Town to mull biomass project

The town of Springfield got a crash course on the ins and outs of Act 248 this week. The state law governs utility construction projects, which in Springfield’s case would include the proposed $180 million biomass plant proposed for the North Springfield Industrial Park.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20111001/NEWS02/710019960/1003/NEWS02

Town to mull biomass project


By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer - Published: October 1, 2011

SPRINGFIELD -— The town of Springfield got a crash course on the ins and outs of Act 248 this week.

The state law governs utility construction projects, which in Springfield’s case would include the proposed $180 million biomass plant proposed for the North Springfield Industrial Park and the beginning of the ambitious broadband expansion by Vermont Telephone Co.

Town Manager Robert Forguites said this week that Springfield will have to decide how involved it wants to get in the state review of both projects.

Earlier this week, Tom Kennedy, executive director of the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning and Development Commission, gave an overview of the law, which is sometimes referred to as the “certificate of public good” process.

Under state law, any major utility investment must be approved by state regulators.

“Act 248 is new to this board and new to me and I wanted Tom here to explain the law and what the board should be aware of,” Forguites said.

So far, both projects are only in the pre-filing stage, Forguites said.

Winstanley Enterprises, owner of the Fellows Corp. building in North Springfield, first proposed the 25 to 35 megawatt wood chip project on land next to the Fellows building two years ago, but put the project on hold.

In late June, Winstanley announced it was putting the project back on the front burner, citing the change in administration in Montpelier.

According to Bob Flint of the Springfield Regional Development Corp., Winstanley expects to file its application for a certificate of public good from the Public Service Board later this year.

In June, the company said it was now including a low-cost steam heat district as part of the biomass project.

Forguites said the town’s concerns about the wood chip project would probably be about the traffic in the area from trucks delivering the wood chips.

While the project is proposed for an industrial park, roads leading to the park go through residential neighborhoods.

VTel has proposed building a 120-foot tower in North Springfield, and recently held a site test with an aerial balloon, to let neighbors and the town estimate the height of the tower, Forguites said.

The tower would be constructed on VTel property in North Springfield, Forguites said. It is part of VTel’s Wireless Open World (WOW) 4G/LTE project, Sharon Combes-Farr, VTel’s director of marketing, said recently.

Under Act 248, the town could request to be an interested party or an intervenor, and could have varying levels of participation in the hearing process, the manager said.

The board didn’t make a decision on what role to take in either project, he said.

“In both these cases, they haven’t progressed far enough” to trigger town involvement, he said.