The Late Show in Peoria

Tonight's marquee meeting will be the B of H with the DEP outlining the WT sound study.  

I am not sure whether this meeting will be going out live or not, but I think it is one that is going to be worth the effort to view at some point.  This study is going to be significant (an understatement I know).

It will be of benefit to all to hear the presentation by the DEP rep as to what is going to be done.  

Do they make noise? Yes they do.  There is no escaping that fact, there is no denying it.  

The study will determine whether, based on the existing standards, the level of noise violates the law.

There are several debates within the big debate.  Is the standard adequate?  What about infra sound?  Not to mention the flicker and property value debate.

The simple fact is the only issue that is going to be decided by the study is the "audible" noise.  Given the legal and regulatory standards that exist, it is the one that matters most.

It will be interesting to see just how much we are able to learn about that study tonight.  For everyone's sake, let's hope the presenter gets to present rather than sidetracked.

Hindsight is 20/20 as the old saying goes.  

Looking back at the history of the whole turbine matter, the lead up to the original town meeting votes on the by-laws, then the lease, and up to and including the present, one has to wonder just where we would be right now had one side or the other taken a different tack.

Remember the meeting of the selectmen, you now the one with the video tape on the internet, the cameras being shutoff.  In the battle for public perception, no matter how bad the selectmen looked, the opposition did not come off any better.

There are certain tactics that can be found in the "fighting turbines" handbook which if you Google long enough you can find it, and which may in fact play well in Peoria, but aren't going to get you an audience in Fairhaven.  

Like I said, hindsight is 20/20, and in that vein there were more than a few moves by the proponents that haven't played well here either.

Let's not forget the remaining portions of the lawsuit pending.  There are still some legal issues to be decided there.  

Tonight's meeting though is in many ways the raising of the curtain for the final act on the turbine debate. The results of the study will determine the final scenes to yet be written in this matter.  Eventually the curtain will fall. Who will be applauding is another story.