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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2015-10-01, Page 28With wind turbines now erected and operational in St. Columban, Huron East Against Turbines (HEAT) want to ensure their voices are still being heard. Several dozen members of the group were in the gallery at Huron East Council’s Sept. 22 meeting, while two representatives spoke to council about the noise being created by the turbines and the process through which they can officially lodge complaints. Gerry Ryan and Jeanne Melady of HEAT spoke to council, saying that several members of the community have complained about sleepless nights as a result of the turbines. Melady said residents have described the turbine sounds as grinding, whooshing, repetitive and louder than some had ever imagined. She also mentioned a number of other things about the turbines that those around them have found troublesome, including shadow flicker, vibration in homes and symptoms that she says have become synonymous with low- frequency sound, such as headache, nausea and vertigo. While many of the reports coming from residents are consistent with what Melady and other HEAT members expected, they say they now feel at a loss about how to report them to those who might help, whether it be the municipality, the wind turbine company or the Ministry of the Environment. Ryan told councillors that he and others have been following proper protocol when it comes to reporting complaints, but that they have not found a sympathetic ear. He said that he has left numerous messages with the contact originally given to him and has received no calls back. Melady said that while individual members of the community have attempted to find someone to hear their complaints, the requests may carry more weight coming from the municipality, which, years ago, declared itself an “unwilling host” to wind turbine developments. He also told councillors that he felt turbines (he used the example of a project in Australia, not those in St. Columban) were breaking sound limits set up by the Green Energy Act, but because of how testing is conducted, they technically aren’t. Testing, he told council, is done on an aggregate basis, meaning that sound is measured over the course of the year and then averaged out. Often, he said, the turbines aren’t breaking the sound limit, but for between 60 and 75 days they are. So while projects may be fitting the testing model, the testing model needs to be changed, he said. He said he felt that is the future for the residents of St. Columban; that for between 60 and 75 days per year, they will have sleepless nights as a result of their neighbouring turbines. “People have told me that they run a fan, they turn on the radio or that they just go to the couch because it’s on the other side of the house,” he said. “Do you want us to have to go to the couch?” Council received the group’s presentation and said staff would look into an official procedure through the company and the Ministry of the Environment for those with complaints. Take a chair Rev. Randy Banks spoke to the children at Sunday’s final Duff’s United Church service. He also brought remembrances from Patty Banks. Here, he is holding a chair taken from another church he closed earlier this year. (Jim Brown photo) PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015. Continued from page 1 over Huron in his life, being born in Exeter, raised in Zurich and now living in the Seaforth area. The Green Party, headed by Elizabeth May, is represented by Jutta Splettstoesser, a farmer and small farm business owner in Kincardine. She has focused on renewable energy education and has a master’s degree in plant science from Friedrich-Windhelm University of Bonn in Germany. Voting can be done at local sites on the day of the election, Oct. 19. For specific sites and times, check your voter identification cards which have began arriving in local mailboxes. Advance voting days are also scheduled from Friday Oct. 9 to Monday Oct. 12. Sites are again listed on voter identification cards. Voting can also be done any time in advance of the election at 650 Alexander Street West in Brussels, Ontario, the location for the returning officer for the Huron- Bruce riding. The office is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. On Sept. 30, the Huron County Federation of Agricultural meeting will be held in Holmesville Community Centre starting at 7:30 p.m. The Citizen’s Oct. 8 edition will include coverage of the debate while the Oct. 15 edition will include interviews with each of the candidates to help readers make the most informed choice possible. For more information, or if you haven’t received a voter information card, contact the returning officer at 1-866-239-2838. Candidates begin debate circuit through riding HEAT seeks help from HE Council 1 Davidson Drive, Hensall, ON Canada | 519-262-3002 | www.hdc.on.ca HDC IS READY TO RECEIVE YOUR GRAIN AT A LOCATION NEAR YOU! High Volume Facilities to Serve you! 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