HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2006-12-27, Page 1MES ADVOCATE
Exeter, Ontario, Canada Wednesday, December 27, 2006
x.25 (includes GST)
IIM
WHAT'S
INSIDE
Year in pictures
The Times -Advocate
looks back at images
of 2006
PAGE 8
"Everyday Hero"
Ellison wins award for
dedication to
community
PAGE 10
INDEX
Editorial 4
Sports 14
Announcements 16
Classifieds I9
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:11‘,4;t'
Santa's workshop — Some of the students taking part in the Huron Centennial Christmas
Concert Dec. 18 were above from left, Nehemiah Jardine -Pilon, Mandy Kyle, Samantha Dunn,
Austin Knapp, Brooke Whetstone,Taylor Lee -Good and Sam Hearn (photo/Pat Bolen)
Decision on wind turbines deferred
By Scott Nixon
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
SOUTH HURON — South
Huron council has deferred a
decision on proposed wind tur-
bine regulations and guidelines
until another public meeting
can be held Jan. 8.
Planner Claire Dodds made a
presentation at council's Dec.
18 meeting, which also served
as an opportunity for the public
to comment on wind turbines
in the county. However, no
decision was made by council
on the regulations as Dodds
recommended the deferral
until comments by various
agencies can be considered.
Huron County's planning
department is working with
municipalities throughout the
county to develop regulations
on wind turbines.
The proposed regulations
would effectively prohibit wind
turbines on the west side of
Highway 21 in South Huron,
including the proposed wind
turbine at the Lake Huron
Water Treatment Plant
because the turbine doesn't
meet setback requirements
under the new guidelines.
The new guidelines deal with
setbacks for small and com-
mercial -scale wind turbines in
urban and agricultural areas.
According to Dodds' report,
commercial scale wind turbines
must have a setback of 600
metres from urban, recreation-
al and institutional lands.
Dodds said the county has
been researching the issue of
wind turbine regulations for six
months, in consultation with
developers.
She added it is possible
provincial legislation could go
into effect exempting large
wind turbines (larger than 2
megawatts) from municipal
plan approval. Those larger
commercial projects would be
regulated by the province,
while smaller scale turbines
would continue to be regulated
by the county.
When asked by Deputy Mayor
George Robertson if the pro-
posed regulations deal with the
issue of abandoned wind facili-
ties in the private sector, Dodds
said that issue is best dealt with
during the site plan control
process.
In a PowerPoint presentation,
Dodds gave several examples of
wind turbine uses, including
small turbines for personal use
and large-scale, commercial
operations.
Council received correspon-
dence from W. John Buechler,
representing the Kingsmere
Syndicate cottagers' association
south of the water treatment
plant.
Buechler's letter opposes the
proposed windmill at the plant,
saying "There are windmills at
Ontario Place and at the
Pickering Power Plant. They
are ugly, they rarely seem to be
See WIND page 2
The year
that was
EXETER — This week's Times -
Advocate is the annual issue in
which we say goodbye to one year
and welcome in a new one.
As we close the door on 2006 and
look back on the major headlines of
the year, one thing is clear — there
was no shortage of news and issues
in 2006.
Most recently, municipal elections
saw many shake ups on the coun-
cils in the Times -Advocate's read-
ership area. South Huron and
Lambton Shores both said goodbye
to some council veterans and resi-
dents of those two municipalities
now have new mayors. While there
were fewer changes in Bluewater
and Lucan Biddulph, all councils
feature new councillors, a scenario
that will hopefully lead to fresh
new ideas.
Inside this week's T -A, readers
will find a week -by -week review of
the top stories of the past year.
Following are some of the high-
lights:
• One of the biggest stories of the
year was the ongoing controversy
surrounding the Crediton/Centralia
sewer project.
Concerned citizens from both vil-
lages filled numerous South Huron
council meetings expressing their
concerns over the cost of the $6.2
million project. Council finally
decided to go ahead with the pro-
ject and is awaiting word on
whether or not it will receive a
grant from the Canada -Ontario
Municipal Rural Infrastructure
Fund (COMRIF) to alleviate the
costs the residents will have to pay
for the project. Two earlier
requests to COMRIF have been
rejected.
• The local economy received a
big boost in June when a major
$150 million ethanol plant for
Hensall was announced.
• Huron Park was another issue
of concern, as the residential side
of the park was privatized and sold
to Parkbridge Lifestyle
Communities in May for $8.5 mil-
lion.
The company announced in
September it will allow the resi-
See 2006 page 2
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