BETHANY BEACH -- Town officials have voted to end talks with NRG/Bluewater Wind on its bid to run underground power lines from its proposed offshore wind farm through town.
The company's brusque rebuff by Bethany Beach -- including a charge that it failed to negotiate in good faith -- comes five months after NRG representatives presented project plans proposing power lines below Wellington Parkway and Kent Avenue.
At the time, Mayor Tony McClenny told Town Manager Clifford M. Graviet to seek independent expert advice on the lines' potential impact on human health and the environment, and also told Graviet to ask NRG to cover the cost.
A memorandum of understanding sent to NRG in April was returned last month -- slightly changed and not signed -- saying the company agreed to pay up to $85,000 for independent research on the lines' effects.
Shortly thereafter, the company wrote to town officials saying it would offer an alternative route for the lines and conduct associated engineering studies for both routes.
"Based on this letter and previous actions, I do not believe that NRG/Bluewater has been dealing with the town in good faith," said Vice Mayor Jack Gordon, who made a motion to notify NRG the town no longer is interested in the project, or in continuing discussions.
"The townspeople cannot tolerate having this issue hanging over their heads for any longer," he said.
NRG/Bluewater founder and President Peter D. Mandelstam did not return calls Monday seeking comment about the vote, cast at Bethany Beach Town Council's regular meeting Friday afternoon. The company's state director could not be reached.
"As a council we've attempted through various means to ensure the town and its residents are protected if this project were to ever come into being," said Councilman Jerry Dorfman, adding the delay from NRG, not returning the memorandum of understanding "raises some serious red flags."
Councilwoman Margaret Young agreed, noting the alternative of Garfield Parkway was not something new. It was, in fact, the route NRG started out with.
Residents largely have opposed the construction, many asking the council to reject the proposal outright instead of researching its possible environmental and human effects.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20110719/BUSINESS/107190322/Bethany-Beach-ends-discussion-underground-lines-NRG
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