Health & Fitness
Poor Communication Creates Town Hall Havoc
Health Board plans redress of Selectmen's wind turbine operation plans. Citing health and sleep disruption concerns.
Falmouth’s Board of Health was taken-a-back at the Selectmen’s ‘failure to communicate’ regarding potential wind turbine operation changes under consideration.
The Selectmen’s failure to communicate effectively with the Board of Health indicates a narrow and short-sighted understanding of the over-all problem. The Selectmen’s oversight, as well as their potential willingness to infringe upon the public’s normal nighttime sleep period, had all four attending Health Board Members more than a bit miffed.
The Board of Health will forward a letter reminding the Selectmen that, in the spring of 2012, it had intended to formally address the resident’s sleep disruption issue when Selectmen preempted this action by implementing it’s own nighttime curfew procedure. The Selectmen’s action was due solely to results of MassDEP’s nightime noise testings in early 2012 that found sound levels from Wind 1 in excess of regulatory guidelines, and thereby defined by MassDEP as sound levels being unacceptable.
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Subsequent correspondence (May 15, 2012) from MassDEP to Selectmen specified a provision to be met before night operation of Wind 1 was to resume - “Wind 1 will not be operated during nightime hours unless and until steps are taken to reduce nighttime sound impact to levels below MassDEP’s 10 dBA threshold.” And further - “The Town may seek to fine-tune these hours of operation based on future data collection indicating that the turbine can be operated in complience with the 10 dBA threshold.”
The only data collected by Town staff and presented to Selectmen has been operational controls that avoid future municipal deficit. This focused fiscal objective by Selectmen is in stark contrast to the expected objective to bet met per the MassDEP’s regulatory provision.
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It is appropriate and timely that the Board of Health should take, as a minimum, this attempt at collaboration. Local government functions most efficiently with good team work, sharing resources and effective communication.
The Board’s action might be appropriate and timely, but it may very well find itself being sued. No worries. Take solace in the words of E. W. Howe ~ “Common sense is compelled to makes its way without the enthusiasm of anyone.”
