By ANDREW MARTIN

CHARLESTOWN - Residents packed into the council chambers last Tuesday night to sound off on a draft wind energy ordinance.

The public hearing on the draft ordinance lasted more than two hours.  It was mixed with allegations of back-room deals and that the ordinance would not allow residents to exercise their full rights.
In particular, there was a lengthy rundown of the ordinance’s faults by Michael Carline, son-in-law to developer Larry LeBlanc. LeBlanc has proposed putting two turbines on his 81-acre parcel off Kings Factory Road.  In doing so, he would enter a partnership with the town, which could use some of the power to offset its energy costs.
LeBlanc’s proposal and the possible partnership were discussed by several residents, including Carline and LeBlanc himself. But these talks were cut short by the council because the intention of the hearing was to solely discuss the wind ordinance’s language.
Carline passed out a prepared presentation that focused on how the ordinance is “over-restrictive” and would “hamstring” efforts for wind-power developments in Charlestown. He pointed to several specific parts of the ordinance’s language, such as the setback and noise standards for wind turbines.
The setback of 1.5 times the height of a turbine, Carline said, is far too restrictive. Instead, he said it should be set to 1.1 times the height, which he said will not pose a safety risk. And he added that it would allow the turbine to be taller and, as a result, capture stronger wind and produce more power.
The noise section of the ordinance should also be amended, Carline explained. The Planning Commission’s recommendations for the ordinance were that a turbine should not exceed 35 decibels in the evening and 45 decibels in the daytime, with those levels being measured at the property lines.
(The commission also suggested that someone could perform a background noise study to determine an appropriate decibel level for the property.)
Carline suggested that the town instead adopt something similar to the Massachusetts state standard of 55 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night. Those numbers are also in accordance with the World Health Organization’s limits.
Other homeowners and several councilors agreed with Carline’s points, especially about the noise and setback recommendations.

One resident spoke out against the ordinance because he saw its creation as a “back-room deal” to make more progress in the proposed partnership between the town and LeBlanc.
Daniel Slattery first told the crowd and council that he was speaking as a private homeowner and not as a member of a political group. He is the president of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance.
While Slattery said he is in favor of wind energy being utilized, he was disappointed in the process to create this ordinance. He was also disappointed in the ordinance being “done in back-rooms.”
“This is not an example of an open and transparent government,” Slattery said. “It’s unbelievable that a town would enter a partnership and produce an ordinance for one man, one property.”
But Town Planner Ashley Hahn-Morris assured Slattery that the above was not true - similar concerns to his were expressed in a CCA e-mail sent out days before the public hearing.
Hahn-Morris said that while LeBlanc’s project was certainly an impetus for this ordinance, it was not written with just his project in mind. She said that towns often react in the sense that a proposal “pushes the town to put pen to paper.” She then cited another draft ordinance on hydronic heaters that was only created after a particular issue arose with the devices.
Another concern was that the ordinance lacked the proper path for obtaining a special-use permit. Hahn-Morris said the ordinance does follow that path, except in the very special situation that a town enters an agreement for a partnership. And, she said, anyone that applies for this kind of project still must meet all the requirements of the ordinance.
Similarly, Hahn-Morris addressed an issue that abutters to a town-sponsored project would lose ability to speak if there was no special-use permit hearing. “That’s not true. There is always a process for a public hearing,” she said.
“There is no exclusion of information. It’s not cutting off anyone from the process,” Hahn-Morris added. “No one’s trying to keep secrets.”
Further discussion on this ordinance was held during a council work session on Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Earlier in the meeting, the council voted unanimously to appoint Stephanie Brown to the Chariho Regional Building Committee. She is a former School Committee member. The board vacancy was announced last month.