DIXFIELD — Two weeks after residents narrowly rejected an amended Wind Energy Facility Ordinance at the polls Nov. 4, a petition has been filed requesting a recount, Town Manager Carlo Puiia said Friday.
The vote recount will take place at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, and the Town Office will be closed for all other municipal issues, he said.
The ordinance was rejected by five votes, 557-562.
The original ordinance was approved in 2012, but the Board of Selectmen voted to place it before the Planning Board at the beginning of 2013 for revisions in order to make it stronger. After a year and a half of revisions and discussions, the Planning Board and Board of Selectmen met in August to discuss final amendments, and placed the question to repeal the original ordinance and adopt the amended version on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass., approached Dixfield officials three years ago about constructing a 20-megawatt wind turbine project on the Colonel Holman Mountain ridge.
Puiia said the petition for the recount was circulated by residents Elizabeth Hebert and Nancy Carpenter, and the signatures have all been confirmed.
“Normally, when candidates run for office and the vote margin is extremely narrow, a recount is automatically done,” Puiia said. “In this case, since it was a referendum question, we’re still following the state guidelines, but it requires a petition with a minimum of 100 signatures by those who voted at the referendum.”
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