Contrary to what was reported in last week’s Press about a bylaw for wind energy systems not being included in this year’s Annual Town Meeting Warrant, Planning Board Co-chairman Mary Essary said the potential bylaw is not off the table yet.
Essary acknowledged that, at the last Planning Board meeting, the board discussed the copious amount of information provided by the board-appointed Wind Energy Conversion Systems Task Force, noting that the timetable for completing an analysis of the need for a wind bylaw was “ambitious.” However, she said, no vote was taken on tabling the subject.
Essary said that evaluating the need for a wind bylaw in Harvard is complicated. Most towns that have such bylaws, she said, are in regions with high elevation or are near the coast, where the abundance and strength of the wind makes it a reliable resource. Harvard is neither coastal nor mountainous, though wind has been clocked at high speeds at some locations in town. With the emphasis Harvard places on viewshed, as illustrated by the town’s cell tower requirements, defining a need for and crafting a bylaw allowing wind turbines could be tricky business.
At a public forum held in December by the Wind Energy Systems Task Force, Chairwoman Ruth Silman said that the committee hoped to hold another public hearing in January. This week Silman told the Press that the law requires a public hearing before any bylaw is drafted and presented at Town Meeting, but that it would be up to the Planning Board to authorize such a meeting.
Essary said that no formal hearings have been planned yet, but the subject is still under discussion.
“The ball is definitely in our court,” she said.
