It was difficult to tell just how many people attended the wind turbine informational meeting at the Fire House on Wednesday evening, May 10th, but it was standing room only. Residents of Savoy and individuals from neighboring communities listened intently to representatives from the Minuteman Wind,LLC who were there to lay out the plans for the construction of five wind turbines on West Hill in the Brier section of Savoy. A slide presentation of area photos depicting the site, its potential as a wind project, and its impact on the town held the audience in total awe while representatives of engineering and environmental studies talked about what had been done to assess the site and what possible impact it would have on the community, economically and environmentally. Questions from the audience proved to be the most interesting part of the evening as residents and others who would be affected by the view or perceived noise of the turbines put a true picture of the project flat out on the table. The questions raised were intelligent, probing, and direct. They hit right to the heart of the matter and were seemingly asked without prejudice. Savoy residents should feel proud of the way they maintained a constant give and take of information throughout the meeting. There were no angry outbursts or lengthy personal pros or cons to waste the vital time to gather as much information offered.

The five turbines were downgraded from seven originally proposed. Each turbine is 420 feet tall. They would have a total rated production capacity of 12.5 MW. The proposed route the trucks containing the materials to construct the turbines will take is up 8A from Windsor to 116, north on Center Road to Adams Road and then east on Adams, crossing Blackbrook and onto Brier Road. The route continues on Harwood Rd to the site on West Hill. Minuteman Wind Co. will undertake road improvements to the town roads in order to facilitate access to the windmill site. The actual construction at the site is estimated to take about three months. Construction is anticipated to begin in the spring of 2007. The subject of how much electrical power would be realized, the benefit to the town in revenue, the cost in loss of property value (or increase), were not specifically answered. Estimated results were not something most were comfortable with and a request for more studies and available information was definitely the order of the day. Although not mentioned in the information presented, it is rumored the Minuteman Wind, LLC, a company located in Waltham, MA, is preparing to submit applications to the town to begin the project within a matter of a month or two. The Savoy Planning Board has been working on a draft of a by-law that would put important restrictions on the project. The by-law has to go before the voters at a town meeting and be approved by them by a two-thirds' majority. The by-law, if passed by the voters, is then sent to the Attorney General for state approval before actually becoming law. from Town Clerk