on a time frame unless he plans now to issue a cease and desist order

The judge did say when asked about ordering a cease and desist order : “It doesn’t mean I won’t,” he said. “I will if I think I should at any point in time.” Now is the time !

The courts should have insisted on a timeframe. Justice delayed is justice denied.

In early June 2015 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied Falmouth’s petition for further appellate review of the town’s ongoing legal dispute with wind turbine victims over the torturous loud wind turbines. The state Court of Appeals ruled the town needed approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals before installing Wind 1.

The court also found in favor of the town on a cease and desist order. The Appeals Court stopped short of ordering the town to shut down Wind 1 until a special permit is issued.

The Appeals Court stopped short of ordering the town to shut down Wind 1 until a special permit is issued. The Town of Falmouth tonight postponed the Special Permit meeting until 7 weeks from now on October 29, 2015.

There is no reason to think it won’t be postponed again on October 29, 2015

The Town of Falmouth is now in the process of obtaining a special permit stalling dates, canceling meetings in what looks like a permit process that could last tens of years while wind turbine victims suffer from a noise described as torture. The courts should have insisted on a timeframe. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Recently it has come to light the town over a period of time has hidden noise warning letters from the manufacturer of the turbines, Vestas wind company, prior to the installations. The town failed to post an April 2005 site screening study showing the town needed a special permit for the turbine that went into operation in 2010. An April 2013 memo from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center that they admit acoustical noise mistakes in the original noise tests.

The MassCEC hired the Consensus Building Institute (CBI) for almost $400,000.00 of taxpayer funds.The purpose was the Falmouth Wind Turbine Option Analysis Process (WTOP) to engage in an open, transparent negotiations with the wind turbine victims. The town “lost” the smoking gun September 12, 2012 video about the six million dollars in ARRA stimulus funds used to build Falmouth Wind Two .The entire process was a “Dog and Pony” show and misuse of taxpayer funds. The town withheld negative information from the process.

Not only had the MassCEC known the turbines were almost twice as loud they then took calculations from a wind study and then extrapolated the figures to be under the 10 decibel state noise guidelines. They estimated the turbines would not break state noise laws

In 2012 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection notified the Town of Falmouth the turbine was breaking the 10 decibel state noise guidelines. Local residents have filed certified written noise complaints for the past five years.

The Falmouth Zoning Board of Appeals is the town agency that could issue the new special permit under the old noise laws. The board members could not vote for a special permit with the vast amount of information that shows the town was aware of the noise prior to, during and today that the turbines should never have been built.

The Town of Falmouth has put itself between a rock and a hard place. They are acutely aware the Zoning Board of Appeals can not legally issue a new special permit in light of all the negative documents and information that has come to light. Public testimony is also expected at ZBA hearing. The special permit hearing process could set precedence in many other communities with poorly placed wind turbines in Massachusetts.

The Town of Falmouth is indebted to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center for a one million dollar bribe paid to the town in the form of renewable energy credits to buy the turbine and recently 1.8 million to help pay the town litigation fees. The only way out for the Town of Falmouth is to have the courts rule against the town shutting down the turbines. Legal action by the courts gets the town off the hook with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

The Zoning Board of Appeals interprets and enforces the Town’s Zoning By-Laws. On a case by case basis.

The town has systematically failed to protect the wind turbines victims over the last five years. It has always been money before health.

The wind victims again look to the courts for protection. Justice delayed is justice denied

The cease and desist order needs to be issued by the courts immediately