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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-07-23, Page 5Wednesday, July 23, 2014 • News Record 5 www.clintonnewsrecord.com letter to the editor Reader wants answers to concerns to about K2 Wind Project This is a letter that I am sending to K2 Wind asking for answers to issues that affect myself, my farming operation and everyone in our community. If anyone has similar concerns, they can use this letter or any part of it to raise the issues and seek answers. July 4, 2014 K2 Wind Ontario 46 Victoria Street North Goderich, ON N7A 2R6 Attention: Mr. Jay Shukin Dear Mr. Shukin: After trying to work with you by making enquiries, requesting answers and awaiting responses, it would appear that my efforts have fallen on deaf ears. You have not answered my questions adequately or given any assurance that my rights as a property owner will be protected. This is not acceptable. Again, if there is reduced development ability, damage or loss of income on my farm due to the K2 Wind Project, who do I contact? What information, records and/or documenta- tion will I need to provide? I require a legal document and protocol allowing me to be able to safely spray with a helicopter when need be. Your wind turbines do turn when we could spray, contrary to what you have stated. This is a right this wind project has taken away from me as a farmer in the project area. I also require information on how K2 Wind intends to address the issue of air ambulance service to ACW. What protocol is in place to ensure that turbines will be shut down if an air ambulance must be dispatched to an accident scene in the Township? As with the aerial spraying, turbines pose a risk to pilots required to operate or land in an area affected by turbine turbulence. Water well testing should be provided to any non -partici- pating landowner for contaminants before and after K2 becomes operational. If a well goes dry or is contaminated up to 1 year after construction has ended, K2 should bear the cost of replacing the well for the landowner. If something unforeseen were to happen at a K2 site (example -.oil spill), then a longer time frame would be appropriate. I believe there will be property devaluation within the pro- ject area to more than just a few non -participating private properties. K2 Wind should address the devaluation of prop- erty issue and acknowledge the placing of restrictions onto neighboring properties (ice throw, building restrictions). We, the non -participating citizens, have the right to the peaceful and unencumbered use of our property at all times. There are many problems that non -participating landowners must endure. A few examples are: ice throw, increase in day- time and night time noise from turbines and substations, vibra- tions through the soil from turbines and substations, electrical dispersions, increased electrical magnetic radiation, lost ability to locate a building site in a place of the non -participating land- owners choosing. These example issues were nonexistent before the K2 project and are only a few of the restrictions to the peaceful enjoyment to our non -participating private property. How will K2 address this issue of restrictions placed by the K2 project onto non -participating private properties? As well, I require a dictionary definition of lice throwi as it relates to wind turbines and I need to know if ice throw will impact my family and/or my property. A basic property right will be taken if we cannot use our property at any time. We cannot be worried about the possibility of being hit with chunks of ice from your turbines next to our property. With respect to stray voltage, I require protocols which you will be using for testing, monitoring, recording and resolu- tion of issues. These protocols must stand up in a court of law. We need a base line for stray voltage fi set up testing for a minimum of two weeks, 24 hours/day, four times a year. Testing should be done before the project starts producing power and after the project produces power for the life of the project. The protocol should set out the type of meters, recording method and how records of readings will be retained. As well, there will need to be a procedure for how any issues related to stray voltage will be handled. An inde- pendent authority would need to oversee this procedure - Andy Stenning of Hydro One and a qualified independent contractor of landowners choosing - and all the costs should be paid for by K2. I would also like confirmation that there will be NO induced voltage transferred to our local phone lines or fibre optic lines by substations, transmission lines, or collector lines. How does K2 plan to achieve this? I do not expect any poles down Tower Line from Belfast Road to Glens Hill Road. If you do not have enough room to bury your cables and followyour three metre setback from my prop- erty lines, you have the option of going around the other side of the block or through the property of project participants. I am prepared to help by physically marking out our infra- structure, laneways and tile systems along our property, and for which we have paid, so that you do not disturb or cut any- thing when you bury your cable. This will be done as you bury these cables. This will be necessary since your com- pany has had problems in the past with such matters (i.e. cutting down trees, ignoring biosecurity signs, damaging pri- vate property and not being accountable for your actions). I am now in the unfortunate position of needing to put you on notice that these issues must be addressed by July 31, 2014. I must do what I need to do to protect my interests as a property owner and resident of this township. Yours Sincerely, George Alton' EARLY FILES July 18, 1912 The News -Record will be sent to any address in Canada for the remainder of 1912 for a quarter of a dollar. This applies to new subscribers and certainly fur- nishes much good reading for little money. You, dear reader, may already be taking it, but what about the girl in the city or the boy out on the lonely prairie? July 22, 1965 An emergency meeting of Stanley Township School Board with their Tuckersmith counterparts was held last Friday to view plans of the proposed 16 -room Central School propsed for the Brucefield area. Edward Hagarty, architect with the London firm of Blackwell. Hagarty and Buist briefed the board on the plans which he sub- mitted and pointed out several features which would provide for economical construction and low operating costs. Among these were a considerable reduction in the number and size of windows resulting in less heat loss in winter, cooler rooms in summer and more even room temperatures. Another item mentioned was the unu- sual roof design which he suggested would be more attractive to the younger children. It was deisgned to get away from the unfortunate ten- dency of recent years to make schools resemble factories. July 19, 1979 Joanne Grunewald and Brian Ches- sell were in the guitar competitions at Musicfest in Toronto on the weekend. Joanne of Varna received a mark of 85 in her solo class, then teamed up with Brad James of Clinton to win first prize and the adjudicator's trophy with a mark of 81 in the duet class. Brian came third in his solo class with 82. Their group, "Eight is Enough" was third with an 83 in a class where the quality of the competition was very high. Paul Ste- venson of Kinburn is their teacher. July 15, 1987 It's been a long time coming but at last the local tourist booth in Clinton is open for operation. The booth has been given a new location and it's wearing a new paint job for the 1987 season. Delays in opening the Clinton informa- tion centre came after town council learned that the funding would not be provided through the South Western Ontario Travel Agency (SWOTA) for the employment of a tourist consellor. While such funding has been provided in previous years for various tourist booths in the region, numerous reduc- tions have been made in 1987. Council debated the future of the tourist booth and considered having it manned by volunteer staff. When attempts to recruit volunteer staff failed, council agreed to pay the price to hire full-time staffers. As well, the booth was moved from its former site, on Ontario Street, to a new location on the westerly out- skirts of town at Willy's burger stand. July 15, 1998 Some soybean farmers in Huron County will be ahead of the world at this year's harvest. According to Mike Verhoef, a seed specialist at Hill and Hill Farms in Varna, at least one variety of soybean (2601R) is the only variety of its maturity in the world. "These are the first growers to have access to these varieties," Verhoef said. "This is a big step for the area:' The seeds carry a gene which makes them Round Up ready, according to Ralph de Vries, ter- ritory manager for Monsanto, the com- pany that developed the Round Up ready technology. "Round Up ready is a gene in the crop which enables the crop to tolerate Round Up (a chemical weed control system)," de Vries said. Verhoef said this technology is the most flexible crop -safe weed control out there. "Now there are cleaner fields, which make it easier to manage," Ver- hoef said. This technology has been available in Canada for three years, and the first major seed harvest will be this year.