ATHOL – Athol’s Energy Committee met to review the Draft 2025 and 2030 Decarbonization Plan for the Town of Athol, a 57-page proposal put together by John Snell, a consultant with the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission.
During its discussion, the committee added several items to an eight-point action plan detailed in the draft’s executive summary. Committee Chair Aimee Hanson felt that development of wind power should be added to the action plan, which covered items ranging from expansion of electric vehicle charging stations around town, to identifying “potential riparian tree planting locations” and facilitating solar installations. Hanson, who is also a member of the Board of Planning and Community Development, said wind power was not well received by some of her colleagues at a recent meeting of that committee.
Athol Planning and Development Director Eric Smith said he is hoping a New Hampshire wind turbine developer will be able to attend the January meeting of the BPCD to provide more information to the board.
“Ever since the state went to the solar incentive program, around 2010 or so, there have not been too many wind turbine projects being permitted and built in interior Massachusetts” said Smith at the Dec. 20 meeting.
“The other thing you have to realize,“when I did look it up, the massive pull on the grid that one of those (turbines) has, I’m sure that our grid probably needs to be upgraded,” said Hanson. “We actually have somebody in our community who wants to put in a wind turbine and approached (the BPCD). But our bylaw is not conducive for him to put that on his land.”
Smith added that one problem has to do with Athol’s really restrictive setbacks. He said setback requirements and elevation restrictions combine to virtually eliminate the economic feasibility of constructing a turbine.
Much of the problem, said committee member Lee Gershon, is that many people support development of wind power but “not in my back yard.”
Also, said Hanson, referring to the executive summary, “We don’t have anything about promoting hydropower and we have a river going right through our town. We’ve not been promoting it but it’s probably the best type of green energy.”
“It’s very difficult to permit,” Smith responded.
“Well, where we have a river, I don’t know why we shouldn’t have it as a bullet point,” said Hanson. “At a meeting a few years ago, a lot of different towns came together, and Fitchburg was really talking about hydro and all the new technologies where they actually divert water and make it so you don’t have a problem with the fish. You don’t have to close down the whole river, you can divert it.”
Committee member Ken Vaidulas said when Starrett replaced and put in a new hydro plant, Trouts Unlimited was one of the big opponents to it because the town wanted them to build a fish ladder.
“Now, where are the fish going to go?” said Vaidulas. “They’re not going to go up a quarter of a mile before they run into the dam above the former UTD building. But Trouts Unlimited delayed that project at Starrett’s for a couple of years.”
Even though committee member Tom Russo noted there’s a push nationwide to remove dams from many rivers, Smith said he would ask Snell to add both hydro and wind to the “key actions” mentioned in the draft report’s executive summary.
“Transportation does show up when you get into all of the state actions,” said Smith. “Like on page 28, it talks about how we want to be able to do more bike paths, a lot of people want to do the Rabbit Rail Trail. So, there is something in the plan – it’s just not on the first page, but we can elevate it to the first page.”
“We don’t have a park and ride for people who commute,” Hanson observed. “We also could have some kind of a rental for electric bicycles. And, also, would we want to support an expanded rail system that would come to our community?”
The committee ultimately agreed to add transportation considerations as another key priority. Before adjourning, the committee designated Gershon and Russo as its representatives on the town’s Decarbonization Task Force, the creation of which was one of the report’s eight key action items. The formation of the task force was endorsed by the Selectboard and will also include representatives of the Selectboard, Capital Program Committee, and Finance and Warrant Advisory Committee, as well as two at-large citizen representatives.
The next meeting of the Town Energy Committee is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.