| Sep 21, 2016


Rob Hitchcock, from Abundant Solar, brought mapping which showed that the true location of a proposed solar project near Flinton is in a dormant field at the rear of Lot 20, Con. 5, Flinton.

The previous presentation had shown the project location in the front of the lot, in a field that is in agricultural production, within close proximity to three houses on the same lot and three more across the road.

The new location is in a dormant field and is much easier to block using existing tree cover. It is also located further from neighbouring property owners.

Councilor Bill Cox, who lives on the same lot, had expressed concerns about the initial site. He was concerned about how the view from his own and his neighbours’ homes would be affected by a project that was to be located about 150 metres from his front door. He asked for a deferral of a motion of municipal support for the project when it was presented to Council earlier in the month.

At that time he was looking for more information about plans for berms and tree cover.

“This location does not impact any of the neighbours in the same way, and when I talked to the neighbour who has leased the land for the project, he said the project was always set for the site at the back of the lot. It was a mistake by the people who were preparing the presentation that led to the confusion,” said Cox when contacted this week.

When the motion of support was brought back to the floor at the Addington Council meeting on Monday night (September 19) in Denbigh, it was passed unanimously.

There was talk before the vote about conflict of interest. However, since Bill Cox has no financial interest in the project, and courts have upheld the position of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation that Green Energy projects do not impact property values, Cox did not declare a conflict and voted in favour of the motion.

The project will now go the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) “Feed in Tariff” procurement bidding process. Approval for all projects under this round of procurement will be announced early in 2017.

Organisational review to be the subject of special meeting

A special meeting will be held in Flinton next Monday, September 26 at 10 am to discuss implementation of the Organisational Review that was presented to Council earlier this year.

The review was the subject of a letter from Jim Laginski, a representative from IUOE (Independent Union of Operating Engineers) Local 793. The IUOE represents workers in Addington Highlands, including Roads Superintendent Rosenblath. The union is concerned about the creation of a new tier of management, which has been proposed in the review. The managers would not be part of the union.

Reeve Hogg said, in an interview after this week's meeting, that he is concerned that the changes called for in the review will result in higher administration costs because of new management positions being created.

“I want to see a costing before I can support this,” he said.

Denbigh waste site

The township has been attempting get approval from the Ministry of the Environment to re-open the Denbigh waste site. This process has been ongoing for a number of years.

This week the township received a letter from the MoE, which said that the township is required to place clean fill at certain locations at the site. Council is hopeful that once this is done, the MoE will re-open the site, perhaps over the next six months.

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