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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-07-22, Page 2w SIB isei, Wndneedayi t ►'' 22. 1961 ,atepage 1 cattlemen are presently on an extended tour • an+d as a result the work load has .been doubled for other fa ;miry .members, ''I°have hay that should.: be going inthe barn right now.. It's costing our family mone y to be at this 'mea to, ht...Y.think. .y� � m8 . y ou're as'kin a4` awful; lot. And it's one thing for meeting for :o orthree to come outa tin tw eel, , g .., + hours, it's another to go .through. a boot like this ., ' (indicating; the evaluation report 'of a'ltera:itive systems :for the 'Southwestern region). That takes more than two or three. hours.", Other farmers at the'meeting indicated they had similar prom' and;; not promise ' at • all mbleeetingss. could R.que t istowel, general mzplanatlou; Bryan Howard of `LEan` ager of the Maitland. Valley Conservation Authority, requested Hydro representatives lathdrespondin. the- lettertoexpfrom tiree'. Huronelayin Federation g ofto Agril culture.in "Oh they responded, • but they promised there would be ample time for public input," Mr.' McQuail ,said, adding that it appeared as . though Hydro "sat on it" until •being instructed by Energy Minister Robert Welch to hold the matterin abeyance. "The report was to have been released in November 1980...Hydro was instructed by Welch in a letter sent on December 15 to hold the matter in abeyance until the. government had reached a decision. Accord - ins to Hydro, they did not get the letter until January 6." Dave Abbott, a Hydro communications officer, said he sympathized with the farmers but the delay was "not the fault of Ontario Hyddo .alone''. "We (Hydro) were in a position to present our report in November. 1980," he said. Mr. Abbott said there were ',several reasons why the Energy Minister wanted the. matter held it abeyance. "The : final report of the Porter Com- mission; (on Electrical Power- Planning)--was— inconvenience" - of summer meetings:, but wanted to include the input of . worhing groups in its .recommendation for one of six proposed site plant, ' With :or without the input of the Central Working Group, he. said, the report includ- ing the recommendation would be submitted to: the government , at the end off October. At° e°s the �e . � ' said:Hydro dro th n . tl,, ►11!1r . Abbott s y . . would be willing' to meet with the Central Working ;,Group "right up 'until. theehear-- ing Dr. Pleva said that if harvest operations were completed earlier than expected ' and farmers wanted to "go into an accelerated program in September :- prior to the writing of the report in October for heaven sake let us know. We'll come out as often as necessary. Who knows, we might make that deadline after ;a11.' However farmers appeared to hold out little; hope for such involvement. Involvement Essential Elbert.. van Donkersgoed of Drayton, spokesman for the. Christian Farmers, said he felt public involvement is the "essential" part of the program and present scheduling is "making a farce" of such involvement. "We just felt it would not be worth our time to get involved in something that; would be a job not half -well-done," - Mr. van Donkersgoed said. He said it is unrealistic to expect meaningful public input in such, an involved projectiin just six weeks. Noting that:this.is not Hydro s first try" at public involve- ment. Mr. van Donkersgoed said public groups in Eastern Ontario had "fairly. extensive" input in. Hydro planning in that "And that . involvement -was no three months:- it took years. And ask in the Guelph area: There was involvement there for years on a 230 kV line from Fergus 'to Guelph - nowhere near as, complicated as the 500 kV line down from the Bruce...you simply can't do the job that needs to be done in three not released until March of 1980 and government had not completed its review. And Mr.. Welch , indicated he . wanted to ensure ample opportunity for meaningful public involvement in the .hearings to begin in January 1982. Therefore we were asked to submit our report by November 1, 1981." Mr. Abbott , said Hydro "recognized the months. A Hydro representative inter1ected to report that public groups in Eastern Ontario had not been given the opportunity to input at the report stage, as is the case in the Southwestern expansion program.. Tony McQuail opined that .farmers "are • • Hydro's response "It is unfortunate that the Listowel work- ing Group has decided not to work with On- , tario.Hydro prior to Hydro making a•recom- mendation to the government. Their input in the past.' has been valuable to Ontario Hydro's planning process." e That wasthe response of Ontario Hydro to a : decision taken by the Listowel Working Group last week to postpone a series of. meetings with Hydro until harvest opera- tions have been . completed. The Listowel Working Group is comprised mainly of representatives of farm organizations. In a statement issued Tuesday morning, Ontario Hydro said, ."The two-stage process adopted by Hydro for this study is the result of requests from the public to become in volved in the very early stages of Hydro's planning." "The . two-stage study calls for the first public hearing (under the Consolidated Hearings Act) to begin in January1982. This will allow the agricultural community to elfin ' n tired d -of the 'nice leters. g . ... g. "I hayed 'until 11 p.m. ;last ;night, then tonight x.had to hu :u with m .chores and catch . ride with Bill J'or ej tin o : the Power a,.. � g � Line working committee) Over to this Meet- ing tonight. I'm lucky my hay's in the barn..I'm beginning to suspect that neither the Province nor Ontario Hydro: really cares - if they did they would have at least released this material to us earlier so we could' have studied' it prior to these meetings." Mr. Jorgejan . said his committee has also written to the Hydro chairman (Hugh Mac- aulay) to express concern!at the delay of the meetings. He then noted the public meet- ings for the route stage of programing"are also scheduled for the summer when farmers will be busy again." Mr. Abbott replied the scheduling for those public meetings is for a more extended period'.- from July 1982 to November 1983. Question Need Prior to the motion : to postpone the meetings, farmers questioned the need for a second transmission line •out of the BNPD. When Mr. Abbott replied that the Porter Commission had recommended a second line was necessary, Lloyd Moore of the, Concern- ed Farmers interjected. "Let's be honest •about this thing," Mr. Moore said. "The Porter Commission rec- ommended one 500 kV line out of Bruce . in case of the loss of . a line as a backup measure only, The Commission said present facilities are adequate for supply if the present lines are updated and ,I understand that is being done. We should be talking about one S00 kV out of Bruce and that's all." J. P. Bayne, supervising planning engin- eer wth Hydro's system planning division, replied the matter is a complicated one. "If something' were to happen, we could have another Northeastern blackout,". Mr. Bayne said. "We are interconnected with the Northeastern United States and afterthe blackout in 1965 we had an agreement to redesign our systems." Mr. Bayne also noted .Hydro. is planning. facilities to, take care: of .need until the year 2000. The various proposals for the expansion of transmission facilities out of the BNPD include double circuit 600kV lines as well as single circuit lines and double and single circut 230 kV lines. "One doesn't makeproposals runless there is a need," Mr. McQuail said. "1- think Hydro is getting the cart before' the horse." `"If we didn't think there was a need, we wouldn't be here," Mr. Bathe" admitted: As farmers continued to question the need, Hydro representatives and Dr. Pleva said the matter of need could be dealt with in one of the subsequent meetings. "The year 2000 is far away for us sitting here tonight," ` Mr. Moore commented. vv ell,. we need to tan 20 ears ahead, Mr. Bayne replied. . Mr. McQuail agreed with Mr. Moore. "I can maybe plan for crop' rotation for a seven-year period -'that's with all;the facts. But how are' we to know there will be a burning need for power in London in the year 2000?" Boying Coal In presenting details of: the Southwestern region expansion program, Mr. Abbott said Hydro will be faced with a shortage of supply after 1987. The new facilities will not be in service until 1988. That delay of one year, he said, could cost the' people of Ontario upto $250,000 per day in the purchase of coal outside the province. In coming up with the six alternative programs, Mr. Abbott said Hydro is accepting a "medium growth scenario from three to 3.8' per, cent growth on an annual basis". P y The price tag for the six programs ranges from $550 million to $970 million. - Following the public =input stage, the issuing of an Environmental Assessment document and public hearings, one plan will be given formal approval by thegovernment in June 1982. The program will then enter the route stage. Study for that stage is scheduled from July 1982 to November 1983, to be followed by the issuing df an ` Environment Assess- ment document in December 1983. Public hearings on the routestagewill commence in February 1984.with formal route approval scheduled for July 1984. _- Land acquisition is scheduled from July 1984 to July 1987 and construction from July 1987 to July 1988 when the facilities are expected ' to be in service. Courtesy The Wingham Advance -Times participate at its least busy time. However., toaccommodate the hearing at that time re - .quires that Ontario Hydro submit its en- vironmental rnvironmental report, including a recommen- dation plan, by October 31, 198L "The public involvement program throughout the summer: and early fall is aimed at helping interested individuals and groups obtain details and provide comment prior to the selection of a preferred plan and before the formal process starts. "With the addition of the plan stage public involvement, the entire studyprocess will take' approximately three to four years to complete. Conducting the public involve- ment nvolvement process in only the fall and winter as the agricultural community has suggested would take too long. A • "Ontario Hydro is willing to meet with in- dividuals and groups until the '' hearing begins and will keep the Listowel group up- to-date on the public involvement process." 0,. n ec o designation... ed, said Joynt. That street was done three years ago and we're still waiting for the Authority to provide the technical data which was readily available from Burns Ross, he added. n , . A copy of the secondary ° plan for the village' of Lucknow is availableat. the municipal office to the public for . their perusal, Lucknow council will be debating the approval of the plan . within the next several weeks and making a decision about its approval. *from page 1 . "Maitland Valley has held up this pian from the very beginning and for no reason," he said. "I've never seen the water levels they're talking about." He went on to say the Authority was jeapordizing the village's grants from the Ministry of - Housing because they were so delayed in providing the planning depart- ment with the technical data required. The ty water levels on'Inglis St eet again because it has been reconstruct - WINTERIS A GROWING SEASON After the geraniums have withered and the bloom is off the rose, there is. still an opportunity. to grow --yourself. We can help you to cultivatepe andfence For more than half a .Ideas to � grow in� con century The University of Western Ontario has been assisting adults to .do just that, through one, of the oldest and most respected off --campus degree programs in Canada.. Western's offerings in CLINTON, GODERICH and KINCARDINE, starting 'In September are listed below. A booklet containing full Information on Part -Time Studies at Western can be obtained at -the Clinton ' Public Library, the Huron County . Public Library, or Kincardine Branch library. 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