ROXBURY — Selectmen decided at Tuesday night's board meeting to wait 60 days from June 23 before rendering their decision on a petition that seeks to rescind previously approved town laws allowing wind power facilities to be built on town ridges.
Michael Rogers, right, of Maine Revenue Services, answers questions at Tuesday night's Roxbury selectmen meeting about his projections concerning tax impacts for a 22-turbine wind power project proposed to be built in Roxbury.
Responding to lawyer Maura Horodyski's question about the petition and the board's response, Chairman Bob Sutton said they agreed to have lawyer Jennifer Kreckel of Rumford review the petition before they decide whether to follow its intent.
"We asked her to review the tangible benefits, the petition and what we have to do to respond, and Robert Gardiner and Angus King's letter, which cited a court case," Sutton said of Kreckel, who is not the town lawyer.
At the root of the angst is Record Hill Wind LLC's project to site 22 wind turbines on Roxbury hills. King and Gardiner are principals behind the project. It is currently under review by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Concerned Citizens to Save Roxbury, which opposes the wind power
project, hired Horodyski, a lawyer with offices in Mexico and Portland,
to represent their interests.
The petition, brought by Concerned Citizens, asks selectmen to convene a special town meeting to amend the comprehensive plan by deleting all language and sections referring to wind power that were added by a majority vote at a special town meeting on Jan. 15.
It also asks the town to amend its land use ordinance by dissolving the new Mountain District Zone, which allows wind power facilities, and to disallow wind energy facilities as a permitted use.
It also wants wind energy facilities to be further defined as industrial structures.
King and Gardiner's letter asked Roxbury selectmen to refuse to call the special town meeting to force a third straight vote on the issue.
Horodyski has recently submitted a letter to selectmen, questioning the legalities of previous actions by selectmen and balloting. She also addressed concerns raised in the letter by King and Gardiner. Sutton said he has yet to read her letter.
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