You can’t say you’re not responsible. The landlord is responsible for anything that happens on that property.”

David Souza, abutter to the Portsmouth wind turbine

PORTSMOUTH — Abutters who have complained about noise and shadow flicker produced by the wind turbine expected to hear some answers from the machine’s owner at Monday night’s Town Council meeting. 

A Feb. 12 discussion on the turbine ended with Mark DePasquale, chairman of Green Development, LLC of North Kingstown, agreeing to follow up with homeowners and make a detailed report on March 12.

But Mr. DePasquale was nowhere to be found Monday. Just before the meeting, he delivered a message to Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr., saying he could not attend because his company was busy preparing for the snowstorm that was to hit the area hours later.  

Without Mr. DePasquale in the room, abutters focused their ire on council members, whom they accused of failing to represent their interests in helping to mitigate some of the issues. (Council member Paul Kesson recused himself from the discussion, saying he’s one of the residents being impacted by the turbine.)

Council President Keith Hamilton, however, said the town no longer owns the turbine, so any mitigation issues should be brought directly to Green Development. “If you feel your property rights are being infringed upon, that’s between you and (Mr. DePasquale),” said Mr. Hamilton, a comment that was met with some catcalls from the audience.

“That’s very disappointing,” said John Vegas of 259 Sprague St., one of five residents who’s contacted Green Development in the past month. 

He and several other residents say they need the town behind them in order for Green Development to take meaningful action. While the turbine now has a different owner, it’s still located on town land, they noted.

“I feel I have no leverage with Mr. Depasquale,” Mr. Vegas said. “You don’t seem to be interested and I’m not sure why. It was a different tone at the (Feb. 12) meeting.”

‘Landlord is responsible’

David Souza, who owns property at 74 Sprague St. and 25 Lowell St., also urged the council to take action. He told the council he’s seen flicker from the turbine on Route 24 — “That’s a safety issue,” he said — and that the noise is constant.

“You can’t say you’re not responsible. The landlord is responsible for anything that happens on that property,” he said. “We’re not asking you to tear it down. We have to live there (and) this guy is not working with us. Something has to be done, because it’s affecting our street, it’s affecting everything. You people are our point people to do this.”

This is the second turbine that’s been built on land near Portsmouth High School. The first was a shorter structure the town built in 2009 after voters approved a $3 million bond issue. In 2012, however, the machine shut down due to a faulty gearbox supplied by a company that went bankrupt.

In November 2014 the council voted to enter into a contract with Wind Energy Development LLC (now Green Development) to allow the town to pay off the remaining debt of $1.45 million that was left on the turbine. In exchange, the town agreed to buy energy generated from the current turbine, which was built by WED and activated in August 2016.

At a council meeting in January 2016, representatives said the new turbine would be quieter than the old one and wouldn’t produce any additional shadow flicker. Abutters, however, say the opposite is true.

“He lied to you, his lawyer lied to you,” said Denise Wilkey, of 3140 East Main Road, referring to Mr. DePasquale and attorney Stephen Brusini. She said she can no longer open her windows during the warmer months due to the noise the turbine produces.

Ms. Wilkey is among the residents who has brought her concerns to Green Development directly, but she said nothing’s been done. “That’s a wall. That’s a dead end,” she said. “I don’t understand how you can just sit there and say, ‘Not our problem.’”

“We don’t own the wind turbine. We can’t make mitigations …” Mr. Hamilton began to say before Ms. Wilkey cut him off.

“That’s not what I pay $6,000 in taxes for — to not be represented, to not be respected,” she said.

The decision to green-light the second turbine was necessary to pay off the town’s remaining debt, Mr. Hamilton said, and the deal with Mr. DePasquale’s company “was the best deal at the time.”

Council member David Gleason said he wasn’t involved in the decision to build the first turbine and that it shouldn’t have been installed at that location since there were homes to the north. He supported the second turbine, however, because it was a “name-brand product” and didn’t use a gearbox. He visited the company’s North Kingstown complex and was convinced that the new turbine would be a better fit for Portsmouth, he said.

“Did we make the right decision? Probably not,” Mr. Gleason said.

‘Sorry we voted for this’

Council member Elizabeth Pedro agreed, and said the town should work to bring the abutters and Mr. DePasquale together and offer up the council chambers as meeting space.

“I’m so sorry we voted for this,” she said.

Mr. Rainer agreed to reach out to Mr. DePasquale in hopes of setting up the meeting.

In the meantime, Mr. Hamilton urged residents who have been impacted by the turbine to keep contacting Mr. DePasquale to “hold his feet to the fire.” Residents should also let Mr. Rainer know (rrainer@portsmouthri.com or 401/683-3255) whenever they do contact Green Development, Mr. Hamilton said.