Barnstable Council to host community discussion of offshore wind.
Offshore wind energy will get some airing out on Monday as the Barnstable Town Council hosts a community meeting on the subject from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Barnstable High School Performing Arts Center, 744 West Main St., Hyannis.
The gathering was pulled together after the Council received a petition last month signed by 518 residents requesting an open meeting under section 8-9 of the town charter "to provide Barnstable voters with the opportunity to express their issues and concerns regarding the proposed Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind projects."
The projects are proposed by Avangrid, which is looking to land power transmission cables from its offshore projects at Barnstable's Craigville Beach (Park City Wind) and Dowses Beach (Commonwealth Wind), and route them to inland substations and, ultimately, to the New England power grid.
The petition drive was led by Centerville residents Sandy Jones, Joanne O'Connor, Bob Schulte and Chuck Tuttle.
Tuttle in late September told the Times the citizens want "open, honest and a truthful conversation" about Avangrid's plans. The projects are the first of their kind in the U.S., he said, "and there are a ton of questions."
Council President Matthew Levesque on Friday said the council and town staff have done their best to accommodate the discussion, choosing a date that doesn't conflict with other important, pre-election events, that can include current councilors who are familiar with the subject and that can bring in more residents than there would be room for in town hall. The high school venue has seating for 1,400 people.
"I think we came up with something that was very agreeable," Levesque said. "I think it's a great opportunity. I hope there isn't adversity and I'm hoping we'll be able to get people in the room who will be able to answer our questions."
Residents unable to attend in person can watch remotely, as the meeting will be streamed live via the Barnstable Government Access YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/@BarnstableGovernmentAccess.
Although residents watching online won't be able to ask questions and make comments remotely, they can submit written comments to the council at www.tinyurl.com/Barnstablecomments
The meeting will also be recorded and replayed on Xfinity Channel 8 or High Definition Channel 1072 and will be available on the Video on Demand feature on the town of Barnstable’s website.
"It will be posted to Video on Demand as soon as possible the next day," said Barnstable Director of Communications Lynne Poyant in an email Thursday. She said the video won't appear until Tuesday because it's not being recorded at town hall and will need to be uploaded to the system afterward.
Some residents were criticizing the inability to interact remotely via Zoom and were still pressing for that to be an option as of Friday afternoon.
"A meeting request with our town of Barnstable officials should not resemble a minor Olympic sport challenge. It took a petition — with a few hundred signatures — just to get an 'in person' meeting with the town officials," said resident Greg Gerdy in an email on Friday.
He said he feels like citizens "have gotten pushback after pushback from the town officials, including simple logistics such as withholding a Zoom option enabling those off Cape, or with transportation issues, to tune in and actively participate."
“Zoom is now so commonly used as to be abasic meeting standard," he wrote.
Residents want a meeting so those who live on Cape and off Cape — "can engage directly and meaningfully with the town officials," as well as "to protect our town’s quality of life and unique character." They want to "ensure that the town officials will enact policies that truly benefit and respond to the real needs of the Barnstable citizens."
Town officials have said the high school auditorium, which the petitioners requested as the venue for the meeting, is not equipped to handle a public Zoom option.
Schulte, one of the lead petitioners, on Friday said "Organizers hope citizens take this opportunity to meet face to face and ask their questions to the town council, town manager and staff."
He said is looking forward to seeing a large turnout.
The meeting agenda includes the introduction of a third-party moderator and an opening statement by Town Manager Mark Ells. Half-hour-long topic discussions follow, with time for public comments and questions and a town response. The agenda is as follows:
6:15-6:45 p.m.: Onshore transmission line routes on public land for both the proposed Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind projects.
6:45-7:15 p.m.: Environmental implications of the proposed projects on Craigville Beach (Park City Wind) and Dowses Beach (Commonwealth Wind) and the estuarine ecosystems identified in Barnstable’s Coastal Resource Management Plan as the Centerville River System.
7:15-7:45 p.m.: Siting of the project substation(s) on top of and/or in the vicinity of water wellhead protection areas.
7:45-8:15 p.m.: Current status of the projects’ financial ability, including but not limited to power purchase agreements and the status of renegotiations or anticipated requests for proposals. They hope to explore whether the town should require evidence of financial viability and/or power purchase agreement for both projects to be in place before any additional work on taxpayer-funded property by the developer and/or permitting for the projects is authorized.
8:15-8:45 p.m.: The process related to negotiations for a Host Community Agreement and potential Article 97 vote for the proposed Commonwealth Wind project, and their implications on the community.
8:45 p.m.: Petitioner final remarks by Chuck Tuttle.
8:45-9 p.m.: Council response and comment.
Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Community meeting to discuss offshore wind planned in Barnstable
