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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-08-19, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010. Members of the groups Central Huron Against Turbines (CHAT) and Huron East Against Turbines (HEAT) made a presentation at Central Huron Council’s August 9 meeting to bring councillors up to speed on what members of the groups call one of the most important issues facing councils today. The presentation, which was identical to the presentation that was made by the two groups, united in a 20-minute presentation, to Huron County Council at its August 4 meeting, detailed the perceived impacts that industrial wind turbines would have on the communities within Huron County and on the residents of those communities. The joint presentation detailed several aspects of the world of industrial wind turbines, including the fact that in many cases, big money is behind the developments and, more often than not in the case of Huron County, that the funding is coming from other countries. Some projects listed in Huron East resident Rob Tetu’s presentation were funded by groups in Texas, Florida, Spain, Toronto and Mississauga. Tetu told councillors that while the provincial government is promising an infusion of money into local economies due to revenue and jobs from wind turbines, he disagrees, saying that the construction of wind turbines will provide for transient construction jobs, but very few jobs for HuronCounty residents and even fewer dollars generated by these wind turbines will be retained by and spent in Huron County. Tetu also expressed concerns with the renewal of contracts, saying that some companies may opt out of their contracts with those who agree to lease their land to wind turbine developers. Tetu said that contracts can be opted out of by developers and under many agreements, the landowners can be stuck with decommissioning costs as well as liability. He also said that in many agreements, companies are given first right to refusal to the land, which Tetu said can cause complications down the road when property owners want to pass their farms down to their sons, daughters or relatives, and may not be able to. Tetu brought up the bylaw that was passed by Huron East Council late last month and another bylaw that is being investigated by Huron East’s solicitor. In the end, no firm decision was made, but Central Huron staff was directed to begin discussions with Huron East staff in regards to the municipality’s options in the matter. In addition, staff will be collecting information for an upcoming council meeting where further action can be voted on by members of council. Deputy-Reeve John Bezaire said that the councillors had been advised by their solicitor that they should want no part of supporting the controversial bylaw passed by the Township of Arran-Elderslie because of potential legal implications. Bezaire, who was chairing the meeting as Reeve Bert Dykstra had declared a conflict of interest, along with councillors Jim Ginn and Alison Lobb, asked the remaining councillors if they had any objections to the municipal staff seeking a meeting with Huron East staff. No one objected. Continued from page 1 Brussels and Grey communities over the public school issue, Blaney said there is very little that council can do to help the public along. “Emotional issues are the worst issues to deal with in politics. They’re deeply important to people and often not easy to deal with in a mechanical fashion,” he said. “We’re not somebody’s mother, we can’t just kiss it better. “All we can do is continue with what we’ve been doing, which is to be fair.” Blaney to run again Anti-turbine groups presentto Central Huron Council Making the turn One of the youngest groups of riders, the four-, five- and six-year-old riders made the turn in the 50cc class on August 12’s motocross action at the 19th annual Walton TransCan, warming the course up for the next three days of motocross action that it would see. (Jim Brown photo) Swing and a miss The Londesborough Mites held their year-end tournament over the weekend and it was tough sledding at times, including this missed pitch while Londesborough took on Seaforth. (Jim Brown photo) 404 Queen St., Blyth 519-523-4792 The Citizen We have a great variety of books for all ages at... 541 Turnberry St., Brussels 519-887-9114 The Best Summer Reading Is Here! 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