News

Town to draft rules for windmill use

Seabrook Town Notebook
Angeljean Chiaramida
Published: December 4, 2008

With energy costs still making residents nervous, many in Seabrook have already approached the building department asking about adding wind turbines to their residential or businesses properties, according to Seabrook Code Enforcement officer Paul Garand.

The idea hasn't escaped state legislators either, for last session the Legislature passed a bill allowing municipalities to regulate small wind energy systems, as more and more people in the state move to become less dependent on oil.

Encouraging a greener footprint and using fewer fossil fuels is a valuable goal, said Seabrook Planning Board and Conservation Commission Chairwoman Susan Foote, but protecting wildlife is also important.

"The typical propeller-type wind turbine you see on top of tall poles are second only to glass skyscrapers in killing migratory songbirds and water fowl," Foote said. "The number of birds killed is huge. I think the estimate is they kill 10,000 to 20,000 birds every year."

Seabrook is blessed with many species of migratory songbirds and water fowl, she said, but that doesn't mean the town can't protect its airborne wildlife while also greening up with wind turbines.

It's possible to do both, Foote said, because there are numerous wind energy generators that aren't a hazard to birds and fowl. Many safer varieties are even less expensive to build and run, quieter and more productive in generating energy, she said.

In the coming weeks, the Planning Board will be preparing new regulations as to what, how and where property owners can build windmills.

One important aspect of any windmill regulations, according to Selectman Bob Moore, is noise-related. Wind turbines can create a whine loud enough to drive neighbors crazy, he said at the recent Planning Board meeting.

The Planning Board charged Town Planner Tom Morgan with drafting rules for windmills for their review in an upcoming meeting.

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The Conservation Commission began working to restore the town's valuable Cain's Brook Watershed in 1996, when its former chairman, the late Charles Henry Felch, put it on the agenda. It's taken more than a decade of work, many state and federal grants, but the efforts of Felch and his successor Susan Foote are proving valuable.

Cain's Brook Watershed is a large freshwater source that begins on the west side of Seabrook and includes Cain's Brook and a series of five ponds running out to the salt marsh and the sea.

With the dredging of Cain's Pond about to begin, conservation easements are in place to ensure the town can maintain the watershed, an important part of any restoration plan.

Nearly ready for acceptance are easements from Dr. John Maloney, whose dental office abuts Cain's Pond on Route 1, across from Home Depot.

An easement was accepted from Stanley Hamel, on whose property is Mill Pond and an important and historical dam in need of repair on the other side of Route 1. Known by various names, the dam was breached by floodwaters during the Patriots Day storm. Hamel gave a conservation, repair and maintenance easement to the town to ensure the dam is tended to in the future.

Foote's hoping more grant money will be available to pay for the repair of the dam and the restoration of Mill's Pond as well.

Money to dredge and clean up Cain's Pond and the watershed comes from grants and the town's Conservation Fund that collects money from developers as mitigation when wetlands are disturbed by new projects. For example, money for the Cain's Pond cleanup came in part from money Lowe's paid into the Conservation Fund.

No taxpayer money has been spent on the cleanup, Foote said, and the hope is Cain's Pond will be restored to its former glory and be able to sustain trout and pickerel soon for fishing enthusiasts.

"There's no amount of money we can pay you for the years of work you've given to this project," Moore told Foote recently.

"Let's put it this way," Foote said, joking. "I'm going to be one of the first people with a fishing line there."

"I'll bait your hook," added Seabrook Concerned Taxpayers President Owen Latham.

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Angeljean Chiaramida covers Seabrook for The Daily News and can be reached at 978-462-6666 ext. 3271 or at achiaramida@newburyportnews.com.