HomeMy WebLinkAbout03272012 Energy Study Committee MinutesDRAFT Minutes for special meeting on March 27, 2012, 2 Fairgrounds Road, 3PMNext scheduled regular monthly meeting is on April 5, 2012, 5PM, 2 Fairgrounds Road
In attendance were Committee Members John Stover, Peter Morrison, Whitey Willauer, Ian Golding, Ken
Blackshaw (late), and H. Flint Ranney.
Others in attendance were: Lauren Sinatra, Jim Aylward, and Karen Palmer.
The meeting was called to order by Acting Chairman Willauer at 3:04PM. John Stover presented a list of questions concerning the Peer Review process. Lauren Sinatra set up a conference call with Lee Cameron and Jim Barnes from Acentech, who had conducted the Acoustic Study
peer review.
In a two-hour call, many aspects of the Madaket Wind Turbine project were discussed, especially compar-ing the two studies and analyzing the risks in the project. Covered were sound levels, distances, mitiga-tion of noise, what happens if the installed turbine does not perform as guaranteed, for how long a period
should wind and noise data be collected (three days to 14 days?), what margin of error is acceptable, what are the overall risks, state and local regulations, and uncertainty factors provided by the equipment manu-facturer, and what we should do next.
Mr. Barnes suggested that we engage the closest neighbors in the discussion and encourage them to par-
ticipate in the project and visit operating turbines, and that we pin down any vendors to guarantee perfor-mance. He suggested that the turbine market might be softening due to expiring tax credits and could not predict how many vendors might respond to an RFP. He said workers at the landfill should not be affect-ed by the turbine operation. His final draft report should be available to the NESC on Thursday, March 29,
in time for NESC members to read before ATM.
Mr. Aylward stated that we are not leaving much room for error and asked what we will do if the installed turbine does not perform as expected or fails altogether.
Whitey read the proposed Article 13 as a positive recommendation to Annual Town Meeting on March 31.
Adjourned at 5:04PM.
Respectfully submitted,
DRAFT H. Flint Ranney, Secretary
Nantucket Energy Study Committeehttp://www.ackenergy.org