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Turbine Battle Will Head for Town Meeting

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
4/1/10
Selectmen are hoping a new article proposed for Town Meeting can steer the town clear of a lengthy and expensive legal battle that could delay Milton’s plans to put up a 400-foot wind turbine.

The article, voted by the board last week for inclusion on the May 3 Annual Town Meeting warrant, would authorize the town to reacquire primary-access rights to a portion of the land currently leased to the Granite Links Golf Club developers.

The town would acquire rights to the land through eminent domain, a constitutional tool governmental bodies often use to take land when legitimate public use is sought.

The land in question contains an access road officials say they need to transport heavy equipment to the turbine site. Although the location is on town-owned land outside of the Granite Links lease line, part of the access road falls within the leased land.

“This has been an item of agitation between both parties,” said Selectmen Chair John Shields.

Shields said he couldn’t remember the town ever pursuing eminent domain to acquire land before.

“We do not take an eminent-domain taking lightly,” he said. “We feel we have no alternatives.”

Golf club officials, who have expressed strong opposition to the turbine project due to their feeling that it will negatively impact their business, said two weeks ago they may pursue legal action to protect what they feel is a violation of their rights under the lease agreement.

After consulting with legal counsel, Selectmen at their March 24 meeting introduced a plan they said will “clarify” the right-of-access issue so that the turbine project can move forward on schedule.

According to Shields, as much as 40 tons of equipment – including two cranes – will have to be hauled to the turbine site in order to build the structure on a portion of the old town landfill. He said the access road on the leased land is the only way to get there.

“We’ve talked about several options. We’ve even talked about having helicopters bring them in. Building another road is virtually impossible,” he said.

Selectman Kathy Fagan stressed that if Town Meeting approves the article, the town would not seek to restrict any access the golf course currently enjoys.

“They’re not losing anything,” she said.

Town Administrator Kevin Mearn added that the access road is rarely used by the golf course.

“It’s not going to impact the golf course at all” if the town reacquires rights to the land, he said.

As for the construction itself, Mearn said the plan is to build the wind turbine during the winter months, meaning it would not affect the golfing season.

According to Town Planner Bill Clark, the town has a permit with the state that limits construction to an “October to April” window.

In addition, Clark said the access road to the site – which contains steep drops and sharp curves – may need to be widened a bit to allow large construction trucks to pass.

Other Articles

Selectmen also voted to include two additional new articles on the Annual Town Meeting warrant. One would pay the salary of a new facilities director and the other would establish a set-aside fund for future Chapter 13 non-union worker raises.

An article already on the warrant proposes establishing a consolidation of town and school building maintenance functions. However, because the finances of the plan had yet to be worked out, that article did not contain any funding request.

The new article seeks a $138,000 appropriation to fund a facilities director and an economic feasibility study.

Warrant Committee Chair Tom Hurley said the study would cost $40,000 and explore the projected long-term financial viability of the consolidation. He said a facilities director would need to be found so that a job description and other details can be negotiated.

He said the other employees making up the new department would likely be current town employees.

“They want to hit the ground running with this in [fiscal year] 2012,” he said of a committee that has been studying the consolidated-maintenance model. “In order to do that, they need funding.”

The money comes from the fact that the Blue Hills Regional Technical School came in with an FY 11 budget proposal $62,000 less than they currently have and $75,000 less than the Warrant Committee had projected their budget to grow, Hurley said.

Another article would set aside $77,000 for Chapter 13 employee raises negotiated during FY 11.