Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008 - (Page 17)

to make sure wind is a good fit in the community.” Education “I would recommend against using Google to inform you,” he cautions. “You have to bring it into a fact-based argument and comment on it when you have looked at both sides. (Wind power) is relatively new to the landscape in Ontario, and with a lack of concrete tangible expertise there is some question as to what the impacts are going to be.” Timm says CanWEA is “an advocate for wind at all levels of government,” and represents individuals and organizations from across the wind power industry. “We collect information on best practices…that the industry can follow and that communities and municipalities can look at to get a good idea of what to expect.” Through this collection of best practices, he adds, CanWEA can help to “dispel some of the myths about wind energy and work in fact.” Those comments are echoed by Michael DeBock, Project Director for Business Development at FPLE Canadian Wind. Although the Florida-based company doesn’t own or operate any wind projects in Canada it claims to have the largest wind portfolio in North America and is looking to tap into the growing Ontario market. “The best advice I have for municipalities is to begin an early dialogue (with potential developers) so that both parties can understand the issues, scenarios and opportunities that exist. Wind is a relatively new topic in Ontario and it requires a bit of an education process. It’s a detailed process but one that we like to see done at the beginning.” Wolfe Island, which is part of the Township of Frontenac Islands and located on the St. Lawrence River just off the Kingston shoreline, will soon be the site of 86 wind turbines. With such a major proposal for investment coming to town, local decision-makers wanted to get it right. “We have an excellent staff but as a small municipality we rely very much on contract help,” says Mayor Jim Vanden Hoek. “So when a project like this came forward we immediately brought in an ace team that had expertise in January/February 2008 handling this type of arrangement. Rather than re-invent the wheel or be out of our element, we brought in a bunch of hired guns to look after our interests.” It’s a tactic that many small municipalities have had to take with regards to wind energy. David Smith, Senior Planner for the County of Bruce, suggests that more direction from the Ministry of Environment would help make the job of wading through the complications of wind energy development a little easier for municipalities. “You’re going to find that from one municipality to the next the rules are completely different,” Smith says. “Each municipality has had to go out and assemble their own crack teams of experts to create their own rules. Those rules range from municipality to municipality and people in the industry don’t like that. They would rather see consistency across the province.” Wind turbines can have a positive impact on the local economy, particularly during the construction phase. To help wade through the pros, cons, regulations and funding opportunities around wind power in Ontario, the Canadian Institute for Environmental Law and Policy (CIELP) produced a reference book called A Municipal Guide to Wind Power Development in Ontario. A CIELP spokesperson says it’s been one of the institute’s most popular publications – more than 2,000 copies downloaded from the website so far – since it was produced in May 2003. Like any other significant construction project in a community, Smith says the education process also needs to be passed down to the general public. Residents, especially potential neighbours, need to be kept in the loop. “It depends how a project is planned and how it deals with its neighbours,” he says. “If you decide to build something significant and you make your plans and get your drawings but don’t tell anyone about it, then you dig a hole and start to pour concrete, neighbours see the thing going up and they start to get concerned.” Noise From his office window Mark Becker, Clerk/Administrator for the Township of Ashville-Colborne-Wawanash, can see seven of the 23 wind turbines in his township. Residents in the rural Huron County township saw the first turbine installed in 2002. “When it first began it was pretty simple,” Becker recalls. “It went up in the middle of nowhere and nobody said anything.” But when 22 more cropped up in 2004, complaints about noise began coming in from neighbours. The complaints came only from a half dozen sources, but they were vocal enough that the township is proceeding with caution before allowing Edmonton-based Epcor Utilities Inc. to erect another 69 turbines. Ontario’s Ministry of Environment stipulates that wind turbines must be isolated enough that the noise generated by the machines does not exceed 40 decibels of sound at the nearest residence. According to a chart by the American Wind Energy Association, 40 decibels is roughly the equivalent noise municipal MONITOR • 17

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008

Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008 Contents President’s Message: Recognizing Achievement Viewpoint: Increasing Voter Turnout Building Bridges The Municipal Buddy System Harnessing the Wind Water Under the Bridge Municipal Memos Index to Advertisers

Municipal Monitor - January/February 2008

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