MY HOW THINGS CHANGE. LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE EXTENDING THE CLOSING DATE 3 MONTHS. NOT GOOD, THIS MIGHT DRIVE THE PRICE DOWN SOME MORE. WE WILL SEE.
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Biomass proposal granted extension
Laidlaw asks for time to gather information
By AMY AUGUSTINE Monitor staff
October 16, 2008 - 12:00 am
The Henniker Zoning Board last night unanimously granted a three-month extension on a proposal that would bring a 20-megawatt woodchip burning plant to town.
Citing requests by board members for additional information about the proposed facility, Laidlaw Energy Group asked that the extension be given to address specific engineering and design issues raised in past meetings.
"To do this correctly, it's going to take us three full months to be able to come back to you and tell you the accurate time limit," Laidlaw Attorney Jack McCormack told the board. "A full and fair presentation of our application, which is very important to all of us, requires that time limit."
No progress has been made on the proposal since it was first brought before the board in May. One board member last night said she was skeptical that substantial progress would be made in three months and suggested Laidlaw withdraw its application and resubmit when it was ready.
"(Laidlaw) really hasn't provided any information that five minutes with a
copy machine couldn't give us," said Gigi Laberge, who did not vote on the extension. "People in our community have indicated to us that they don't like the proposal, and I think it hangs them out for a long period of time."
At issue are two variance requests to build the biomass facility on Old Concord Road, in the town's heavy commercial district. Under zoning regulations, a power plant does not fall into the category.
For a variance to be granted, Laidlaw must prove that the ordinance is an unnecessary hardship, that granting it will not negatively affect the value of surrounding properties, and that the variance is not contrary to the public interest, among other criteria.
At past hearings, board members and citizens asked Laidlaw to provide specifics on where power transmission lines would be located, exact dimensions of the building and the level of emissions the plant would potentially produce.
"The questions you posed were very, very good," McCormack said. But, he said, specific conceptual design questions take time and require input from outside parties.
"My clients, who know these answers, tell me in three months they'll have sufficient input to tell you the exact knowledge. That's what I'm told," he said.
The crowd of 15 people that turned out for last night's meeting was sparse in comparison to the hundreds that have attended past hearings.
In July, opponents of the proposal, many belonging to the Hopkinton-based
environmental group REACH, spoke out against the plant at a hearing that lasted nearly four hours. At that meeting, Laidlaw asked that the company be considered as a light commercial industry, which would have avoided the need for a variance. The board rejected the request, 3-2.
In August, proponents were given an opportunity to speak in favor of the plant. The company invited representatives from the state Department of Environmental Services to discuss air quality information. DES backed out the morning of the hearing, telling Laidlaw it would not attend to avoid the appearance of supporting one side or the other, McCormack said.
Proponents tout the proposal as a green form of energy, one that would meet the state's renewable energy criteria. In 2007, Gov. Lynch signed into law a renewable portfolio standard, requiring that 25 percent of New Hampshire's energy come from renewable sources by 2025.
The biomass plant would burn virgin woodchips and produce steam to generate electricity.
Laidlaw's next hearing will be held Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
