Shamrock LLC Moving Forward with Wind Generator Study in Fort Fairfield
By: David Deschesne
Fort Fairfield Journal, August 6, 2014
Shamrock LLC is now in the planning stages for a wind turbine power generating facility in Fort Fairfield.
The land being considered for generating sites is on the North side of the Aroostook River in the Center & West Limestone Road area.
“I have only seen a conceptual map, nothing definitive, that did not name/show land owners,” said Fort Fairfield Town Manager, Mike Bosse.
Some landowners have been reportedly contacted regarding leasing and/or waiver agreements but nothing definitive has been released yet.
“I have not seen a proposal, the only thing we have done is talked conceptual,” said Bosse. “It is my hope that we will see a business plan or proposal soon, I’m sure it will be after they have completed the necessary research on the project.”
The current plan is for between four to six turbines with a total of 10 megawatts in that area.
There is some concern about the proximity of the wind turbines to homes in that area. “The state and DEP have very strict guidelines for the proximity of turbines for sound and shadow flicker, they must follow those guidelines/rules.”
A group of concerned property owners from that area have formed together to share information and strategize on the best way to proceed with wind generation. The held their first meeting, called by Rick Shepherd, on Friday July 25 at the Community Bandstand, “It was an informational meeting at the town gazebo. It was called with a day's notice, and was as a result of a lady named Susan Jones, representing Shamrock LLC going door to door to homes along either side of Irish Ridge asking the residents to sign an easement to their property rights and state regulation,” Shepherd told the Fort Fairfield Journal. “There was also a confidentiality clause prohibiting the signers from discussing anything with anyone.”
Shepherd says this visit was the first anyone had heard about Shamrock LLC or a proposed wind project. “There was not a very welcoming response, as you can imagine. Thursday afternoon before the meeting a group of concerned citizens went door to door along Irish Ridge distributing a flyer inviting folks to the meeting at the gazebo. There were 40 + attendees at the meeting. Mike Bosse and Tony Levesque attended to answer any questions, but they had little additional information that they could offer, except that nothing regarding the project had been brought before the town council, and that they ( Mike and Tony ) had met with Susan Jones, but were not at liberty to discuss the details of those meetings as yet. They had not been contacted regarding the easement situation. It was agreed by the attendees to do some research and meet again in the near future. Mike offered to let us use the town council meeting room for our meetings in the future.”
The second meeting, on Thursday, July 31, was an organizational meeting, and was attended by 30 plus citizens. “The meeting was announced by placing notices at Hillside IGA, Bridgeside, and The County Federal Credit union bulletin boards. Surprisingly, due to the lack of publicity, we still had a very good turnout. Roughly half of the attendees were from Irish Ridge and about half from other parts of town,” said Shepherd, who was asked to chair the meeting. “Many of the participants had time to do some research, so the situation was further discussed. It was decided that our goal would be 'To have a fair and feasible project for both community and project owners.' We decided to petition the elected town officials to put a hold on proposal and planning process to erect 4-6 wind turbines 500-600 ft. tall on Irish Ridge until an ordinance is set in place to assure the setbacks are acceptable and will protect the Quality of Living for the people of Fort Fairfield.”
The first rough draft of the petition is currently being worked on. Shepherd says other issues include health, safety and economic issues and should be researched for consideration in the ordinance.
