Jill Cuzzone has three children, works a part-time job, and never really felt the need to get involved with local politics or social activism ... until last May.

Shortly after the Financial Town Meeting, where residents voted to approve funding for the construction of a wind turbine in town, Ms. Cuzzone started researching wind turbines and attending meetings for the renewable energy committee. She said the project’s initially proposed location — the Barrington High School campus — propelled her to get involved. She lives on Lincoln Avenue, not far from the high school.

A new location has since been selected — Legion Way near Brickyard Pond — but Ms. Cuzzone is still interested in the project. She still attends meetings, researches issues associated with wind turbines and she still speaks with other concerned residents. In fact, Ms. Cuzzone knows a number of people in town who, like herself, were hardly ever involved in local politics or government issues but have been drawn into active participation by this proposed wind turbine project.

These folks — including members of the Citizens Wind Watch of Barrington — have become a vocal part of the ongoing wind turbine debate.

“I am still involved because I feel strongly about this,” she said. “I think this is tearing people apart, it’s tearing the town apart. I think if we knew this made sense financially ... environmentally, then we could understand asking people to make a sacrifice for it, but we don’t know that it makes sense. You have to prove there’s a benefit before you do this.”

Most of the individuals interviewed for this story were not sure how many Citizens Wind Watch members there are. A recent e-mail message intended for the group showed a list of more than 60 addresses.

The website citizenswindwatch.blogspot.com lists this description for the group: “Growing group of concerned citizens of Barrington. Although we are in favor of renewable energy, we are opposed to the siting of a wind turbine in the Town of Barrington for reasons of health, safety and lack of economic and financial data.”

Some town officials and supporters of the wind turbine project have publicly and privately questioned the actions of the concerned residents or “opposition.” They say Citizens Wind Watch is following the outline established by the Cape Wind project, where a battle to build wind turbines off-shore between Cape Cod and the islands has waged for years and cost supporters and opposition millions.

Members of the Committee for Renewable Energy for Barrington — an all-volunteer board — have shared some heated dialogue with Citizens Wind Watch members and other residents opposed to the project. Just last week, CREB Chairman David Baum submitted a commentary to the Times discussing the proposed wind turbine project. It states, in part, “The CREB has taken a backseat to the public comment about the wind energy project at Brickyard Pond, choosing instead to provide well researched facts to the town council, the press, and through its website. But opponent opinions have been misleading and designed to support personal preferences.”

CREB members also filed a letter to the editor a few weeks ago: “A group of residents has challenged our processes and the outcomes of our deliberations on the wind turbine power project. This group is concerned about quality of life issues and the value of nearby residences. They have expended great effort to present a case against the wind turbine, taking pages out of Cape Wind opposition tactics.”

Ms. Cuzzone said the opposition are nothing more than concerned residents taking active interest in the wind turbine project. She disputed the claim that they are following any template from the Cape Wind project.

“It’s not an attack,” she said. “We have no other option. Where do we turn? What should we do? We have no other way to get the word out. I am afraid sometimes we do come across as adversarial, but we just don’t agree on the issue.”

Barrington Town Manager Peter DeAngelis recognizes the ongoing debate from a different perspective.

“Knowing a lot of the players, I think they are well-intended people who have an opinion on the subject matter,” he said, adding that the wind turbine issue has been one of the more heated he has witnessed during his years in town.

“I wouldn’t say it’s run of the mill. I would say it has become a volatile issue,” he said. “Ultimately, I think the council will make the right decision. We will get by this and we will move onto something else.”

Well organized

Members of the town council saw the opposition’s work firsthand at an Oct. 21 public workshop.

Citizens Wind Watch members took turns addressing the council and members of the public at the workshop — the group dominated the first 90 minutes, as pre-selected individuals questioned different aspects of the project. Some used visual aids.

Candleberry Road Ron Russo challenged the proposed setbacks, providing data from European countries’ wind turbine setbacks. Kirby Street residents Robert and Nancy LaChance spoke about the potential environmental impact, specifically questioning the affects the turbine could have on birds that live at Brickyard Pond. Middlle Highway resident Michael Khouri commented on the CREB, stating that the group had been charged with being an objective board to research the feasibility of the project but had since shifted gears. He said they now act like salespeople trying to convince residents to support the project.

Nearly a dozen people from Citizens Wind Watch spoke about the project, all in an effort to present their concerns.

Shortly after the meeting, council member June Speakman reacted.

“Nothing I heard last night was new, therefore my position remains the same. My position is that I would like to see hard wind data taken at the site before I make my decision to vote yes or no on this project.”

Council member John Lazzaro’s comments were similar.

“Most of that information has already been brought out,” he said.

Those comments frustrated some of the speakers, including Dan Justynski, a member of the town’s zoning board and a Broadview Drive resident; Broadview is located across Brickyard Pond from proposed Legion Way site.

“I couldn’t understand how they could learn nothing new from that workshop,” said Mr. Justynski, who is also a member of the town’s zoning board. “There was new information being presented by many of the people.”

Ms. Cuzzone said she often feels like her work is ignored by the council and CREB. After interviewing sound experts about wind turbine noise, Ms. Cuzzone spoke briefly at the Oct. 21 workshop.

“I don’t feel like anyone is listening,” she said during a recent interview. “They say we are just out there surfing the internet. It’s more than that.”

Ron Russo said he has been very impressed with the quality of work done by concerned residents. He said people have driven themselves to learn more about the subject in a limited amount of time. Mr. Russo was one of the first people to publicly question the project.

“I’m a design engineer. I got involved when I saw the fact they wanted to put up a huge turbine at the high school only 190 feet from the high school. When I started researching this I saw problems with the proposed project. It didn’t feel right,” he said.

“I became involved for altruistic reasons. I didn’t think it was right to do this in Barrington. I didn’t think it made good sense for the town.”

Mr. Russo said work by concerned residents has powered some important changes in the process, including moving the turbine away from the high school. He said concerns pitched by residents about health and safety aspects also led the all-volunteer CREB to draft its own health and safety report.

“That committee didn’t look at these issues until we started asking questions about the health and safety aspects of the project,” Mr. Russo said.

“I don’t have any kids in school. I pay a lot of taxes. I have paid a lot over the years in taxes here and never said ‘boo.’ I have no vested interest in this, period. I did this because I didn’t think it was the right thing to do for the town, for the students.”

‘Nasty’ side of issue

Some members of Citizens Wind Watch also challenged the role of town council president Jeffrey Brenner in the process.

Ann Foster was one of the first residents who stated publicly that she believed Mr. Brenner had a conflict of interest with the project because the law firm at which he works had done work with the American Wind Energy Alliance. Mr. Brenner sought an ethics commission opinion on the matter, which stated there was no conflict.

Later a group of more than 20 residents wrote a letter to the editor restating their request for Mr. Brenner to recuse himself. The council president countered with letters defending his role in the process. (Mr. Brenner recused himself weeks later after he learned his firm was working with the construction company that had been recommended to build the wind turbine in Barrington.)

“I don’t think it’s unusual for the discussion to get heated,” Mr. DeAngelis said. “It’s an emotional issue. That’s when we see the nasty side of it. I’ve seen it before. I don’t condone. It may not even be the intention of the people involved.

“I think it’s always important to remember that these individuals are people first. At the end of the day, they are volunteers, they have families, they care enough to step up. It’s all about respect. We need to respect each other and whenever possible keep the emotions out of it. When emotions kick in, it tends to get a little nasty.”

Mr. DeAngelis added that he believes the town will benefit from the involved, and sometimes heated, discussions.

“It can lead to a better outcome,” he said.