A wind turbine at Falmouth’s wastewater treatment plant may become a cell tower, according to the Cape Cod Times. The structure, one of two wind towers on the property, was ordered to be shut down by a superior court judge over nuisance complaints and zoning violations from area residents.
If the giant blades were removed and only the pole remained, it would no longer be classified as a wind turbine, Frank Duffy, the town’s attorney told the Times. By turning it into a cell tower, Duffy said, it could be reclassified under the provisions of the town’s cell tower bylaw. Duffy said this would not only provide better cell service for West Falmouth but it could help aid the town’s public safety communications system.
A local resident added during Monday’s meeting that leasing space to cell providers could provide the town with some additional revenue.
Efforts to sell the turbines and offset the town’s financial loss prompted several meetings with representatives from Plymouth County which subsequently “declined to proceed with potential acquisition,” reported the Times.
“The path we’re going down will require the community coming together to problem solve instead of pushing the envelope,” Selectman Megan English Braga said. “The mindset of trying to solve the problem is what we really need.”
January 11, 2018
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