The members of the town of Dixfield Planning Board stand ready to do our job of drafting town ordinances, but our role is now blocked by the Board of Selectmen as they seek to replace the existing wind ordinance with Maine DEP rules. That removes the Planning Board from writing and enforcing rules for wind projects.

A citizens’ petition recently proposed a compromise to a recently defeated ordinance, but the Select Board rejected the will of those citizens and, instead, decided to propose Maine DEP rules for town wind projects.

We are a competent and hard-working Planning Board that does its homework and responsibly deliberates its issues. We are not a “dysfunctional” board; we do our job. We want to retain town oversight over wind projects. DEP rules remove most of that.

We were ready to offer ordinance compromises that address the concerns of all citizens. DEP rules remove many critical protections, such as project setback and critical decommissioning requirements. That places the town in serious jeopardy.

What is dysfunctional is for the Select Board to effectively “neuter” its Planning Board.

We, as the Dixfield Planning Board, recommend citizens vote “no” to adopting DEP rules for wind projects, thus allowing the Planning Board to do its job of local control and oversight.

Lauren Hebert on behalf of a unanimous Dixfield Planning Board

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