Huron-Kinloss council

To Comment on this article Click Here

Huron-Kinloss mayor Mitch Twolan is looking forward to another four years at the head of township council.

Twolan was uncontested for the job, as was deputy mayor Wilfred Gamble.

Councillor Anne Eadie is running for councillor-at-large in Kincardine, and the remaining members, Jim Hanna, Lillian Abbott and Jeff Elliott, are seeking re-election.

Newcomers Carl Sloetjes of Lucknow and Roger Smith of Huron Township are also running for councillor, so there will be an election in the township on Oct. 25, allowing voters to choose the five councillors who will make up the rest of council.

Twolan is ready to continue the work of council and is thankful for the confidence that the people of Huron-Kinloss have shown in him as their mayor.

He said one of the major issues over the next four years will be wind turbines, and the possibility of off-shore wind turbines.

Council is keeping a close eye on the lawsuit launched by Ian Hanna against the provincial Green Energy Act. "It will be interesting to see how that plays out," said Twolan.

Meanwhile, the township has put in place a policy to deal with wind turbine development. The purpose of the policy is to protect the public and municipal infrastructure from the impact of the development of commercial wind generation systems.

The policy states that commercial wind generating systems are permitted in rural areas and may be permitted in agricultural areas where they can be located on land of lower agricultural capacity or ensure the continued use of prime agricultural land for farm use and minimize the loss of productive farmland.

Site provisions include the following:

• The minimum setback to an urban area boundary is 2,000 metres (6,600 feet)
• The minimum setback to a residential use or structures designated for human habitation is 1,000 metres (3,300 feet)
• The minimum setback to a county or provincial road or highway is 1.25 times the total wind generating system height from the right-of-way line
• The minimum setback to the front yard or exterior side yard is the total wind generating system height minus the untravelled portion of the municipal right-of-way
• The minimum setback to interior side yard or rear yard of non-participating properties is the total height of the wind generating system
• The minimum setback to interior side yard or rear yard of participating properties is the length of the turbine blade

^{for world news, books, sports, movies ...}

Saturday, September 25, 2010