HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-03-18, Page 5Wednesday, March 18, 2015 • News Record 5
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letter to the editor
Reader notes reduced court costs in anti -wind fight
Dear Editor,
Area families, who were facing
huge court costs after an unsuccess-
ful appeal of wind turbine projects
in November, have been assessed
costs at only a fraction of what was
being sought by the wind
developers.
K2 Wind had asked for $201,000
from the Drennans, north of Goder-
ich, St. Columban Energy wanted
$120,000 from the Dixons and
Ryans in Huron East and Armow
Wind wanted $17,000 from the
Kroeplins near Kincardine. They
claimed that the families knew what
they were getting into, that they
might be liable for costs if they lost
the appeal, and that their court
action was based solely on their
private agendas, claiming that the
projects might cause harm to their
health.
At the time, human rights lawyer
Julian Falconer, who represents the
families, called the wind companies
"blood -sucking, intimidating bul-
lies. It's not just a bar to justice, it's
actually a terror tactic," Falconer
said in an interview. "This is not
about money. The idea is to send a
message: 'We will wipe you out if
you challenge us."
A judgment on the costs request
has now been handed down by the
Divisional Court. The total amount
of $340,000 sought by the three com-
panies has been reduced to $67,000.
K2 has been awarded $25,000,
Armow $17,000 and St. Columban
Energy $25,000.
Gerry Ryan, a representative of
HEAT (Huron East Against Turbines)
stated that the judges reaffirmed
that this action is in the public inter-
est, quoting from the decision,
"Although the appellants obviously
had a private interest in the litiga-
tion, their appeals contained a
strong public interest component
raising, as they did, the constitution-
ality of part of the legislative regime
governing the construction and
operation of wind farms in this prov-
ince. Any award of costs must reflect
that strong public interest
component."
He says that the fight against wind
turbine developments in the area
continues, that they are still awaiting
Leave to Appeal the November deci-
sion and that those costs will form
part of the appeal.
The St. Columban community has
been strongly opposed to the wind
development and HEAT has been
coordinating the fight on their
behalf for almost six years. Ryan
expressed his gratitude for their
ongoing support, and that informa-
tion on how to contribute financially
to the fight is available by phoning
519-345-2184 or writing to Beech-
wood@cyg.net .
TVO will air a documentary about
wind energy development in rural
Ontario on March 25th, 29th and
31st at 9pm (ET). The film, entitled
"Big Wind, explores both sides of
this contentious issue.
Sincerely,
Robert Tetu,
HEAT (Huron East Against Turbines, Inc.)
519-345-2184
EARLY FILES
March 14,1968
• Central Huron Secondary School's
budget is nearly $1,000,000 this year.
To defray the $977,773 total expendi-
tures approved by the school board
for 1968 Clinton and the townships of
Stanley, Goderich, Tuckersmith, East
Wawanosh, Hullett and Morris and
the villages of Bayfield and Blyth are
being asked for $228,598 - 20.376
mills. Last year $220,855 was raised
for the school but the assessment to
municipalities has increased so the
mill rate remains the same. Biggest
contribution to the school which
draws more than 1,000 students from
12 municipalities will be from Sea -
forth, Exeter and Goderich.
March 15,1973
• Clinton Council last Monday night
authorized the clerk to write to the
Ausable-Bayfield Conservation
Authority to see if they will clean out
the Bayfield River and channel it
where it passes near the new sewage
plant. The move came after a recom-
mendation from Clinton's engineer-
ing firm, R.V. Anderson and Associ-
ates, who said there is a danger that
the dykes protecting the new pollu-
tion control plant could be swept
away in a spring flood and that the
tree filled flood plain could cause an
ice jam during spring breakup and
flood the new plant. Cost of the work
has yet to be determined but Clinton
said they would bear 100% of the
Authority's share of the project.
March 18, 1987
• The town has received a $50,000 grant
from the Ministry of the Environment
for the sanitary sewage works project
and at council's March 16 meeting the
decision to pay the town's share of
$30,000 was made. For the past few
years the Town of Clinton, under the
direction of the Ministry of the Envi-
ronment, has been undergoing prelimi-
nary work on their sewage facilities in
an attempt to make the system run
more efficiently. This preliminary work
has included the use of underground
television monitoring tests of sewage
lines to detect breaks in tile or unnec-
essary seepage and extra run-off.
March 18, 1992
• The Brucefield branch of the Huron
County Library will be among seven
branches which may close their doors as
the end of May after a decision by Huron
County Council (HCC). At the March 5
meeting council voted to close the
branches at Belgrave, Belmore, Bluev-
ale, Brucefield, Crediton, Ethel and Wal-
ton. The move was recommended by the
Huron County Cultural Services Com-
mittee. The committee estimated result-
ing savings at about $11,000.
March 20, 2002
• Most Central Huron residents will
be paying more in taxes in 2002 after
council passed the municipal
budget Monday night. Under the
budget passed, explained Central
Huron Treasurer Rhonda Fischer,
the municipality will be collecting a
total of $2,716,949 in municipal
taxes compared to the figure of
$2,623,584.68 last year. She said
there are good reasons for the
$93,000 increase not the least of
which is an increase in insurance
costs for the municipality of 55 per
cent, which comes, according to
insurance companies, as a direct
result of events on Sept. 11 of 2001.
That 55 per cent, Fischer said, rep-
resents an increase of $35,000.
There are also some human
resource increases, she said, over
which the municipality has no
control.
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