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Volume 73, Number 16 GST Included $1.25 Wednesday April 21, 2010 Orono Town Hall Publications Mail Registration No. 09301 Agreement No. 40012366 Serving Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Newcastle, Newtonville, Orono, Starkville and Tyrone since 1937 Wind Farm blows into Orono by Sue Weigand The hills of Orono will soon be green in more ways than one, and the landscape altered for at least the next 2030 years, with the impending addition of 14 wind turbines somewhere in the surrounding countryside. On April 8th, 2010, the province of Ontario announced 184 contracts had been awarded for large FeedIn Tariff (FIT) projects, including a 20,000 kilowatt (kW) on-shore wind farm contract offered to ZEP Wind Farm Ganaraska LP. The announcement was made by Brad Duguid, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, at the Whitby campus of Durham College. The projects are part of the largest green energy investment of its kind in Canadian history, according to the Ontario Power Authority (OPA). The OPA is responsible for implementing the FIT program, in which qualifying renewable energy sources such as wind, water, solar, and bioenergy are contracted to feed into the existing power grid at a standardized price. Prices are designed to cover project costs and allow for a reasonable return on investment over the contract term, which is generally 20 years. The ZEP Wind Farm Ganaraska LP was one of eight contracts offered to Wind Works Power Corp. (WWP) as part of the April 8th announcement, which also includes 10 MW wind farms near each of Pontypool, Bethany, Millbrook, and Grafton/Northumberland Hills. The OPA describes the ZEP Wind Farm Ganaraska location as "north of Oshawa." Further confusing local residents, WWP is listed as the proponent of the wind farm, rather than Energy Farming Ontario (EFO), the company which held a public open house for ZEP Wind Farm Ganaraska on July 30th, 2009. Kelly Campbell, EFO's Director of Project Management, said the reference to Oshawa was meant to help people unfamiliar with the area, by naming a wellknown city close to the area. She also clarified that EFO, a privately-owned Brighton, ON-based company, is the developer for WWP's Ontario projects. EFO was formed in 2007 by former engineers and principals of one of the world's leading wind turbine manufacturers, to put that experience to work here in Canada, according to the company website. Campbell said she could not say where in the Orono area the wind farm will be, as its exact location is "not yet determined." She said locals would be notified of the location at a public meeting to be scheduled sometime over the next few months. "We have yet to finalize details of turbine locations as that is still in development," she said. "There will be a 'first' public meeting within the next few months, which will identify the lots and concessions under consideration for the project. There are many considerations we have to take before we have any finalization of those turbine locations." However, despite statements to the contrary, it does seem likely that EFO has a particular site in mind in the Orono area. According to OPA's FIT program overview, evidence of site access rights are a part of the application requirements. Furthermore, EFO states that two or more meteorological towers equipped with wind sensors must be set up on any potential site for at least a full year, in order to confirm that it is suitable for wind farming. Such studies likely took place prior WIND see page 3 Orono Public School students participate in play stations at recess on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The event called PROPS (Peers Running Organized Play Station) consists of seven different activities and is run by the students. New charge seen as `double dipping' While Ms. Ann McGuey is fully aware of what the $25 Ownership Change Fee is for, she is not having any of it. Last November council agreed to charge a $25 New Account/ Change of Ownership Fee as a cost saving measure for the 2010 budget. The new fee was to be initiated January 1, 2010, and was to offset municipal staff time and expense to process the addition of new properties to the tax accounts and processing change of ownerships. There were several reasons McGuey felt she should not have to pay the new fee. First of all, she moved from Newtonville to her new home in Newcastle on October 30 last year, two months before the new fee was supposed to have been initiated. Secondly, the fee is a double charge to the taxpayer, McGuey told Committee members on Monday morning. "How can you charge an additional $25 for something we are already paying for?" she asked. "It is a double charge to the tax payer." While McGuey says she has not received her tax bill at her new address (it went to her old address), she did receive a letter from the Municipality in January informing her she owed them $25 for the Ownership Fee Charge. "It's not the $25," she told the Orono Times reporter following the meeting. "It's the principle." And because other municipalities are charging a similar fee, it still doesn't make it right, nor is it a good enough reason to implement the new fee, according to McGuey. Administrative costs are covered by the tax levy, and should not be billed again, McGuey said. "It is double dipping." Unlike building permit fees where an inspector is sent to the building site to monitor adherence to the building code, "you are payFEES see page 4 What's Inside See page 4