LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Town Meeting passes budget, freezes windmills 

Credit:  By Conor Powers-Smith, Falmouth Patch, falmouth.patch.com 5 April 2011 ~~

At the Annual Town Meeting on Monday night, members passed the 2012 budget as written, instigated a moratorium on new windmills, and voted down the refurbishing of the Surf Drive Bathhouse.

At the first session of the Annual Town Meeting on Monday night, representatives discussed, debated, and voted on several key articles, including the budget for the 2012 fiscal year. Clearly central to many members’ thinking were the ongoing financial difficulties Falmouth faces.

After much discussion, members voted to accept the nearly $109 million budget as written. Though some expressed concern with the cuts to many town departments and services, and several members proposed amendments that would have shifted the distribution of available funds, the budget was eventually passed by an overwhelming majority.

Acting Town Manager Heather Harper called her attitude toward Falmouth’s financial position “positive and pragmatic,” and said that the budget represented a series of “strategic choices.”

Also indicative of the that cost-cutting approach was the unanimous passage of Article 6, which will fix the salaries of elected town officials at their current levels.

Article 15, which covers several one-time capital improvement projects, provoked further questions from Town Meeting members, particularly the recommendation by the Board of Selectmen that the plan include an additional $70,000 for preliminary designs of the proposed refurbishing of the Ellen T. Mitchell Bathhouse at Surf Drive Beach.

The Finance Committee recommended that the bathhouse plan be sidelined for the time being. After hearing presentations from both bodies, the Town Meeting members agreed, voting to leave the amendment out of the proposal.

Beach Superintendent Donald Hoffer, who originally proposed the renovations—estimated to cost around half a million dollars—said “the building is in tough shape,” and expressed concern that summer visitors to Falmouth, disappointed with the facility, could choose to vacation elsewhere on the Cape.

Town Meeting also voted to put a one-year freeze on the permitting of new windmills in Falmouth, due to health concerns—and pending litigation—stemming from the Wind 1 turbine at the Wastewater Treatment Facility. The moratorium will give the Cape Cod Commission and state lawmakers time to complete new sets of regulations currently in the works.

After nearly four hours of discussion and debate, the meeting was adjourned. The Annual Town Meeting will reconvene to discuss and vote on the remaining articles under consideration following the Special Town Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday night.

Among the major questions still to be discussed are Article 17, which addresses the town’s plans for dealing with high nitrogen in local waters, and Article 20, which was postponed until the resolution of Article 6 of the Special Town Meeting. Article 20 would set aside $77,000 for the design of a temporary disinfection plan for Long Pond, a major source of the town’s drinking water. Article 6 of the Special Meeting would devote $800,000 to the same issue, for the design of a new filtration plant, a more costly but longer lasting solution to the water pollution problems facing the town.

Source:  By Conor Powers-Smith, Falmouth Patch, falmouth.patch.com 5 April 2011

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

Wind Watch relies entirely
on User Funding
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon