Opponents of landing more offshore wind cables in Barnstable got a chance to confront Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday when she visited Cape Cod.
Members of the community groups Barnstable Speaks and Save Dowses Beach protested across the street from Four Seas ice cream in Centerville, where Healey stopped to promote the new Massachusetts Ice Cream Trail.
About 25 protesters held signs and chanted, “Protect our beaches. Say no to Avangrid.” They waited outside as the governor went in, greeted the staff, and tried the mint chip ice cream.
Afterward, she went over to the protesters to talk. Healey said she knows many of them support clean energy, and energy from offshore wind needs to be brought ashore.
“These transmission lines have been vetted by — thoroughly vetted by federal agencies,” she said. “I'm confident in their safety.”
The group remained calm but disputed some of Healey’s statements about the safety of electrical transmission lines.
Sandy Jones of Barnstable Speaks, talking about the cable route for the proposed New England Wind 1, said Avangrid should be required to use an alternative route through Centerville that affects fewer businesses.
Healey said she would look into that issue.
Asked about the meaning behind the chant, “Say no to Avangrid,” Jones said Barnstable has done enough for offshore wind.
“We have Vineyard Wind,” she said. “We've already done our part. The other two projects should land in an industrial city or a military base.”
Wind projects with plans to land cables in Barnstable are part of the state bidding process set to award contracts Sept. 6.
At Four Seas, Healey got a tour of the kitchen with owners Douglas and Peggy Warren. She congratulated them for being part of the Ice Cream Trail, a list of shops the state is highlighting to promote the Massachusetts dairy industry.
All of the shops sell ice cream made with milk or cream from Massachusetts dairy farms.
Four Seas, now celebrating its 90th year, buys milk from Hood and strawberries from Tony Andrews Farm in Falmouth, Douglas Warren said.
The governor said Four Seas is the oldest continuously operating retail ice cream shop in Massachusetts.
