NEWBURYPORT — The city touted as one of the greenest municipalities north of Boston will soon boast its very first wind turbine. The Zoning Board of Appeals this week granted Mark Richey Woodworking a special permit to build a 600-kilowatt turbine on his Parker Street Industrial Park property.
Passage of Richey's turbine proposal represents the first permit of its kind to be granted by the ZBA under the City Council's newly adopted ordinance governing wind turbines, and garnered mostly support from those attending Tuesday night's second public hearing on the matter.
"I thought it met all the criteria under the ordinance the council had passed," said ZBA Chairman Ed Ramsdell in explaining his favorable vote. "I thought (Richey's team) was extremely responsive in answering questions that came up at the previous meetings. If it meets the test, you vote yes."
According to Ramsdell, Richey's attorney, Lisa Mead, along with Project Manager Jonathan Markey of Meridian Associates did a thorough job of answering the public's questions. For instance, in an attempt to alleviate concerns raised regarding a turbine's noise level, the group recorded the noise output of similar turbines erected across Massachusetts and presented it to those in attendance.
"I think the public in general was most concerned about noise," said Ramsdell. "They came back last night with recordings they'd made at other sites, and video images they'd made at other sites."
From the recordings presented by the Richey group — readings authenticated by a city-hired engineer, according to Ramsdell — the noises coming from the turbine were negligible. Ramsdell likened it to a mild and rhythmic "whoosh," easily muted by ambient noise such as birds chirping or a blustery wind.
Ramsdell added he'd done a bit of hands-on "noise" research while on vacation this summer in Denmark ¬— a country known for its numerous wind turbines.
"I went out and stood under a bunch of them, and you can't hear them," said Ramsdell. "You could hear just what (Markey) was describing last night. It was a good representation of the noise question."
Other issues raised by concerned residents included the hazard of falling ice, visual distraction to drivers and pedestrians, potential radio frequency interference and thÃüe potential hazard to passing birds. Some were concerned about the phenomenon known as "flicker," which results in a flickering shadow being cast in certain weather conditions.
"The wind has to be blowing in the right direction so the head of the turbine is aimed into the sun, and the sun is casting a shadow," said Ramsdell. "If there are any clouds you don't get it."
Over the concerns of those residents, the board ultimately voted 4-1 in favor of the project, with ZBA member Lela Wright dissenting from the majority, saying she felt the decision was rushed to allow Richey to take advantage of tax incentives scheduled to expire in December.
It was the feeling of ZBA member Robert Ciampitti that given the voluminous presentation given by the applicants, no new information would come from putting off the vote for another day.
"The option to wait did not appear to be accompanied by any likelihood of obtaining any new information," said Ciampitti. "I think we all play a role in moving our society away from a dependence on foreign oil. The debate is not just a national one, but begins at home, in this case Newburyport. At some point the convenient and polite dialogue over green energy has to give way to action."
Ciampitti commended Richey for being the first in the city to take that action, adding that under the guidelines set by City Council, Richey's project met the criteria and was entitled to the special permit.
The next stage, according to Markey, is to send the project off to the building inspector to obtain a regular building permit. Markey said the group then plans to start construction sometime in September and be hooked up to the grid by the end of the year. At that point, Richey Chief Operating Officer Greg Porfido said the turbine will begin paying 75 percent of the company's electric bill.
"It produces enough electricity to provide power to 150 homes," boasted Porfido, who cites the savings as a way to stay competitive in today's economy. "While we want to be green, the motivation is to be really competitive."
He said the $1.6 million project, funded in part by a $474,340 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, won't initially pay dividends — not until the energy savings outweighs the total cost of the project. At that point the savings will go directly to the company's bottom line. In the meantime, Perfido said he and Richey are very happy to have gotten the city's green light.
"We've been working on this project for over two years now," said Perfido. "So we're just thrilled to death to have gotten over this hurdle. We're thrilled."
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