RUMFORD — Selectmen and a large crowd at Thursday night's board meeting came to hear a presentation by Boston-based wind power company First Wind on its proposed Longfellow wind farm project for Black Mountain and North and South Twin mountains.

Instead, everyone learned that such a project might not even be viable, because First Wind studies so far show that wind atop Black Mountain is too strong for wind turbine engineering to handle, said Matthew Kearns, vice president of business development for First Wind.

"The gusts are extraordinary, and that's a problem for wind turbine bearings," Kearns said. "Turbine blades like a nice even wind."

He said Black Mountain meets the minimum siting requirements for wind turbines, but the wind is too intense.

"The wind is very, very turbulent, so we don't even know yet whether to proceed with the project at all," Kearns said.

Asked if the company would go ahead and propose wind towers on North and South Twin mountains if it could find a turbine that could handle the strong winds atop Black Mountain, Kearns said, "No."

"North and South Twin are nice, but they're narrow," Kearns said. "If Black Mountain doesn't happen, I don't think we'll go with North and South Twin mountain."

Many people came to learn about First Wind's plans for a Rumford wind power project, but Kearns said that despite two years of studying wind data on the three peaks, the company wasn't ready to commit to a project.

  If First Wind could find a turbine company with turbines that can handle winds atop Black Mountain, it would begin plans for a 40-megawatt wind farm that would have roughly an $80 million tax base at about $2 million per megawatt, Kearns said.

But the company is nowhere close to that stage.

If everything works out, Kearns said First Wind wouldn't apply for a development permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection until the end of 2010.

However, he suggested that First Wind and selectmen should hold workshops to educate Rumford residents about wind power, to separate fact from myth.

"Early education makes good sense to me," Kearns said. "Our testing isn't completed yet, to decide whether to go forward or not. We don't leap before we look. We spend a lot of time and we get it right. Right now, we're working on understanding our fuel."

Rumford Wind Power Education Committee spokesman Len Greaney attempted to convince selectmen to do what Kearns suggested, by starting workshops to educate themselves and the public about wind power.

The committee is a group of residents behind a petition drive to force a moratorium on wind power development until everyone, including town officials, becomes thoroughly educated about any and all issues involving wind power facilities.

They presented that petition, which committee member Peter Buotte said was signed by more than 800 residents, to selectmen after the presentation by Kearns.

Instead of deciding when to hold educational workshops, selectmen chose to form a committee to possibly draft an ordinance dealing with wind power and wind farms.

After more discussion, they unanimously authorized Town Manager Carlo Puiia to advertise in the local media for four residents willing to serve on such a committee with two selectmen and two Planning Board members.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com